Building a gaming PC <$1000

Brent H

Honorable
Apr 11, 2012
24
0
10,510
Approximate Purchase Date: Sometime this summer (June/July)

Budget Range: $1,000 or less (a little flexible if going over would mean a big performance boost, but I'm hoping for under a thousand)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, some video editing and graphic art, school work

Parts Not Required: Peripherals

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.com, amazon.com, tigerdirect.com

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: None

Overclocking: Maybe

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe, not necessary

Monitor Resolution: I was thinking of just using my Vizio 37" LCD/LED TV (full 1080p)

Additional Comments: I don't do a massive amount of gaming, so I definitely don't want a top-top of the line rig. But, I do want it to be able to last me a few years before I need to upgrade anything in it if I'm gonna spend the money now.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Just some parts I've looked at so far:

Case:
Cooler Master HAF 922 ($70 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Processor:
Intel i5-2500k ($220)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

Motherboard:
Asus P8P67M pro rev 3.0 ($110 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131707

GPU:
XFX Radeon 6950 ($230 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150549
-OR-
ASUS Radeon 7850 ($260)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121623

PSU:
Silverstone Strider Essential 600w ($60 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256071

Memory:
Corsair Vengeance 8GB ($50)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145345

HDD:
Samsung Seagate 500GB ($80)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181

Optical:
LG Bluray burner ($80)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136241

Total: $900

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've never done this sort of thing before, so I might have made some dumb choices. I picked the bluray burner for the optical drive because I don't have a bluray player, and to get the burner was only 10 bucks more than just the bluray drive. Figured I could use that down the road.

I also couldn't really decide between the Radeon 6950 or 7850. The 6950 is cheaper and will probably accomplish my needs, but if the 7850 is much better, I'll plop down the extra 30 bucks. The other thing I wasn't sure about was the PSU.

Lastly, I know a SSD is a good idea, and I plan on getting one down the road, but I figure I don't really need it from the get-go, even if it does provide faster boot times. I can be patient :)

But anyways, feel free to comment away, even if that means scrapping every single thing up there and making a new build for a similar price.

Thanks!
 

Brent H

Honorable
Apr 11, 2012
24
0
10,510


Thanks! How does everything else look? I'm leaning more towards the Radeon 7850, and then I'll take azeem's suggestions about the i5-3570k and ASRock Z77 Extreme4 Gen3.

Is everything compatible? Is there stuff I could cut back on?
 

Just make sure you have a 650w psu if you ever plan on adding a second card sometime in the future, otherwise everything looks good. And +1 on waiting for Ivy Bridge at the end of the month. That way you can look at the reviews/benchmarks.