Building a computer for my son

Does that price range include a monitor?

Awesome thank you

Now's a good time to buy. By now, I mean today. I'm seeing some great deals right now with rebates. Like a 750W Rosewill Hive for $40 after rebate and some fast 2400MHz CL10 RAM for $64, and Fractal Design R4 case for under $70.

Here's a build that comes out comfortably below $1000 after over $80 worth of promos and rebates.

PCPartPicker part list: LINK
Price breakdown by merchant: LINK /

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H-BK ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Z Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($98.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB ACX 2.0 Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($68.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $969.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-29 13:30 EST-0500


For the lower end of the budget:

PCPartPicker part list: LINK
Price breakdown by merchant: LINK /

CPU: Intel Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.98 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($22.99 @ Micro Center)
Motherboard: MSI Z97 PC MATE ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($89.78 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($56.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vector 150 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R9 290X 4GB PCS+ Video Card ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Rosewill Hive 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($40.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $794.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-11-29 14:09 EST-0500



Now technically, the 290X outperforms the GTX 970 slightly at stock, and costs less. The reason I chose the 970 for the better build is because:
A) It uses less power and generates far less heat than the 290X, which gives you a better chance of a safer, easier overclock that might even outperform a 290X's max overclock on air.

B) If you decide to upgrade later by adding a second video card, NVIDIA SLI provides a smoother experience than AMD Crossfire with the Hawaii chips in particular. I say this having had experience with Crossfire 290s and currently SLI 980s.

C) Not as important depending on your stance on this kind of stuff, but there's something to be said for NVIDIA's heavy involvement with certain game developers. Both AMD and NVIDIA develop proprietary technologies to enhance specific games, but NVIDIA spends more time and money to do it with more games. A lot of it is gimmicky stuff, with the R&D and marketing costs being passed on to the consumer (hence, NVIDIA cards usually cost more for same average raw performance in games). But some of it is nice, especially the recent Maxwell-specific developments, like MFAA and DSR (separate topic altogether). There's also G-Sync, which is cost-prohibitive at the moment. But when AMD's Freesync finally shows up on new monitors next year and gains some traction, we'll definitely start seeing cheaper G-Sync options. Right now, Nvidia has no incentive to be reasonable with G-Sync pricing because there is literally no competition against it.