Best Build for 1000 and under

[Cortemus]

So i'm looking for that sweet butter zone where price meets quality perfectly. Looking for a quality Gaming build to be as future proof as possible while still matching price (which i understand will be a bit limiting). I prefer Intel/Geforce over AMD/Radeon for the time being. I'm really after getting as close to possible max settings for games like Civilization 5, Starcraft 2, SWTOR.

Don't need monitor, keyboard, mouse, or hard drives or case.
The case i have is raidmax super helios.

Here's what i have so far.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK 78.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($130.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: *Zotac GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($319.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($47.75 @ OutletPC)
Optical Drive: Asus BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($53.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1002.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 10:11 EST-0500

I like this but i don't have much money at all and probably need to knock this down a little where acceptable without sacrificing performance too much....again-trying to find that butter zone.

 

[smorizio]

if your not going to sli or over clock and have a local micro center. pick up the 4590 cpu for 160.00 and a h97mb.
drop the air cooler down to an evo 212. used 3-4 of them now and for the money there great coolers.
with ram pick up a 8g kit to start. if you need more ram it takes about 2 min to add another kit. swap out the power supply for a better unit the cx are not gaming power supply. a lot of people have posted the doa rate slightly higher on the cx line.

 

[maddogfargo]

if your not going to sli or over clock and have a local micro center. pick up the 4590 cpu for 160.00 and a h97mb.
drop the air cooler down to an evo 212. used 3-4 of them now and for the money there great coolers.
with ram pick up a 8g kit to start. if you need more ram it takes about 2 min to add another kit. swap out the power supply for a better unit the cx are not gaming power supply. a lot of people have posted the doa rate slightly higher on the cx line.

+1 for this idea.

If you want to OC, keep the 4690k + Phanteks cooler.
If you won't OC, go with the 4590 and Hyper 212 EVO.

I've used both and the EVO is good for a light OC, so it will be plenty for a stock speed CPU.

Zotac GTX 970 is a nice card. I have a Gigiabyte G1 Gaming 970 and love it. The 970 is definitely the sweet spot right now for performance / cost / efficiency. Been using AMD GPUs for 10 years but this time nVidia was a better option, especially since it supports PhysX AND TressFX.

 

[filippi]

If you want same gaming performance for less money you should think about that build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 76.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($25.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($74.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290X 4GB TurboDuo Video Card ($262.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BDC-207DBK Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer ($42.68 @ Amazon)
Total: $786.57
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-30 10:42 EST-0500

You still get a mild good overclock and a strong (maybe stronger) gpu so you will keep same gaming performance.
You will need a better psu to keep up with R9 290x so EVGA B2 750W is a great option.

Good luck mate 😀

PS. I suppose we still gonna see news about GTX970 vs R9 290x performance for a while now...

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/803518/geforce-900-series/gtx-970-3-5gb-vram-issue/121