11
$1000 Gaming Build
by manirelliPermalink: (33 comments)
Part List
Parts Are Compatible: No issues/incompatibilities found.
Estimated Wattage: 347W
| Component | Selection | Base Price | Promo | Shipping | Tax | Price | Where | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | $229.97 | FREE | $229.97 | SuperBiiz | |||||
| CPU Cooler | $74.99 | -$10.00 | FREE | $64.99 | Newegg | ||||
$10.00 mail-in rebate
|
|||||||||
| Motherboard | $108.99 | ![]() |
$108.99 | Amazon | |||||
| Memory |
Parametric Memory From Filter:
|
$62.99 | FREE | $62.99 | Newegg | ||||
| Storage |
Parametric Storage From Filter:
|
$59.99 | ![]() |
$59.99 | Amazon | ||||
Parametric Storage From Filter:
|
$45.01 | $3.99 | $49.00 | Amazon | |||||
| Video Card |
Parametric Video Card From Filter:
|
$329.98 | FREE | $329.98 | NCIX US | ||||
| Case | $49.98 | $49.98 | NCIX US | ||||||
| Power Supply | $69.99 | -$10.00 | FREE | $59.99 | Newegg | ||||
$10.00 mail-in rebate
|
|||||||||
| Base Total: | $1031.89 | ||||||||
| Mail-in Rebates: | -$20.00 | ||||||||
| Shipping: | $3.99 | ||||||||
| Total: | $1015.88 | ||||||||
| (Using your selected merchants and only including nearby in-store pickup prices) | |||||||||
|
* Some physical dimension restrictions cannot (yet) be automatically checked, such as cpu cooler / RAM clearance with modules using tall heat spreaders.
| |||||||||
Comments
Reason:
Note: Wattages are estimates only. Actual power draw may differ from listed values.
| Component | Estimated Wattage |
|---|---|
| Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor | 11W - 88W |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler | 5W - 10W |
| Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | 17W - 70W |
| Team Elite Plus 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | 9W - 9W |
| Transcend SSD340 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | 1W - 5W |
| Seagate Constellation ES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | 4W - 20W |
| Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card | 36W - 145W |
| Total: | 83W - 347W |


On a 1000 dollar budget we recommend most users step up from the Intel i5-4460 and select the overclockable Haswell Refresh i5-4690k. Unless you are building a workstation or enthusiast machine this is the de facto standard for gaming builds at the moment.
With a processor designed for overclocking you will want to upgrade your stock cooler to a higher performing model. The Phanteks PH-TC14PE is consistently one of the top performing air coolers, available at a fantastic price point, and offered in a wide range of colors to match the theme of your computer.
To allow overclocking on the i5-4690k we have selected the Gigabyte GA-Z97-HD3 motherboard. This motherboard supports up to 32GB of memory, six SATA 6Gb/s devices, multiple expansion cards, and excellent linux compatibility. For this build and most machines outside of the top end enthusiast realm we have opted to go with 8GB of DDR3 memory. The parametric filter we used will find the best price on 8GB kits of memory that are within Intel’s recommended specifications for our build. With a 1000 dollar budget we can increase the allocation to our storage needs. Using the parametric filters this build will incorporate an SSD with at least 128GB of space and a minimum of 1TB of mechanical storage at 7200rpm.
With the release of the GeForce GTX 970 we have revised our 1000 dollar build to include this powerhouse of a graphics card. At its current price there is no other GPU that can compare on a price or performance level. Many benchmarks show it going toe to toe with 780ti which should provide you with 60fps across nearly all modern games at 1080p.
All of our components will be housed within the Fractal Core 3500. This case has a gorgeous brushed aluminum finish, room for enthusiast CPU coolers, modular hard drive bays, and front panel USB3.0. The entire build is powered by a Corsair CX600M power supply – a high performing unit for the price that allows for great cable management using a semi-modular design.