Hi.
I'm planning on purchasing a gaming PC around $1,000.

Can anybody recommend a good one?

I recommend you build one as you will save 20% from the mark up price alone, this means you will be able to invest in better hardware and give you useful knowledge for when the time comes in a few years when you need to upgrade or replace a component that is on it's last legs.

You will also be able to save money on buying components in bundles or as part of a sale and you will have the option of choosing exactly what you want.

There are videos in the community tech thread on how to put a computer together and it is really easy, even I can manage it and I am not the most technological minded person. The parts most of the time can only fit in one part of the MOBO anyway so you don't need to worry about putting it together wrong.

Just make sure you get parts that go together for example a MOBO that supports the GPU you are choosing and as important that the case you pick is big enough as some GPU can be big, this only requires a short amount of research time so don't skimp.