Building first gaming computer

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Hey everyone. I've been thinking about putting together my first computer for under the price of $1000. I'd really like to try and build it myself and have recently been doing research on possible options for the rig. This computer is strictly for online multiplayer gaming like Guild Wars 2 and War Z standalone. I am not interested in overclocking or modifying factory components. I'd like to just buy and install.

So far I think I'm going with Windows 7 Home Premium edition 64 bit as my operating system. I;m looking at 64 bit so i can maximize the use of 8gigs of ram.

8 gigs of ram DDR3

I'm looking into the AMD 7 series for graphics, but am not sure which to get. I know this is a very important part of having a good gaming experience (as having great graphics is very important for me) any alternative suggestions would be appreciated.*for a side note i'm hooking this pc up to my big screen so it has to be hdmi compatible.

It seems that a lot of current games aren't taking advantage of the i7's capabilities so I'm assuming i can save money and be safe with an i5 processor. I heard 2500 and 3570 are good. Again, i have no idea what I am talking about so any suggestions are most welcome :)

As for storage and cooling, i have no idea what to do there. I won't be doing anything else on this computer aside from installing games and playing them.

I assume I'll need a mid 500 + power watt supply. Monitor and speakers are out because the pc will be hooked up to my TV.

I thank whoever decides to help a noob pc maker in advance! Hopefully you guys can relieve some consumer stress! Oh, and if i forgot to add any other components please let me know.
 
an i7 is wasted on most gaming applications. you are correct that an i5 should be sufficient.

w7 home premium would also work. i use both hp on my laptop and pro on my desktop.

8gb of ram should be sufficient for most games.

look at gpu charts for 2012 or 2013 (anandtech has some nice charts). look at some game references and the fps results to judge what card works best for you.

a ssd can decrease windows start up times, increase file transfer speed and make your system snappy but does not improve game performance other than loading levels quicker. you would be better off with a wd caviar black, samsung spinpoint f3 or seagate barracuda 1 or 1.5tb drive

if you dont plan on overclocking you dont need a special cpu heatsink just use the oem one.

buy a decent sub 100 dollar case with good airflow and you should be fine.

do a power calculation with 100% load and add 100-200w to it for a margin of safety. i'd suggest a corsair or pcp&c psu.

i would suggest a good name brand mobo with onboard sound, usb3 and all of the other features you may want.

i'm not impressed with amd/ati drivers. just the other week i had to deal with catalyst and it refused to run until i downloaded windows updates. nvidia drivers on the other hand ran without issue with no other updates needed. of course both will work.

in general i would stick with major brands like evga, gigabyte, intel, etc over budget brands.

you may want to post this thread in the /systems/ area of the forum for more input instead of here. that area is frequented by people who will list exact parts for you instead of general advice.