$1000

Is this the right type of PC for me?

If you’re looking for a PC to play video games, you’re at the right place. If this not what you’re looking for, check out the other Computer Systems instead.

Which Gaming PC should I choose?

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What resolution will you be playing at?
• How high do you want the graphic settings to be?

Higher resolutions and higher graphic settings both require more processing power from a PC. If you have high expectations and can’t stand low-quality, don’t go for a budget model. If you want to play at a high resolution such as 1920×1200 with high settings, go for a higher-end model. On the other side, if you play on a 15″ or 17″ monitor, a lower-end gaming PC is plenty enough for you.
I realize that this is obvious for some of you, but it’s not for everyone.

Keep in mind that the gaming PC will perform more or less well depending on the game played, as each game have different requirements. Also, some games run better on Nvidia or on ATI/AMD hardware.You may be able to crank up the graphics settings on some games or have to lower it a notch on others, compared to what I say below.

The resolution and quality settings that I mention below should only be used as a guideline to give you an idea of the capability of the chosen Gaming PC on recent games. As a rule of thumb, the older the game, the higher you can set your settings and the other way around with newer games.

• How long you intend to keep the system before upgrading?

If you keep the same monitor(resolution) and expect the same graphic quality, a low-end Gaming PC ($700 and less) will need an upgrade within a year or two, a mainstream model($850 to $1500) in 1.5 to 2.5 years and an high-end model($1500+) in 2 to 3 years.

Of course, this will vary depending on the video games that you will buy and their requirements.Also, the higher the resolution/graphic settings that you play at, the earlier you’ll have to upgrade.

By upgrade, I getting a better video card and possibly a better cpu/motherboard/RAM (if necessary). Use your judgment and ask opinions from experts to see what is your best option and if the upgrade is worthwhile.

Gaming PCs lineup:

In order for each design below:

1. Price, Cpu, Motherboard, Video Card, RAM, Hard Drive, Optical Drive, Case, Power Supply, Cooling, Sound and LAN. Parts in Bold indicate an upgrade compared to the part from the previous, less-expensive Gaming PC.
2. Followed by a guideline of how well you can expect the system to perform, resolution/graphic settings wise.
3. Ending with a link to a full article of the gaming PC, which includes a description of the parts, links to buy them, alternatives and at the end of the article, a summary of all the parts, with prices and links to buy them.

• $400 – AMD X2 7850 Kuma BE, ASRock N68PV-GS, Radeon 4850 512MB, 4GB DDR2 800, 320GB HD, 22X DVD±R Burner, Antec 300, Cooler Master 460W, Stock Cooling, 6 Channels Sound and 1000 Mbps LAN.
  For 1680×1050 and lower resolutions with medium/high settings.
  Check out the $400 Gaming PC
• $500 – AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE 3.1GHz, ASUS M4A78 Plus, Radeon 4870 512MB, 4GB RAM DDR2 800, 320GB HD, 22X DVD±R Burner, Antec 300, Cooler Master 460W, Stock Cooling, 8 Channels Sound and 1000 Mbps LAN. For 1920×1200 with medium settings,1680×1050 and lower resolutions high/max.
  Check out the $500 Gaming PC
• $700 – AMD Phenom II X2 550 BE 3.1GHz, ASUS M4A78 Plus, Two Radeon 4850 512MB in Crossfire, 4GB RAM DDR2 1066, 750GB HD, 22X DVD±R Burner, Antec 300, OCZ StealthXStream 700W, Two additional 120mm case fans, 8 Channels Sound and 1000 Mbps LAN.
  Check out the $700 Gaming PC
  
• $850 – AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz, ASUS M4A78T-E, Two Radeon 4870 1GB in Crossfire, 4GB RAM DDR3 1600, 500GB HD, 22X DVD±R Burner, Antec 900, Antec TruePower 650W, Stock Cooling, 8 Channels Sound and 1000 Mbps LAN.
  For 2560×1600 with low/medium settings, high/maxed out at 1920×1200 and lower resolutions.
  Check out the $850 Gaming PC
• $1000 – AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2GHz, ASUS M4A78T-E, Two Radeon 4870 1GB in Crossfire, 4GB RAM DDR3 1600, 500GB HD, 22X DVD±R Burner, Antec 900, Antec TruePower 650W, Stock Cooling, 8 Channels Sound and 1000 Mbps LAN.
  For 2560×1600 with medium/high settings, high/max at 1920×1200 and lower resolutions.
  This is the $1000 Gaming PC article, read on.
• More Gaming PCs coming soon – Check out the Free updates page if you want to learn how you can receive all the latest articles, including new Computer Systems and updates for free, via RSS, e-mail, Twitter and soon, Facebook!

How does this work?

For each part of this system, I will tell you my recommendation, the reason for it and the cost on the last date that this post was updated. I may also suggest some alternatives that I think may prove useful to you. If they do, feel free to go with it instead of my original recommendation, as after all, this is a custom computer. All parts were checked for compatibility, including upgrades.

I invite you to post your suggestions, comments, questions and more at the end of this post.

What’s different compared to the $850 Gaming PC?

1. Cpu: Upgrading from an AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8GHz to an AMD Phenom II X4 920 3.2GHz.

Introduction:

Priced at $1000, this is the least expensive gaming PC that features a dual-gpu solution. If you’re looking for a solid solution that allows you to play most games at 1920×1200 with high/max details, this is it. Read on for the parts that I recommend for a $1000 Gaming PC.

$1000 Gaming PC Computer parts:

Motherboard + CPU:

ASUS M4A78T-E AM3 + AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE 3.2Ghz

Motherboard: A great multimedia mainstream motherboard that comes with Crossfire support and that supports everything in this system. It comes with the following features:

• On the back, you have: Audio(8 Channel ), along with a PS/2 port, VGA, DVI, HDMI, S/PDIF Out via optical, FireWire, 1 E-SATA, 6 USB and a LAN connection.
• On the board itself, you have: 4 slots for DDR3 RAM(Max 16GB), two PCI-Express 2.0 16X(Single 16X or dual 8X), two PCI-Express 2.0 1X, 2 PCI slots, 5 SATA ports with support for RAID 0/1/5/10/JBOD, along with others things you would expect (CPU slot, IDE, 3 USB headers, etc.)
• This board comes with the AMD 790GX chipset.

CPU: This is the best current offering from AMD, their top of the line Phenom II quad-core processor, clocked at 3.2Ghz.

Yes, but the Core i7 920 is faster!

We’re all going to hear that one. Let’s put it this way:

If you aren’t one of those people who has to spend about $100-$200 more for your processor motherboard just to win in synthetic benchmarks and be able to say that you have the very best (even if it is only by a little, under specific circumstances), then the Phenom II X4 955 is for you.

However, if you are one of the aforementioned people, then sure, get the i7 920 and be happy with it. I just can’t stand people telling everyone that they need to spend the extra money so they can have the “very best” intel cpu when the AMD works just as well in everything except audio/video encoding and synthetic benchmarks (which shouldn’t even be a big deal anyway, I mean what’s the point? It’s a SYNTHETIC benchmark, it doesn’t reflect real life tasks at all so I don’t see why you have to have the top score), and has been recorded outperforming the i7 920 in gaming multiple times.

Right now, if you don’t use audio/video encoding on your computer on a daily basis, the Phenom II X4 955 is a much better value and if I may remind you, this is a Gaming PC. This means that by using the saved money by buying the Phenom II X4 955 and the platform that goes with it, you can put more money toward the graphic cards, which will make a bigger difference in gaming performance anyway.

Cost: $355

Video Card:

Two XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB in Crossfire

With the recent price drops from AMD on the Radeon 4850, 4870 and 4890, you can now afford two Radeon HD 4870 1GB in Crossfire in this $850 Gaming PC design. Some will point out that you could get a Radeon 4870 X2, but they start at $360, a $60 premium right now.

Cost: $300
Alternative: If you prefer a high-end single gpu/card solution, from AMD/ATi, you have the factory highly overclocked SAPPHIRE Toxic Radeon HD 4890 1GB which comes with a superior cooler. You could get two and CrossFire them for mind-blowing performance too

From Nvidia, you have the XFX GeForce GTX 285 1GB which is even faster than the Radeon 4890 1GB, although more expensive as well. Good to know though, it comes with FarCry2 & Call Of Duty 5 for free!

RAM:

G. Skill 4GB(2×2GB) DDR3 1600

With the price of DDR3 getting lower and lower, considering that its future proof and that it offers a slightly better performance, it’s now worth recommending for this system.

Running at 1600MHz, two sticks of 2GB of DDR3 from G.Skill for a total of 4GB, priced at $65, makes for a wise investment.

Cost: $65

Hard Drive:

Western Digital 500GB Caviar Black 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s

For $70, you get a high-performance and reliable 500GB Hard Drive from Western Digital that comes with a five year warranty.

Cost: $70
Alternative: Get twice the capacity, at 1000GB, for only $100

Get a solid-state drive for booting and important programs/games. Super Talent offers SSDs with 230MB/s Read and 160MB/s Write speeds, trashing any single spinning disk hard drive.

At $125 for 32GB and $196 for 64GB, they offer outstanding performance at an affordable price. I recommend using the SSD as your OS/main programs/games drive, with a regular hard drive for storage purposes.

Keep in mind that SSDs are 2.5″, so I recommend that you get an ICY DOCK 2.5″ to 3.5″ Converter so you can use your SSD in a regular 3.5″ hard drive slot while keeping it cool.

Optical Drive:

Samsung 22X DVD±R DVD Burner

A standard SATA 22X DVD Burner from Samsung.
Compatible with all major formats, except HD-DVD and Bluray of course.

Cost: $24

Case + Power Supply:

Antec Nine Hundred + Antec Truepower 650W 80 PLUS Bronze

Case: I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the Antec Nine Hundred. It’s a sturdy, high quality, well designed case, with excellent ventilation (includes 2 120mm fans in the front back, a 200mm on top, a 120mm fan in the back and space for another 120mm fan on the side).
Front panel comes with: 2 USBs, FireWire, audio ports and some space to leave devices such as Ipod and cell phone.

Power Supply: This is a gaming PC, where reliable and stable power is a must. Power supplies that come included with cases just don’t cut it, as they are made cheaply, from unknown manufacturers. This is why that at any budget point, I recommend a quality power supply. You wouldn’t want to endanger an entire build (Not to mention problems with stability…) by cutting the corners on the power supply just to save a couple of bucks, would you?

This power comes from Antec, one of the most reputable brand in the industry. Featuring high efficiency (80 PLUS Bronze certification) and Active power factor correction(PFC) to protect your system from unstable current. It is also SLI/Crossfire/Core i7 ready.

Cost: $185

Cooling:

Stock cooling

Stock heatsink for CPU and Video Card. Plenty enough to handle each part under normal operation with some headroom for overclocking

Cost: Free.
Alternative: If you have any intention of overclocking, I cannot stress enough the importance of a good cooler. At $40, the Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer offers the best value regarding performance for the price, being one the best heatsink at a great price, it’s really underrated. Best part is that at that price, they even include good thermal grease and a fan controller to asjust the speed. Nice!

Sound Card:

Integrated 8 Channel

Integrated with the motherboard, this sound card will handle many different sound setups, including headphones, a microphone and more. While integrated audio on a PC used to be absolutely horrible, it has gotten much better in the last few years, thus why I have no trouble recommending it now.

Cost: Free – Integrated

Network:

Integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps

Integrated with the motherboard, this network adapter will allow you to access your local network and Internet.

Cost: Free – Integrated

Recommended operating systems:

The operating system cost, if there’s one, is not included in the total cost. The two reason for this are that the cost represents only hardware and because you may re-use a previous license, go with an open-source OS such as Linux or use torrents. Nevertheless, here are some recommendations:

Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Despite Linux starting to support some games, Windows still is the platform of choice for the best performance at the moment. Considering that you’ll have 4GB of RAM and a 512MB Video Card, you’ll need a 64-bit version.

Vista Home Premium’s low cost definitely helps compared to other versions of Windows, and driver support has vastly improved since the release, with SP1 helping a lot. Not to mention that Direct X 10 is only officially supported by Vista.

Cost: $100

Windows 7 Beta

Now at Release Candidate stage, Windows 7 Beta is a great improvement over Vista, using less resources and is more simple/straight-forward to use overall. Best of all, it’s free to use for many months, up to July 2010. The downside is that you may run into crashes or incompatible material due to its Beta nature. Click here to go download it directly from Microsoft.

Cost: Free – Its a beta.

Linux

A lot of people these days boots more than one OS. Linux is a wonderful choice: powerful, cool, and cheap. Take your pick of distributions and have fun! For Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware, and Mandrake, try Distrowatch.com, Cheapbytes.com, LinuxQuestions.org or one of the many others.

What about Word processing, Excel and other Windows-based programs that Iyou need? Linux being an open platform, there are many free alternatives that will answer your needs. For Word/Excel and such, try OpenOffice.

Cost: Free

Let me resume this computer for you, with every part and its price:

Component:	Make and Model:	Price	After Rebate	Newegg Link
Motherboard + CPU	ASUS M4A78T-E + Phenom II X4 955 BE	$355	$340	Link
CPU	Included in Combo Above
Video Card	Two XFX Radeon HD 4870 1GB in Crossfire	$300		Link
RAM	G.Skill 4GB (2×2GB) DDR3 1600	$65		Link
Hard Drive	Western Digital 500GB Caviar Black	$70		Link
Optical Drive	Samsung 22X DVD±R DVD Burner	$24		Link
Case + Power Supply	Antec Nine Hundred + Antec TruePower 650W	$185		Link
Power Supply	Included in Combo above
Cooling	Stock Cooling
Sound Card	Integrated 8 Channel	Free
Network	Integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps	Free
Total	Not including shipping, handling nor OS	$999	$984

Conclusion

Did you like this computer build? Would you like to see more computer builds?
Head over to the Computer Systems page right now, for a complete list of all my PC designs.

Do you have any requests for me, to build a computer just for you? Contact me and I will do my best to assist you!
Just make sure to be specific as for what do you want to use your computer for, your price range and any other needs of yours.

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