After running into teething difficulties with my last few laptops (and being ripped off by the salesman), I've decided to purchase a desktop computer. There's just one problem. My budget will run from $1,000-$1,500 and the only desktop that I've found so far that's a reasonable price is ORIGIN's CHRONOS.

Here are the specifications. Since ORIGIN makes, designs and sells custom built computers I'd like to know what are the best specs to choose from.

Here is the website: http://www.originpc.com/gaming/desktops/chronos/

CASE FANS
Standard Case Fans
High Performance Fans
ORIGIN High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans - Black
ORIGIN High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans - Red
MOTHERBOARD
miniITX
ASUS H97I-PLUS
ASUS Z97I-PLUS (Bluetooth/WiFi Onboard)
EVGA Z97 Stinger
MicroATX
ASUS Z97 Gryphon
ASUS Maximus VII Gene
SYSTEM COOLING
ORIGIN Frostbyte Liquid Cooling
ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 120 Sealed Liquid Cooling System
ORIGIN FROSTBYTE 240 Sealed Liquid Cooling System
PROCESSORS
Intel Core i5 4460 Quad-Core 3.2GHz (3.4GHz TurboBoost)
Intel Core i5 4670K Quad-Core 3.4GHz (3.8GHz TurboBoost)
Overclocked Intel Core i5 4670K Quad-Core (4.0GHz-4.7GHz)
Intel Core i5 4690K Quad-Core 3.5GHz (3.9GHz TurboBoost)
Overclocked Intel Core i5 4690K Quad-Core (4.0GHz-4.7GHz)
Intel Core i7 4790 Quad-Core 3.6GHz (4.0GHz TurboBoost)
Intel Core i7 4770K Quad-Core 3.5GHz (3.9GHz TurboBoost)
Overclocked Intel Core i7 4770K Quad-Core (4.0GHz-4.7GHz)
Intel Core i7 4790K Quad-Core 4.0GHz (4.4GHz TurboBoost)
Overclocked Intel Core i7 4790K Quad-Core (4.5GHz-4.8GHz)
POWER SUPPLY
450W Silverstone SFX Series
Hadron 500 watt PSU (included with Hadron)
SG08 600 watt PSU (included with SG08)
500W Origin PC Approved Power Supply
850 Watt Corsair TX850M
1050 Watt Corsair HX1050
650 Watt Corsair RM650
850 Watt Corsair RM850
1000 Watt Corsair RM1000
GRAPHIC CARDS
Single Graphics Card
Single 1GB NVIDIA GTX 750
Single 2GB NVIDIA GTX 750Ti
Single 2GB NVIDIA GTX 760
Single 2GB NVIDIA GTX 770
Single 3GB NVIDIA GTX 780
Single 3GB NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti
Single 6GB NVIDIA GTX Titan Black
Single 12GB NVIDIA GTX Titan Z
Dual Graphics Card
Dual 2GB NVIDIA GTX 760
Dual 2GB NVIDIA GTX 770
Dual 3GB NVIDIA GTX 780
Dual 3GB NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti
Dual 6GB NVIDIA GTX Titan Black
MEMORY
1600MHz
8GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 1600Mhz (2x4GB)
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz (2x4GB)
16GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 1600Mhz (2x8GB)
32GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 1600Mhz (4x8GB)
1866MHz
8GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 1866Mhz (2x4GB)
8GB Corsair Vengeance 1866Mhz (2x4GB)
16GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 1866Mhz (2x8GB)
32GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 1866Mhz (4x8GB)
2133MHz
8GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 2133Mhz (2x4GB)
16GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 2133Mhz (2x8GB)
32GB ORIGIN PC powered by HyperX 2133Mhz (4x8GB)
Premium
8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz (2x4GB)
8GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133Mhz (2x4GB)
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz (2x8GB)
16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133Mhz (2x8GB)
32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 1866Mhz (4x8GB)
32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133Mhz (4x8GB)
OPERATING SYSTEM
Genuine MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition
Genuine MS Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit Edition
Genuine MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit Edition
Genuine MS Windows 8.1 64-Bit Edition
Genuine MS Windows 8.1 Professional 64-Bit Edition
HARD DRIVE ONE
Mechanical
500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Velociraptor SATA 6.0Gb/s, 10,000RPM, 64MB Cache
2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
SSD
120GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
240GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
480GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
128GB OCZ Vector 150
256GB OCZ Vector 150
512GB OCZ Vector 150
240GB Intel 730 Series
480GB Intel 730 Series
120GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
250GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
500GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
1TB Samsung 840 Evo Series
HARD DRIVE TWO
Mechanical
500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Velociraptor SATA 6.0Gb/s, 10,000RPM, 64MB Cache
2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
3TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
4TB Western Digital Black SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
SSD
120GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
240GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
480GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
128GB OCZ Vector 150
256GB OCZ Vector 150
512GB OCZ Vector 150
240GB Intel 730 Series
480GB Intel 730 Series
120GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
250GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
500GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
1TB Samsung 840 Evo Series
HARD DRIVE THREE
Mechanical
500GB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache
1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
1TB Western Digital Velociraptor SATA 6.0Gb/s, 10,000RPM, 64MB Cache
2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
3TB SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
4TB Western Digital Black SATA 6.0Gb/s, 7200RPM, 64MB Cache
SSD
120GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
240GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
480GB ORIGIN PC Approved Solid State Drive
128GB OCZ Vector 150
256GB OCZ Vector 150
512GB OCZ Vector 150
240GB Intel 730 Series
480GB Intel 730 Series
120GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
250GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
500GB Samsung 840 Evo Series
1TB Samsung 840 Evo Series
OPTICAL DRIVE (NO PLAYBACK SOFTWARE INCLUDED)
ASUS 24X CD/DVD Burner
12X Blu-ray Reader and DVD Combo
16X Blu-ray Burner
8X Slim CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)
6X Slim Blu-ray Reader
6X BD-R Slim Blu-ray Burner
8X Slim Slot Load CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
6X Slim Slot Load Blu-ray Reader
6X Slim Slot Load Blu-ray Writer
AUDIO
On Board Audio
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro USB Sound Card powered by THX TruStudio Pro
NETWORKING
Onboard
Onboard Network Port
External Wireless Adapter
Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter with Dual-Band
ORIGIN MAXIMUM PROTECTION SHIPPING PROCESS
ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor
WARRANTY
1 Year Part Replacement and 45 Day Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
1 Year Part Replacement and Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
2 Year Part Replacement and Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
3 Year Part Replacement and Free Shipping Warranty with Lifetime Labor/24-7 Support
ORIGIN RECOVERY
ORIGIN Recovery USB3.0 Flash Drive
EVOLVE PART UPGRADE SERVICE
No Part Upgrade Service
2 Year Evolve Part Upgrade Service with Free Shipping
3 Year Evolve Part Upgrade Service with Free Shipping

Are you buying from the US?

And what are you wanting to be able to do with this computer?

Yes. I've spoken to Customer Service and read the FAQs and they said they only ask that I pay for shipping or any taxes.

I'm not much of a PC gamer, but I've been into the Sims series since TS2. On this desktop I wish to play TS3 and possibly TS4 when that finally comes out in stores. I also need it for video editing in Sony Vegas.

Here's a better alternative:

Follow the links below at ncixus.com, click the red "add to shopping cart" button at each product page, then checkout. NCIX will build the computer for you, and install Windows.

1. Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64Bit SP1 DVD OEM $89.99
2. PC Assembly And Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty PRE-CONFIG WIN. OS If Purchased $50.51
3. Intel Core i7 4770 Quad Core 3.4GHZ Processor LGA1150 Haswell 8MB Cache Retail $319.99
4. MSI H97M-G43 mATX LGA1150 DDR3 2PCI-E16 SATA3 CrossFireX DVI HDMI VGA 4K USB3.0 Motherboard $92.07
5. Corsair Vengeance CML8GX3M2A1600C9 Lowprofile 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Dual Channel Memory Kit $82.99
6. Samsung 840 Evo Series MZ-7TE250BW 250GB 2.5in SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version $154.99
7. Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Hard Drive OEM $55.99
8. ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU II OC 1075MHZ 2GB 6.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card $259.99
9. Corsair CX Series CX500 500W ATX 12V 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply 120mm Fan $54.99
10. Corsair Obsidian 350D mATX Black Gaming Case 2X5.25 2X3.5 2X2.5 Front USB3.0 Audio No PSU $89.99

10 items: $1251.50 +tax

This option is a lot better value than the CHRONOS. Compared to the cheapest chronos at $1190, it's only $60 more expensive but beats the CHRONOS in every department. It has a faster processor which will help edit videos and play games faster, it has an SSD which will load your applications faster, it has 1000GB of storage compared to 500GB for the CHRONOS and it has a better GPU for playing games.

The $1250 build is also still within your budget of $1500 so we can still make it even better if you want. We could increase the RAM to 16GB or add a blu-ray player. We could also make a few changes here and there to make it weaker, but cheaper if you prefer that.

As far as the warranty goes, if any damage was done to the computer, would NCIX be able to repair it? I've gone through many laptops in the past, and when I took my old custom built laptop to the techs in a computer store, they weren't able to fix the problem because of the custom built parts. That's why I'm cautious when it comes to purchasing custom built computers.

Another question I have is will I have any problems playing TS3. On my last laptop the game blacked-out, froze and crashed hundreds of times. For the first couple of months it ran the game smoothly. There were no problems at all and I thought I bought the perfect laptop. However, after a few months the game started throwing temper tantrums.

Reading the FAQ section on here and on TS3 wiki, it says that my poor graphics card was the culprit. If I do purchase a desktop through NCIX will I run into any of these problems?

Thank you so much for your help.

NCIX will provide 1 year limited system warranty. If you want you could contact them to find out what exactly that includes and whether or not you can pay for an increased warranty.

The system I've put together is made of high quality parts, and has excellent air flow in the case. I use a similar video card myself (although mine is an older generation) and I've been using it for two years now without any problems what so ever. Your mileage may vary obviously but I'm quite sure you'll be pleased with the system.

I've made similar recommendations to people here and so far haven't received any negative feed back.

If you're unsatisfied with the warranty NCIX provides, you could go with ORIGIN. They are a decent company, just quite expensive compared to other places.

How about the Vanquish II from Digital Storm?
https://www.digitalstormonline.com/...r.asp?id=927501

The Vanquish II looks better than the Chronos, but its still more expensive than buying from NCIX. The Vanquisher comes with Win8 instead of Win7 (which is better at the moment for games), has a weaker CPU and a smaller SSD than the setup from NCIX but you get three year limited warranty.