$1000 gaming PC 2015 (including os)

[bluebadger12]

I am building a gaming pc for the first time and am going for a white, blue, and black color scheme. I am not overclocking the cpu, but will be overclocking the gpu. I'm wondering if anybody had any suggestions to make it slightly better: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WpHjFT

 

[CTurbo]

Thermal paste is not necessary

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($5.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($304.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $981.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-13 15:33 EDT-0400

 

[Eximo]

Swapped the 4690 for a Xeon 3.4Ghz quad core w/ hyperthreading, nearly the same price. Went with a more reliable and reputable power supply. For the price you were paying from Amazon you can even afford to go for a little higher efficiency or perhaps a modular power supply.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($232.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Cooling MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($5.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 Anniversary ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($71.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Blue 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card ($324.43 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($68.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.99 @ Amazon)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($99.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1000.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-13 15:32 EDT-0400

 

[bluebadger12]

Why the Xeon?

 

[Sapphire Thunder]

Why the Xeon?

Because it gives the performance of i7 for the price of i5.
This is because it doesn't have the integrated graphics.

 

[CTurbo]

The i5 4690 is a terrible value. The Xeon adds hyperthreading for just a little more. It's a great cpu. If you don't want the Xeon, get the i5 4590.

The Corsair CX psu is also not very good.

 

[bluebadger12]

I don't want the Msi or asus gtx 970, so should I get the acx 2.0, 2.0+, or something like the gigabyte g1

 

[CTurbo]

Get the $304 EVGA in my build above