Building a gaming PC $1,00-$1,500

[lonehunter23]

Over the next few weeks I plan on building a gaming PC, I'm looking for some suggestions on parts/components. Here is some information to help decide what kind of power I'm looking for. Looking to spend around $1,000, but can spend a little more.

I plan to use newegg.com to buy all of the parts. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to overclock or not, really don't want to burn out my processor or anything. When it comes to brands I'm not fimilar with who offers the "better" products, this PC is going to used mainly for gaming, hooked up to my TV to stream movies/shows.

I want to be able to run WoW on ultra during 25 man raids, planning on trying Starwars: TOR so being able to run that at max would be nice if I decide to stick with it, picking up Diablo 3 when it comes out, run Starcraft 2 well. Looking to be able to hook the PC up to my 32 inch flat screen LCD TV to use as my main monitor. I already have a smaller monitor, so no need to replace it right now as it's only a year or two old. CD-ROM drive isn't overly important, internal Blue-Ray burner. Prefer to run with two video cards.

Would like a clear case with plenty of ventilation/fans.

Thanks for the help. Any questions please ask.















Additional Comments: (e.g.: Need to have a window and lots of bling, I would like a quiet PC)

 

[tlmck]

Intel Core i5-2500k processor

ASUS or Gigabyte Z68 motherboard

8gb DDR3 1333 or 1600 ram(Gskill is very popular right now)

Video card - Highest budget will allow, but GTX 570 would be good(see chart) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-card-radeon-geforce,3085-7.html

Power Supply - Depends on graphics card, but 80 Plus Bronze Certified 600-650watt is a good place to start, with 80 Plus Certified being the minimum.

Case - Any mid to full tower with good air flow. Antec 300 or Coolermaster Elite 430 is a good start.

Hard drive - Depends on what is available with the shortage and what the budget will allow.

 

[digitalzom-b]

I would like to know a bit more about your TV... there are a few concerns with TV gaming as it can result in a very, very annoying lag from the signal that's input from when it actually shows up on the screen, giving a ghost-like quality to things. You may want to ensure that the television doesn't have these issues, or has a "game mode." Also, do you know if the TV is 720p or 1080p? This will define what kind of graphics card you may need because you'll want to game at 1920x1080 (1080p)

Also, with those game requirements, there is absolutely no need for SLI or Crossfire. In fact, it can be more complicated and cause more problems. Might want to do some research on "stuttering" because of SLI or crossfire (main reason why I stick with a power single-card solution).

I'll update later with a build...

 

[hitechgowthaman]

cabinet collermaster Haf932Advanced cabinet,silent pro gold 1200W 5y warenty max output 1440W not need to upgrade ,asus crosshair 5 board not need to update usb3.0 4@back 2@front usb2.0 8+4 supports 3way crosswire and sli upto 32gb ram ,trancend axe ram 2000+ overclock able directly by at trancend.com 8gb $119 or 1600Mhz 8gb $62 only,amd athelon x4 processor after u can update into fx8150 ,xfx radeon 6970 graphics $370 ,hdd 3tb for backup sata3.0 64Mb cache or 120Gb ssd for fast gaming.

 

[AdrianPerry]

2 video cards on a $1000 budget possibly isn't the best idea.

Crossfire 6870's @ $145 each w/rebate is about the best you'll get
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102948

---------

ATI XFX 6970 $320
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150517
ASRock Extreme3 Gen3 $121
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271&Tpk=extreme3%20gen3%20z68
i5-2500k $220
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
1TB SeaGate Barracuda (with free DVD/RW) $135
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697
8GB Corsair Vengeance $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233144
SilverStone Strider 600w $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071

Case?? Roughly $100 left to spend on case of your choice

 

[lonehunter23]

After some research it appears using my TV as a monitor may not be the best idea. Multiple people are reporting ghosting and image quality issues.

The monitor I currently have is an Acer g215H, 21.5" Widescreen LCD.

Thanks for the builds so far, the build above this post looks promising.

 

[AdrianPerry]

Yeah generally you want to look for about a 22-24" monitor, and something with a low response time, about 2ms. 5ms is ok, but 2 is better (the lower the better).

 

[lonehunter23]

If I were to overclock the processor using the parts from the build posted above would I need any additional cooling fans and or heatsinks? Or would there be enough fans in any case I would buy.

 

[tlmck]

Forgot to mention that if you live near a Microcenter, you can get the i5-2500k all day long for $179.99. http://www.microcenter.com/index.html

 

[AdrianPerry]

If I were to overclock the processor using the parts from the build posted above would I need any additional cooling fans and or heatsinks? Or would there be enough fans in any case I would buy.

An after-market heat-sink would be advisable if you were planning on over-clocking. The Hyper 212+ is a popular choice for many builders. Stock cooling would place a limit of around 4GHz compared to the Hyper 212+ offering sufficient cooling for 4.5GHz and beyond.

As for case fans, this really depends on which case you buy. Generally I wouldn't recommend less than 3 fans (one front intake, one rear exhaust, one roof exhaust). This is about optimal and the only possible additions would be one side fan as an intake to help cool graphics card(s).