First Build, $1000 Gaming

[raven2510]

Approximate Purchase Date: 1-2 weeks

Budget Range: $1000 after rebates

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, Surfing, Ripping Movies

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS?(See comments)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg.com, Amazon.com

Country: United States

Parts Preferences: Intel

Overclocking: Yes...once I learn

SLI or Crossfire: Yes, in the future.

Monitor Resolution: Will be using my 37" LCD Tv 720p/1080i for now, but future 1920 x 1080 Monitor.

Additional Comments: I have an old laptop that has a busted screen. I can pull the drive. Can I use the Windows XP key with an Upgrade for Win7 Home Premium I have, so I can use Win7 on it?

So here is what I have so far after about a month of reading on here and other sites.

CPU - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 $229.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

MOBO - ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard $121.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271

MEMORY - G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR $43.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416

SSD - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F120GB3A-BK 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) $119.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233206

HDD - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKX 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769

PSU - OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W Modular High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandybridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341018

CASE - Thermaltake Commander MS-I ID VN400A1W2N Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case $44.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133190

CPU COOLER - COOLER MASTER Hyper TX3 RR-910-HTX3-G1 "Heatpipe Direct Contact" 92mm CPU Cooler $17.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103064


Now on the GPU side of things is where I don't know what to choose. With this being my first build, I'm not sure weather to go with AMD or NVIDIA. I have an Nvidia gpu in my pc now and have never had any issues, but I'm willing to go with either, performance wise. I'm leaning towards the 560 Ti as it seems like its a better card and can be OC'ed with much liked "MSI Afterburner".

GPU - EVGA 01G-P3-1561-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti FPB (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card $209.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130623
or
XFX HD-687X-CNFC Radeon HD 6870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card $194.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150563


797.93 after rebates, before GPU's above.

Please check for any issues you guys see. I hope I learned enough...Thanks

 

[azeem40]

The Ti is better than the 6870. Take a look at this: http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2011-gaming-graphics-charts/3DMark11-Gamer,2659.html

 

[somekidxd]

GTX 560 Ti>6870.

If you want the 120GB SSD, fine, but Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are higher quality.
700w overkill for now.

 

[somekidxd]

Suggestion:
i5 2500k $230
Asrock Z68 Pro3 $110
Kingston HyperX 1333 8GB $40
Hitachi 500gb 7200rpm $70
Crucial M4 64GB SSD $110
Gigabyte GTX 570 $345
Antec ECO 620w $60
Cooler Master Elite 430 $55

Total: $1030

Can change case if you dont like

 

[ebola28]

both SSD somekid recommended are amazing. I wouldn't trust an OCZ PSU either.

@somekid, i think he will add a second GPU in future, so will need more than that antec