This is my first build. Is it good for gaming or overkill? I heard $1,000 is like the maximum. Could I downgrade and still play modern games on Medium-High for a couple years? Also give ANY ADVICE. I mean any, I really have barely an idea of what I'm doing.
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/JgPbCJ
Only a few things you should look at: 1. If you are getting an intel i5 get the 4690k (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117372&Tpk=19-117-372) even if you are not overclocking you may want the option in the future (if you upgrade your cooler later on). give your self as many possibilities to upgrade as you can. #2. you are going to want 600-700 watts on your power supply. overkill on a PSU is OK give those parts the power they want. #3. SanDisk SSDs are not very good. I recommend ADATA, intel, and corsair. I would also recommend that you look into an after market CPU cooler ASAP, gaming is very taxing on a PC and it is very important to keep it cool (plus overclocking). For your first build these are great pieces, if you take my advice (and it is only advice your parts are fine as is) or not I hope you enjoy your new rig! keep us posted :)
Intel Option: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/m2WMTW OCing ready with R9 280X.
AMD Option: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/QYmVGX OCing Ready With R9 290.
I'd go with the AMD. The CPU is very fast and can easily be OCed. You also get an R9 290 for only $30 more which will be considerably faster.
HOWEVER
If you need to stay around $1K then check this
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kt9xbv
Same as above but with the R9 280.
I like that Intel build. very similar to my current build but I have an nvidia 770 (with 4 GB vram). I also use the H100i to cool off the 4670k. If you were going with the Intel build change the 4670k to the 4690k so you have the "new thing", plus they OC very nicely.
Well I went with the 4670k because it was $20 cheaper. The only real difference is the slight boost in clock speed and supposedly they OC better. In reality it seems to be a wash. They may run slightly cooler OCed but the 4690k doesn't necessarily go higher.