$1000 gaming rig

[sirbob77]

my buddy has asked me to help him put together a gaming rig for $1000 and i'm not sure if i should just recommend him to get a pre-built pc from a custom build site just for the hassle free process if something breaks and what not so i wont have to help him out if something goes wrong. this will be his first desktop (he's a console tard and i've lured him to the pc side hopefully) so i could use some input on the best quality for price. i'm not against building it myself either but i just mainly want to know the best series and what not that could fit a 1k bill, thanks!

Also, i'd like to keep it intel/nvidia but not opposed to other brands if they are reliable and proven what not.

EDIT: put this together, http://pcpartpicker.com/p/crra (any opinions?)

 

[azeem40]

At a $1000 budget, AMD is a clear winner for GPUs (NOT CPUs). Does he need KB/Mouse/OS/Monitor? What games does he play? And at what quality does he want to play them?

 

[sirbob77]

At a $1000 budget, AMD is a clear winner for GPUs (NOT CPUs). Does he need KB/Mouse/OS/Monitor? What games does he play? And at what quality does he want to play them?

if AMD is better for budget then that's totally fine. i'll be giving him my old kb, mouse, and monitor. he'll need an OS (im guessing win 7 home). he plays FPS for the most part and he's used to xbox quality so that and up i'd guess. he's not a graphics freak so a balance of speed and graphics would be good. also we both live in a barracks (in the army) and the internet is slower than we'd like, would any sort of lan or wi fi card help at all?

 

[azeem40]

All motherboards right now come with gigabit lan.

Let me see what I can scrounge up.

 

[sirbob77]

ok, good to know

 

[sirbob77]

i've pieced this together although im not sure if these will need a better than stock (possible overclocking i guess i would then) and also is this power supply (550w) good enough as well (again, if i overclock will it need to be more)?

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/crra

 

[calguyhunk]

You ought to have mentioned your country of residence 'cuz prices vary wildly from country to country.

Also, whether you want to SLI/Xfire/Overclock straight off the bat or keep the options open for a later date

Anyways, assuming you're in the US and want max fps/bang for your buck straight off the bat, the following system is what I'll go with to be able to use for the next several years.

CPU: $220 Core i5-2500K

Board: $125 Asrock Z77 Extreme4

RAM: $54 CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB

HDD: $70 Western Digital 500GB

ODD: $18 LG SATA DVD Burner

GPU: $520 EVGA SuperClocked GeForce GTX 680

HSF - $31 COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO

PSU: $70 CORSAIR TX650 V2

Case: $45 COOLER MASTER Elite 431 Plus

Total - 1153 Plus Shipping.

If you really want to save the 150 odd dollars, get the following CPU/Board combo and drop the aftermarket HSF. That will save you $130 without any performance hit

CPU: $190 Core i5-2400

Board: $55 MSI H61M-P31

As for the video card, the 7870 is pretty much pawned by the GTX 670 - GTX 670 vs. HD 7870

At least get the 670 if you want to keep the first build and save the 120 odd dollars if you have to.

 

[gamerkila57]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3419957&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=SyIrj13jmG8-bgrAgvmv6PBuDYWmH5.WUQ