New Desktop PC Tower Under $1000

Actually waaay under a thousand would be better

First off, thanks for putting up with me guys. I know this is the 3rd thread Ive started in this section in the past couple weeks with very different wants. Im getting closer to what I want and am looking for some advice again.

What I want: compact and quiet machine to edit photos on LR4, PS Elements, and whatever other programs I might consider in the near future, occasional gaming, and surfing. Compact not so necessary but an option Id appreciate for sure.

I've gone from wanting a PC all-in-one to iMac, to separate PC tower/monitor. I have a u3011 on the way from Dell (got it on sale Cyber Monday $999) so I am absolutely sure I need a tower (see? Im getting closer to what I want haha)

Its been around 8 or so years but I built the PC that im replacing, and its been great for a long time, only needing a power supply replaced in that time, and also upgraded memory a few years back. So Im not completely against building my own, but its been so long, I would need to do a ton of research before feeling comfortable purchasing all the components and Im pretty much ready to buy now, and not really wanting to take the time researching and shopping.

So Ive been looking at the x51 Alienware models and like what I see. Also like the XPS 8500 models. But price is a bit high. Ive taken notice of the iBuyPower towers and quite like their specs and the reviews I read about them. I like the looks/size of the HP Slimline but wish they had better specs available. Im open to suggestions of other pre-built machines.

Question: Since the Alienware x51 are compact, does that make them less upgradeable in the future? Does the small size contribute to more heat or any other problems?

Id like:
i5 or i7
at least 8gb but 16 would be better
1tb 7200 (if fits in the budget, Id like a SSD for OS and some programs)
Dedicated graphics card 1 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce, but can easily be persuaded in another direction here
blue ray player
Windows 7 64

Thanks for taking the time to read. If you have any suggestions please feel free to direct or persuade me.

Frank

Sounds like you're comfortable building, so ...

http://secure.newegg.c​om …x?WishListNumbe​r=15936029

That's $960. Could probably tweak it closer to $930. Dropping the SSD altogether would put you at about $825.

Frank, do you have Fry's / Microcenter nearby? They run some pretty awesome CPU / Motherboard combo deals, and their prices on other components aren't bad either. rpaul provided a good list of components, but to give you an idea on potential savings Intel Core i5-2380P and ASRock H77 Pro4-M in his list would cost you $285. I got i5-3570k with ASRock Z77 Extreme 4 for $235 + tax at my local Microcenter this past weekend. Same combo at newegg costs $355 at the moment.

Wow! rpaul! Thank you very much!

Ill definitely consider that build. definitely.

Yes Frys is about 20 minute drive away.

Really appreciate the replys guys!

rpaul wrote in post #15305804
Sounds like you're comfortable building, so ...

http://secure.newegg.c​om …x?WishListNumbe​r=15936029

That's $960. Could probably tweak it closer to $930. Dropping the SSD altogether would put you at about $825.

Im headed to Fry's in a few. Hope to find at least some of this stuff after comparing prices of course. Thanks again for taking the time to put that together.

Glad I could help. I'm about to build a new PC myself, so I'm in the mindset these days.

I have also had really good luck with newegg in the past. But some of the items you may get cheaper at your local frys or microcenter. Staying under 1k shouldn't be too bad. The price of ram and hard drives have gone way down in price since I built mine a year ago.
I only wish I had waited to get a motherboard with sata 3 so I could take advantage of a much faster ssd drive.

Frank H wrote in post #15312094
Im headed to Fry's in a few. Hope to find at least some of this stuff after comparing prices of course. Thanks again for taking the time to put that together.

If you go to frys have them pricematch Microcenter. There is a Microcenter in Tustin (just north of you) and they should price match for you. You can pickup the I7-3770K for $229. then get a motherboard (I personally like Asus) the rest I would get from newegg since they have a greater selection of ram, hard drives, power supplies.

I personally like the barebones kits from Newegg and Tiger Direct. They come with a lot of what you need but still give you the ability to customize your computer. Just my .02!

I feel bad asking for your help then going another direction.

I went in to fry's and was shopping in the pc components section. I started at the cases and was turned off immediately. They are all just so big and ugly! I looked past that and started looking at prices and specs of their mobo's and hard drives etc.. Got discouraged and walked to the other side of the store and checked out the ready built pc's. I decided I liked the size and look of the HP Pavilion. So I came home and explored. Ended up with this: http://www.ebay.com …_trksid=p3984.m​1497.l2649

BASIC FEATURES
3rd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 8MB Shared Cache] w/turbo boost up to 3.9Ghz
16 GB DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]
756GB total HD, 256GB SSD (Solid State Drive) 6.0 Gb (Micron) + 500GB 7200 rpm SATA (6.0 Gb/sec)
3GB dedicated nVidia GeForce GT545 [DVI, HDMI, VGA]
Blu-ray player w/16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
2 SS USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed)
SuperSpeed — New higher signaling rate of 5Gbps (625MB/sec), 10 times faster than regular USB 2.0
Beats Audio (tm) -- integrated studio quality sound
600W Power Supply
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (64-bit)

Should be here tomorrow!

Looks good! Your journey is over.

Thanks. I know.. now what? haha I guess I can actually go out and take some pictures now.