Help! Buying my first gaming PC (Budget: $1,000)

Greetings 🙂

I’m looking for some help putting together a PC build—primarily for Electronic Arts titles, specifically Grand Theft Auto V, but I also need it to handle web browsing, Photoshop, and some Adobe video editing software...

It's been ages since I actually owned a desktop—I've been dragging myself along with an old laptop that's basically on its deathbed—so I'd appreciate a component list. I already have a monitor (FullHD), plus my keyboard and mouse, so I just need the tower itself. My absolute limit is $2333, though I'm hoping you can squeeze every last drop of performance out of that budget 🙂 for me
. Since I'll be paying cash and I'm based in Washington, D.C., I'm hoping we can find something local...
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the intrusion...

Over-and-Out ☕

One AMD Radeon R9 290, TRI-X edition, equipped with 4GB of GDDR5.
One single AMD FX-Series X8 8300 desktop processor. It's got that 3.3GHz clock speed, 16MB of cache, and a 95W TDP, all sitting on the AM3+ socket. Just the box.
One GIGABYTE GA-970A-DS3P, AM3+.
One unit of the LC POWER LC-CC-95, compatible with sockets 775/1155/1156 and AMD.
Two sticks of 4GB 1866MHz DDR3 CL10 Kingston HyperX Fury DDR3.
One Fortron Hyper 700W, 80+.
Just one Samsung 120GB SSD. Simple enough.
One Seagate hard drive, 1TB capacity, spinning at 7200rpm, SATA 6, 64MB cache. Simple enough.
One Zalman Z3, USB 3.0, finished in black, featuring three 120mm fans.

Total:$2366 Futura it—free assembly and delivery included!

David Rodriguez94 said:Greetings 🙂

I’m looking for some help putting together a PC build—primarily for Electronic Arts titles, specifically Grand Theft Auto V, but I also need it to handle web browsing, Photoshop, and some Adobe video editing software...

It's been ages since I actually owned a desktop—I've been dragging myself along with an old laptop that's basically on its deathbed—so I'd appreciate a component list. I already have a monitor (FullHD), plus my keyboard and mouse, so I just need the tower itself. My absolute limit is $2333, though I'm hoping you can squeeze every last drop of performance out of that budget 🙂 for me
. Since I'll be paying cash and I'm based in Washington, D.C., I'm hoping we can find something local...
Thanks in advance, and sorry for the intrusion...

Over-and-Out ☕

1 x Kingston HyperX Fury SSD 120GB, 2.5", SATA 3 6G
1 x TOSHIBA 1TB, 7200rpm, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB, DT01ACA100
2 x DDR3 4GB (1x4GB) Kingmax, 1600MHz, FLGF
1 x Intel Core i5-4460 (3.20GHz,1MB,6MB,84 W,1150) Box
1 x AMD Radeon R9 290 4GB GDDR5 512bit, 28nm, 2xDVI + HDMI + DP
1 x Fortron 600W, Hyper, PPA6003302, 12cm fan
1 x Zalman Z3 mid tower case. 192(W)x465(H)x430(D)mm. MB standard
1 x Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H, Socket : 1150, Intel B85 via Newegg

$2321

www.newegg.com

I see you all put in some real effort here—my sincere thanks to you🙏

Now, I’ve got another question for the group. Since building PCs isn't exactly my area of expertise—I'm more of a "plug it in and hope for the best" type of guy—I mentioned to a close friend before this thread even started that I needed a machine with a budget of about $2333. He sent me a list via email, and now I'm wondering if he actually knows what he's doing or if I'm about to throw money down the drain...

Intel i5 4460
Gigabyte H97M-D3H
Kingston Fury
MSI GTX 960
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Samsung SSD 850 evo 120GB
Seasonic S12G 450W
Bitfenix Phenom M-ATX
Noctua NHL9i

$2400

David Rodriguez94 said:I see you all put in some real effort here—my sincere thanks to you🙏

Now, I’ve got another question for the group. Since building PCs isn't exactly my area of expertise—I'm more of a "plug it in and hope for the best" type of guy—I mentioned to a close friend before this thread even started that I needed a machine with a budget of about $2333. He sent me a list via email, and now I'm wondering if he actually knows what he's doing or if I'm about to throw money down the drain...

Intel i5 4460
Gigabyte H97M-D3H
Kingston Fury
MSI GTX 960
WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Samsung SSD 850 evo 120GB
Seasonic S12G 450W
Bitfenix Phenom M-ATX
Noctua NHL9i

$2400

The setup above with the AMD Radeon R9 290 is better.

Your friend did a solid job putting this together, but honestly, you don't really need an aftermarket cooler for that CPU. If you opt for a noticeably cheaper motherboard instead, you can reallocate those funds toward a more powerful graphics card—like an AMD Radeon R9 290—to get much better gaming performance.

Alright, thanks everyone once again—it seems all roads eventually lead back to Robert Rodriguez2's specific setup, so that's the one I'm pulling the trigger on. 😉 Thanks again.

David Rodriguez94 said:Alright, thanks everyone once again—it seems all roads eventually lead back to Robert Rodriguez2's specific setup, so that's the one I'm pulling the trigger on. 😉 Thanks again.

Let us know how it runs once the rig arrives.👍

Managed to find a moment today to swing by Newegg—well, virtually speaking—to dictate my list and get everything paid for. Now it’s just the long, agonizing wait for the delivery truck to arrive. Honestly, the service there is surprisingly decent; they actually try to be helpful...

Could you clarify something for me? I noticed this here;

They have these cable extensions listed—I'm thinking about grabbing a few just to clean up the mess inside the case, because god knows my current cable management looks like a bird's nest. My question is: are these strictly extensions, or can they plug directly into a modular power supply?

That’s specifically for a modular power supply—just in case you want to tidy up your cables exactly how you like them.

David Rodriguez94 said:Managed to find a moment today to swing by Newegg—well, virtually speaking—to dictate my list and get everything paid for. Now it’s just the long, agonizing wait for the delivery truck to arrive. Honestly, the service there is surprisingly decent; they actually try to be helpful...

Could you clarify something for me? I noticed this here;

They have these cable extensions listed—I'm thinking about grabbing a few just to clean up the mess inside the case, because god knows my current cable management looks like a bird's nest. My question is: are these strictly extensions, or can they plug directly into a modular power supply?

Do it if you want. Personally, I don't think you'll need to. The guys at Newegg are usually solid with cable management.

Robert Rodriguez2 said:Do it if you want. Personally, I don't think you'll need to. The guys at Newegg are usually solid with cable management.

Alright, I'm heading out to pick up the rig next week—can't make it any sooner—so if I find a spare moment, I'll snap a few photos for you all😁

Thanks again to everyone—you've been a massive help👍 🙏

David Rodriguez94 said:Alright, I'm heading out to pick up the rig next week—can't make it any sooner—so if I find a spare moment, I'll snap a few photos for you all😁

Thanks again to everyone—you've been a massive help👍 🙏

As long as it runs smooth and handles Electronic Arts titles without any issues, I'm happy. 👍