Help on 1000 dollar gaming desktop

I might be willing to hit 1500-1600 if its really worth it also. Thanks....

-Start out with a quality socket LGA 1155 motherboard, one that is SLI or CrossfireX ready. $150
-The cpu is next, intel beats AMD on its butt here, so get either a sandy or ivy bridge i5 or i7(more expensive) one. The i5s are all wonderful, but the 2500k is exceptionally popular and not outrageously priced. $220
-A good ATX case is essential, full tower is preferable if you have room, but a mid tower can work quite well with a full ATX MB also. Pick one you like with adequate cooling fan slots, and make sure you like its appearance, you'll see it every day for years to come. $150
-Next is the power supply, which must be ATX to match your MB and case. Make sure its Motherboard connector has the same # of pins as your MB so they will work. Get a decent quality one and avoid OEM ones with no brand as these will likely not deliver their full wattage. A single 12v rail is preferable, but dual can work if the wattage is high enough, lets play it safe if you want dual gpus and get a 700 watt one. Raidmax makes a good modular (detachable cables) one for ~$70
-RAM is RAM, you'll need around 8 Gb, Ddr3 1600Mhz is the norm, so make sure your Motherboard supports it. $60
-A disc drive is not really necessary anymore, but it helps when you install your OS, want to watch DVDs, buy boxed games, etc. A good DVD drive is $20 or so, while blu ray will run ~$60-75 at the low end. Note that Blu Ray drives will work on DVDs too.
-However, a hard drive is still essential, a seagate or Western Digital 1TB runs around $75. A Solid State Drive will boost performance, but costs an order of magnitude more, so consider getting a small one to run your OS and any frequently used programs for around $100 for ~120Gb
-The almighty graphics card is next. Radeon ones are often better values, but their drivers are often outshone by Nvidias. Look for benchmarks on a card before you buy, but be sure that they are using recent drivers as AMD has been rapidly catching up in that respect. I recommend either a radeon 7950 or a GTX 670, depending on your preferred brand. Note that the different manufacturers of the actual cards all use the same gpu chip (eg. all 7950s have essentially the same chip in their heart), but may have different amounts of memory and may be clocked at different frequencies. The fans are also not all created equal, and some are better or worse at cooling and make more/less noise. A 7950 card will cost around $300 or more with special features. A gtx670 starts at around $370
-Finally there is the operating system, which is basically a choice of Windows 7, 8, or Linux. Either windows will cost around $140 for the retail version, which you want because the license can be transferred if you replace the motherboard, which is impossible with the OEM version. Linux is free, but suffers from a dearth of commercial apps, and most games won't work on it.

Come back in august and open a new thread by then, since there's going to be new stuff coming, like the intel haswell cpus in june and the new motherboards for it and other stuff, the prices of the components will vary a lot by then, some might get discontinued, it's pointless to recommend anything now.

Here is something for you to look at just for now but its gonna be changing prices and what not in the future, like everyone said just wait about 2 weeks before you about to purchase to come back and ask for help than it will give you the best price possible for that time.

With this build below you can change a couple things to make it cheaper.

If your not gonna OC save money get a regular i5 non "K" type, drop the mobo down to an H77, drop the CPU cooler, get a cheaper case. With that option you will be able to add an SSD, and or up your GPU.

If you decide not to SLI you will be able to drop the PSU to a 550W or even a Tier 1 500W PSU.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($32.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($369.99 @ Microcenter)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($89.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $1145.87
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-02-17 18:51 EST-0500)

Also you said you live in NY so that CPU in my list is one that you have to go in store to pick up for that price (you will usually be able to get a combo deal which for me included the 3570K & Z77 Extreme4)

There is a Micro Center located in Long Island and Westchester County if you live close by to one of them