What games do you intend to play?

If you intend to play DX11 games, then a GTX260 won’t cut the mustard – the only DX11 compliant cards on the market at the moment are ATI 5* series cards (which, incidentally, kick a lot of ass for a low price).

I don’t recommend Alienware, anything else for the same price would probably be better.

I would go to Cyberpowerpc.com and just have them build one, but you’ll have to bone up on the specs yourself. Everyone wants different things. I’m sure you can get a great system for less than 1K.

Hey, that’s my computer. heh. we are on the same search. just so you know I also found a similar build from hp, however it takes much longer to build and ship. but it is about the same price with a slightly lower graphics card.

@aprilsimnel maybe your experience is different, but i have had a horrible experience with Cyberpowerpc.com in the past and would not recommend it to anyone.

the i7 or i5 processors from intel are special designed for games
so i think that your choose is very good.Also make sure you have enough Ram(4 gb)

@cyreb7 Could you be more specific?

@cyreb7 – Yes, please. My computer is from there and it was with absolutely no problem that I got it.

@Fred931 and @aprilsimnel, here is my story of trying to buy a new computer.

About 3 years ago I was looking to buy a new high end computer, after looking at HP, Dell, Alienware, and all the mainstream brands I decided I could get what I wanted for a much better price if I bought a custom built PC. After looking around online I eventually configured and bought a new computer from Cyberpowerpc.com, when it arrived it was working fine… for the first 3 days! After using all my computer know how and after several headaches trying to fix my brand new computer, I finally gave up and called Cyberpowerpc.com, they were completely useless and I ended up sending back my fancy new computer and getting a refund. I still needed a new computer so I eventually decided to buy one from a local company (centralcomputers.com) so I could drive there and return it in person if I had any trouble, it took me about a year and a half, returning it about 5 times, several custom cooling components, and replacing all the original ram (all paid for by me) in order to get my second computer working.

I am sure most people have no trouble what so ever and I was just one of the unlucky ones, but that is my experience take it or leave it.

Check NewEgg, they have a recently updated build chart, with good, better, and best configs. Then, shop the parts and do your own services. Or, shopt the service and get whatever parts you can afford from them. Those are the only two directions you can take with a gaming PC. All I know is that the NewEgg builds give you a good baseline.

Just been onto cyberpowerpc.com and I’m confused as hell. There is no good-better-best system or similar system for organizing each component. What if one case is bigger or better than another? How am I supposed to know which motherboard to get?

I just purchased the computer you linked to. It should arrive late next week, if you want to wait that long, I can tell you if it arrives in one piece and what I think. I bought it from newegg. they offer a 12 mont no intrest program which I did. I searched a lot and it seemed to be a good deal.

@Fred931 Simply because things change so fast that this week’s Best is next week’s Better and next month’s Good.
Okay, it isn’t quite that quick, but considering the number of components that they sell, they would have to hire a whole crew of people who did nothing but keep those ratings updated. And the fact that Intel changed their naming conventions, thus making it harder to get the best CPU, doesn’t help.

As for motherboards, there is not universal “Best” there. Some people are fanatical devotees of a particular chipset and won’t consider switching even if the competition is faster. Some need a particular set of slots. Do you need RAID, 7.1 sound, or eSATA? “Best” is too subjective there.

Cases are a matter of aesthetics, cooling, and ease of access. Most are roughly the same size with the same number of bays, but some have more places to mount fans, some have easier-to-access drive bays… you really have to research a little.

That site really is meant for people who already know what they are looking for.

I’ve always heard that the best idea for a pc gamer is to build your own computer.

I needed a laptop for college, though, so I got a Sony Vaio. :) It was 2K, but the guy (+ research I did on the internet) said it would be great for games like Starcraft 2 and D3 (both which require good graphic cards) and I was planning to use it for WC3 (which you can play on any computer) and The Sims 3 (which needed a dedicated card).

But if you’re really looking for what’s best for you, and you have a low budget, I say to build your own! It’ll be a fun, new project, and you can personalize it to have everything you like! ^_^