CPU - A gaming system won't benefit much from HT but it will benefit from overclocking so if budget is concern, save the $100 and get the 4670k. If budget allows, the 4770k will give ya an extra 0.1 GHz and maybe some extra OC. Basicallt ut comes down to is a 3- 6% performance increase worth $100 or a 4% increase in system cost.
CPU Cooler - The Big 3 air coolers in order of thermal performance :
Phanteks PH-TC14-PE
Thermalright Silver Arrow
Noctua DH-14
If you must have an AIO, and I advise against it, the H110 is one of the few that can match any of 3 above (same thermals as Noctua) while maintaining comparable noise levels.
MoBo - Depending on how much of ya budget ya wanna spend.....
> $400 - Asus Rampage IV
$290 $300 - Asus Maximus VI Formula
$155-$165 - MSI GD-65
$135 - $145 - MSI G45
The two MSI's prolly best fit ya budget but if ya thinking of perhaps a future move to water cooling, the Maximus would be my choice. At $2,500, budget, the GD-65 makes the most sense on air cooled solutions. If shopping newegg, MSI sponsors a lot of combo deals .... such as the one below which saves ya an extra $33.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1544103
Check the reviews.
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/msi_z87_gd65_gaming/12.htm
http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/msi_z87_gd65_gaming_review/15
Now and again a motherboard appears that is so obviously brilliant, and so affordable, that we wonder if anything will be able to top it. For a while that crown was held by the ASUS Sabertooth, both in X58 and then P67 variants. Then MSI stole the crown with the Z77 MPower. Looking at the Z87 GD65 Gaming we think it's going to take something extraordinary to top it, such is the perfect storm of price, performance, features and looks.
The switch to Military Class 4 has given us an extremely ready overclocker too. You're always thermally limited when overclocking and the i7-4770K is one of the most demanding around. Considering the amount of cooling we're using we think that although the GD65 is capable of bringing 5GHz from our i7-4770K you'd need a proper water loop to make the most of it.
Performance is outstanding. The stock results were a particular highlight. We know a lot of people still just like to put their CPU in and go, without overclocking it first. Despite how easy it is these days we know that the fear factor still exists. So you'll be glad to know that the MSI Z87 GD65 Gaming really rocks hard even at stock settings. Naturally the overclocking is blistering too, with some OC3D records broken.
MSI have laid the gauntlet down to all the other manufacturers. Gorgeous to look at, blistering performance and all at a very affordable price, the MSI Z87 GD65 Gaming is not only the new benchmark for Z87 motherboards, but probably for all motherboards.
The Asus Hero is a viable alternate and a fine board but at $35 more for the same feature set ya also give up the GD65's hardened MIL spec componentry which Asus doesn't provide until the $260 price point. I'd like it at $155 but at $200, I can't justify the pay more to get less aspect.
The Z97 version GD65 and Hero is also available (as of May 15th for MSI).... but again the Hero is even more overpriced adding another $15 difference between the two for a total spread of $50. Benefits of Z97 over Z87 .....
Increased data transfer speeds for storage drives - Support the M.2 specification providing two lanes of PCI Express 2.0 to boost speeds to a theoretical 1GB/s. Also supports SATA Express, the new spec that offers similar bandwidth via the same pair of PCIe 2.0 lanes.
Improved version of Intel's Smart Response Technology (SRT), adding native support hybrid drives (i.e. Seagate SSHDs) that combine a small amount of solid-state storage (such as 16GB) with a traditional hard drive to boost boot-up and app launching times. The same hybrid drive can now make use of Intel's Rapid Start Technology to wake the system up faster from hibernation.
Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard - Feature taken from Intel's latest Atom mobile processors. It protects computers from malware that attempts to interfere with boot operations by using hardware infrastructure from both the chipset and the refreshed Haswell processors.
RAM - at $2500, I'd grab 2 x 8 GB.... 2133 is generally the same price as 1866 and 1600 so no reason to go less unless the CAS timings or higher. Use this formulay to compare:
CAS x 1000 / DDR Speed
DDR3 1866 CAS 9 = 9 x 1000 / 1866 = 4.82 nanoseconds
DDR3 2133 CAS 11 = 1 x 1000 / 2133 = 5.16 nanoseconds <=slower than 1866 CAS 9
DDR3 2133 CAS 10 = 1 x 1000 / 2133 = 4.69 nanoseconds <=faster than 1866 CAS 9
2400 is also an option but runs at at about a $30 price premium ..... generally you will only see a 2 - 5 % increase in performance with 2400 over 1600 in gaming (more on minimum fps). Might consider that small and not worth bothering about but the only thing about the upgrade more insignificant than the performance increase is the system price increase which is 1.2% on a $2500 box. If ya can justify a 4770k, ya will have no problem with faster RAM. Above 2400, the price increase however is nor longer insignificant.
I prefer the sets from Mushkin Redlines as they generally have better timings (10-12-12-28 versus 10-12-12-31 from Corsair Vengeance Pro line. After getting Editor's Choice nods from THG and Anadtech in the last year, they have become a bit hard to find in stock though. Gran the low profile versions if using an air cooler.
GFX - The Asus 780 DCII was the reviewer's consensus favorite back at the time the cards were releases as is evidenced by the example in the link below. But after the initial release and reviews, MSI went back and retooled and their newer 780 (Core increased from 902 to 954) is called the N Gaming Series. Today, either one is a worthy candidate for "best of the bunch".
http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/4639/10/nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-asus-vs-evga-vs-inno3d-vs-msi-conclusion
Ya should be able to do twin 780s in that build for $2500, maybe even 780 Tis if ya don't need monitor, keyboard, mouse, headphones etc. For the Ti, I can't recommend the Asus .... the MSI is the fastest and quietest by a large margin.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/29.html
Case - Watercooled I'd opt fpr the Phanteks Enthoo Primo at $229, or if budget doesn't allow, the Corsair 750 D or Enthoo Luxe. Air cooled, I have done several SKLI builds in the Corsair 500R which is an amazing case for $90
PSU - Making room for a future upgrade to SLI, you'll need 850 watts.
Serious Overclocking - Seasonic X-850 or Corsair HX-850
Moderate Overclocking - XFX Core Edition / Corsair TX V2 series
HD - If ya don't get the WD Black in the above combo, the Seagate 7200.14 is 30% faster but ya don lose the Black's 5 year warranty.
Monitor - Asus 144 Hz
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