1080p High/Ultra Gaming $1,000 Gaming Build

[Matthew-san]

A friend of mine is looking into getting into the PC gaming world and has asked me to build him a pc that will handle all the latest games. He is also heading off to college soon so he'll us eit for other basic things. I've got a build in mind but I was wondering if anyone could improve it or just make a better build. The cheaper it is the better. Here's what I've come up with so far:

OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit
MOBO: ASRock Z97 Extreme3
CPU: i5-4690
GPU: ASUS Strix GTX 970
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600 MHz (Black)
PSU: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze
Case: Raidmax Viper GX ATX Mid Tower
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 7200 RPM

The price comes out to $1016. I'd like to lower the price if possible. Thanks in advance to anyone that can help!

 

[jimmysmitty]

Does the budget need to include a monitor/mouse/keyboard?

 

[retix]

i would only change the mobo for a MSI H97 GAMING 3 a little cheaper since u have a non K i5 4690

 

[Dan425811923]

Better build overall.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1241 V3 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($248.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus H97-PLUS ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($85.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390 8GB SOC Video Card ($314.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT Source 210 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.75 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 P2 1000W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($162.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1030.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-07-15 19:46 EDT-0400

 

[Matthew-san]

The budget is only for the desktop. We have a separate budget for everything else. One thing my friend wanted was a green and black case. Your build looks good Dan. I haven't done much research on the R9 390. How does it perform compared to the 970? Also, is there a slightly cheaper PSU I could use in the build for future SLI or crossfire?

 

[Dan425811923]

The budget is only for the desktop. We have a separate budget for everything else. One thing my friend wanted was a green and black case. Your build looks good Dan. I haven't done much research on the R9 390. How does it perform compared to the 970? Also, is there a slightly cheaper PSU I could use in the build for future SLI or crossfire?

The 390 uses a lot of power. Going with an EVGA supernova 850w is good too. It performs slightly better than the 970.
You can go swap it out for a green/black case.

Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9cKZiJw6Pk

 

[Matthew-san]

Thanks for the video Dan. I've decided to go with the 970.