Help Please: Single GPU Gaming Build

[ramdmc]

Hey Guys,

Looking to replace an aging gaming rig, O/C E8400, 4GB DDR2 Ram, Asus P5Q etc...

I play BF3, PS2, Skyrim, GRO, FC3, SMC

Just wanted some suggestions, looking to stick with Asus or Gigabyte for a mobo and dont want to spend extra on multi gpu features which I will never use. These are the components I'm considering..

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K
Cooler: Suggestions? Corsair contained liquid cooling any good?
Mobo: Need good quality single GPU, good O/C, decent o/b audio
Mem: Min 8 GB or best I can buy
Vid Card: 7970 GHz edition or 670 OC, depending what I can afford.
SSD: Mushkin Enhanced Atlas Series mSATA 120GB
PSU: CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W

The stuff I will be reusing, have a great case, Antec P183 dual chamber case, great cooling, couple of Samsung 2 TB Spinpoint HDDs for storage, ASUS 27" monitor, will upgrade optical drive too.

Your help is much appreciated guys, looking to spend around $1500, hopefully less.

 

[BreadWhistle]

If you are just gaming, just pick up a 3570k, a Hyper 212 Evo, and a 7970 GHz edition and save yourself some cash. You won't notice a difference between that and all that fancy crap people put in their PC's.

 

[fazi13]

I concur with the above statement
Hyper 212 Evo will outperform a Corsair H60 and is literally the best bang for your buck.

Also if you're going to be playing Battlefield 3, I would hop over to the 670 since BF3 supports PhysX (available only on NVidia)

DDR3 RAM is also quite cheap now, I've seen countless Newegg sales for G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB for around $35.

As for the mobo, I really like the Asus P8Z77-V series. The budget edition will run you around $115 I believe and the standard/pro are around $200.
All of their P8Z77-V series will get you near 4.8Ghz overclock
The standard/pro editions just add WiFi, thunderbolt headers, eSATA, and more fan headers

 

[ramdmc]

Running the original Hyper 212 and love it. You're right, best bang for my buck and effective at higher clockspeeds.

I'm considering the ASUS P8Z77-V LX or the P8Z77-V LK for $5 more. Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H is $20 cheaper and also appealing, but don't know if it'll o/c as well as the ASUS.

Think I'll reconsider and pick up an EVGA (02G-P4-2678-KR) GTX 670 2GB FTW over the 7970, save like $120 and o/cs like a champ, same as a 680 at stock speeds and O/Cs well past it.

Any opinions on the Mobo? Should I spend the extra $50 on the ASUS P8Z77-V?

Many thanks!