New to Building a Pc on a budget

My friend recommended me to this site for advice on how to build a New Pc. This would be my 1st time trying something like this.
I'm looking to build a gaming rig, Online gaming mostly. Some single player games like Skyrim ect. My Budget range is $1500. I could go a little higher if I need to. Using a HP pavilion Dv7 Laptop Living in New England. So I wont be transferring over anything. I will need a keyboard and at least one monitor. I got no OS software sadly. It is possible to find Windows XP still? If I have to go with Windows 7 I will. I havent tried water cooling but, if I will look up a guide if it is preferred.
 
My friend recommended me to this site for advice on how to build a New Pc. This would be my 1st time trying something like this.
I'm looking to build a gaming rig, Online gaming mostly. Some single player games like Skyrim ect. My Budget range is $1500. I could go a little higher if I need to. Using a HP pavilion Dv7 Laptop Living in New England. So I wont be transferring over anything. I will need a keyboard and at least one monitor. I got no OS software sadly. It is possible to find Windows XP still? If I have to go with Windows 7 I will. I havent tried water cooling but, if I will look up a guide if it is preferred.
Let me see what I can do for you, with $1500 you can get a pretty beastly system even including keyboard, monitor, and OS.

Here is my recommended parts list (Using Amazon):
i5 4690K
MSI Z97-G55
Cooler Master Hyper212
Gskill 8gb DDR3 1866 (2x4gb
NZXT Phantom 410 (Kinda just picked one I like, case can be whatever your preference is)
XFX DD R9 290
Samsung 840 EVO 240gb SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1tb 7200RPM
Corsair CXM 600Watt PSU
LG DVD Drive
Windows 7 Home
Logitech G105 Gaming Keyboard
Asus VN247H Monitor

The total price of that build is about £1,184 which is right around the $1500 (Slightly above according to the conversion) but this will overall give you everything you would need for a strong gaming machine with an excellent board, processor, and GPU. All of this together will provide you 1080p ultra on every game you could throw at it along with great speeds thanks to the SSD and some awesome overclocking.

Hope this can at least point you in the right direction.
 
Avoid XP; it would be had to find at this point anyway and Microsoft no longer supports it in the U.S. You'll like 7 Home 64-bit just fine. Since you are in the states I strongly suggest checking out NewEgg.com and make a wish list. It's fun to do and you can take your time picking out the parts.

Also, I don't know where in NE you are located but if you are close to Boston check out Microcenter. It is a great place for parts and often will have bundled motherboards and cpus at a good price.

Unless you are doing overclocking you don't need watercooling or even that RAM (though the RAM GhostRyder chose is excellent).
 
Sorry I havent responded promptly, just got home from work. I live about 30-40 min from boston If I even venture there I'll take a look at micro center and when is that Chipset coming out? Love the Ace Attorney Icon BTW Ghost
 
Sorry I havent responded promptly, just got home from work. I live about 30-40 min from boston If I even venture there I'll take a look at micro center and when is that Chipset coming out? Love the Ace Attorney Icon BTW Ghost
Oh umm I just realized I was on the uk site...oops one sec:

Phantom 410 Case
i5 4690K
MSI Z97-G55
Gskill ARES 1866 8gb (2x4gb
Samsung 840 EVO 250gb SSD
Seagate Barracuda 1tb 7200RPM
Rosewill Capstone 650Watt Gold PSU
Gigabyte R9 290 GPU
Corsair H100i CPU Liquid Cooler
Logitech G105 Keyboard
Asus VS228H 24inch 1080p Monitor
Windows 7 OEM

That together is around 1550 including shipping (And coupons). That will satisfy your needs to a bullet point and be a pretty nice gaming machine and its in American currency this time lol.

If you can hit a Micro Center go for it because you can probably pick up many of these parts or similar at a discounted price.
 
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