I have $1000 for a system

Coffee Grinder
Location: Not from around here.

And ideas on what to buy? I already have a monitor mouse and keyboard that I like very much. I have a 250gb drive from my old PC I can use.

Am I better to buy a system or build?

Bilge Cat
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Farscry's picture
Location: Commanding at the Helm

Build. You should be able to build a pretty respectable system from scratch (especially when you already have the drive, monitor, & peripherals) for $1000.

Measure once, cut twice
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Copingsaw's picture
Location: Houston, TX

Build.

Look a little closer, there are multiple builds posted on this forum. Check out the $1,500 PC thread and Legion's web page (I forget the address, blastprocessing something-or-other). You can build a very nice system for $1,000.

Ursa Minor
Donator V3.0
Oso's picture
Location: GV1469

Step 1: Pour yourself a glass of your favorite potent potable. Be sure to leave the bottle near at hand or on ice, depending on beverage and/or taste.

Step 2: Poke around the tech and help forums for conversation threads on this topic. They come up every so often. As mentioned, Legion's builds and Gameguru's builds have developed quite a following, but there is a lot of collected wisdom. Do some searching and read.

Step 3: Refill Glass (repeat as necessary)

Step 4: Decide to build a box with the help of the Gwjer hive mind. (Important: do not actually order parts at this time, since steps 1 and 3 may screw with the process.)

Step 5: Order parts, build box.

Step 6: Swear profusely when it doesn't work / doesn't work right.

Step 7: Fix simple mistake (check cables and connections) and then enjoy the hell out of your kick-ass new system.

*Legion* wrote:

There's not enough bandwidth on a thousand Internets to detail what's wrong with that idea.

informationgames.info

Head Coach
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*Legion*'s picture
Location: Monterey County

I'll be posting another $750 PC build soon. Video card prices continue to plummet. These damn builds are outdated a week after I make them!

Gaming / PC Tech Blog: www.blastprocessing.net
Xbox Live: Legion SB / PSN: Legion_SB / Steam: legion028

Follow me! http://twitter.com/legion

Handheld Ho
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Swat's picture
Location: Vancouver

*Legion* wrote:
I'll be posting another $750 PC build soon. Video card prices continue to plummet. These damn builds are outdated a week after I make them!

No rest for the wicked!

XBL/Swat R2 SPORE/Swatr2 WAR/Nephlokan

What's a Tag?

I'm building a new system.

Here's what I ordered:

Asus ATI 4850 video card $150AR
2 gigs Corsair pc6400 ram <$35AR
e2160 Intel dual core cpu (plan to overclock it to ~3ghz silicon willing) $68
Gigabyte EP35 dsl motherboard $88
Antec Nine Hundred Case $100
Power PC and Cooling 500W Silencer power supply $85
500gb Seagate hard drive $84
(Random) LG DVD burner $22

Total is < $650 shipped AR.

Cheap and yet I splurged on the case and power supply. I could have saved $100 there easy. Hell I could have used my old case, but I wanted a roomier one with what looks like better air circulation.

Fists of Furry
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mateo's picture
Location: Ticket to the edge. Nowhere To Hide. Lets go For the Joyride.

I just picked this up at Best Buy for $1050 on sale:

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668070.php

With tax, I think it came to a little over $1100.

Spondee Camper
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wordsmythe's picture
Location: I turn once more to those who/ sneer at this my city, and I give them back the sneer...

*Legion* wrote:
I'll be posting another $750 PC build soon. Video card prices continue to plummet. These damn builds are outdated a week after I make them!

I might be looking for something like that this fall. I have to decide whether to build a new rig or just to cannibalize my way to a Windows Media Center PC and pick up a PS3 with the extra cash.

Elysium: The democratization of the web ... has installed an illusion of a digital first amendment that protects speech no matter how poorly spelled or stupid.
XBL: E Munnie
elementsofmeaning.blogspot.com

Hi Rez, Low Maintenance
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Rezzy's picture
Location: Casino Bluffs, Iowa

Why does the Acer Aspire X1200 make me want it?
Engadget

Politely rude. Briskly vague. Firmly uninformative.