Advice on gaming pc under $1000

[couscous33]

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice on a new gaming pc I'll be purchasing in a few days. This is my first time building one, so I don't really know if what I've constructed below the templated questions will work or not.
I mainly play games like Battlefield 3, Skyrim, World of Warcraft, soon to be Diablo 3.

Getting sick of playing the same games on the 360, and I've never really been into PC gaming. I'd like to change that!


Approximate Purchase Date:Next few days

Budget Range: I'd like to keep it under $1000.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, surfing the internet, watching movies.

Parts Not Required: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse

Country: USA


Any help would be appreciated. I'll check back frequently if I need to post more information. Here's what I have so far:

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000

MSI Z77MA-G45 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power

SONY Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1681S-0B - OEM

ASUS ENGTX560 DCII OC/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM

COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Advanced RC-932-KKN5-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0, Black Interior and Four Fans-1x 230mm front RED LED fan, 1x 140mm rear fan, 1x 230mm top fan, and 1x 230mm side fan

Samsung by Seagate Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ/ST500DM005 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

[Darth415]

That is a good start. You took the incentive and got yourself going.
Only changes you could make:

Motherboard: The z77 chipset is VERY good, so stick with motherboards that have this. Msi is pretty good, but I would try to get an ASus or gigabyte if possible.

Gpu: Do NOT get a Gtx 560. It is a bit overpriced. Go for a 560ti, or preferably, a hd 7850. The 7850 has a good price and doesn't consume much power or get very hot. It beats a 560ti, as a point of reference. This is one of the best brands, and 7850's are going out of stock very fast: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609

The 932 is a very good case (get it if you can), but the 912 is also very good, and costs about half as much.

Edit: Almost forgot, if you have a 1080p display, get a gpu with 1.5 gb or more VRAM (preferably 2 gb).

 

[couscous33]

Thanks for the advice. I took off Windows 7, the harddrive, and the DVD drive. I can get Windows for cheaper at the community college, and the other pieces I can get from my last PC.

Here's the updated list, coming to $944.94 on newegg.


Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL11D-8GBXL

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power

COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

EVGA 02G-P3-1568-KR GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

[hardeho]

why would he need more than 1GB of video RAM for 1080p? 1GB is plenty for 1080, that is a relatively low resolution all things considered. The 560ti is definitly the weakest link here though, but it'll get you through 2012 gaming t 1080p without much trouble. I have a Radeon 6870, which is almost, but not quite as good as a 560ti and I can run BF3 on ultra at 50+ FPS.

 

[Zero_]

Check my sig.

 

[couscous33]

Thanks guys! Just found this, it's on a huge sale right now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130759&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=1q0j4xa9pobqi


Saw it in another thread on these forums. Very helpful guys, thanks.

 

[hardeho]

That is a great card, and the performance wont be beat at $210. However, it draws way too much power, runs way too hot, and is way too loud for me. If those things dont bother you, then you will be VERY pleased with the performance.

 

[Why_Me]

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1335397645&sr=1-1 $52.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master HAF 912 Mid Tower ATX Case (RC-912-KKN1)

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Series-80PLUS-Performance-compatible/dp/B005A2RJOI/ref=sr_1_5?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1335594740&sr=1-5 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
OCZ ZS Series 750W 80PLUS Bronze High Performance Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157293 $134.99
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=Z77%20Extreme4 <----- A better look at that Asrock board

http://www.guru3d.com/news/intel-ivy-bridge-gets-prelaunch-price-cut/ $212
Intel Ivy Bridge i5 3570K 3.4Ghz

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-Sleeve-RR-B10-212P-G1/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1335397508&sr=1-1 $24.51 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231546 $44.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAB

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST1000DM003/dp/B005T3GRNW/ref=sr_1_6?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1335396654&sr=1-6 $89.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-AD-7280S-0B-Internal-Drive-Black/dp/B0057FRTPW/ref=pd_sim_pc_4 $17.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Sony AD-7280S-0B 24x SATA Internal DVD+/-RW Drive (Black)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JLFVNO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER $349.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS HD7870-DC2-2GD5 Radeon 2GB DDR5 VGA/DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort GPU Tweak Utilities PCI-Express 3.0 Graphics Card HD7870-DC2-2GD5

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/HD_7870_Direct_Cu_II/ <----- review of that Asus card w/benchmarks