Another 'help me with my build' thread.

Power demands have dropped with the newer systems. Your current Antec PSU is more than enough. A single intel CPU & a GPU won't stress a 450w system. As for graphics cards, AMD has more options at the higher levels right now, but the 680 & 670 are currently the two most preferred GPUs and the 670 may be in your budget.

An i7 is useless to you unless you do certain highly multi-threaded professional applications (or produce a stream, another reason to make your computer video encode), An i5 will be just fine.

Intel desktop, mainstream platform:

Some Celerons/Pentiums: true dual-cores
i3: dual-core with hyperthreading
i5: true quad-core
i7: quad-core with hyperthreading

Hyperthreading is generally not useful for games (on some rare occasions the i3 will be superior to the pentiums though). So generally games get an i5 to allow for a larger SSD/better GPU. The other thing to consider is which i5: the i5-2500k is best if you're an aggressive overclocker as it can reach higher clocks speeds without heat problems. The i5-3570k is best if you're a moderate overclocker or a fan of the Total War series. The i5-3450 is best if you don't bother with overclocking & want to save a few bucks.

In your budget range you generally want a Z77 platform, but the B75 platform can be $50 or so cheaper and for that reason is often preferred when not overclocking (B75 boards cannot overclock).

As far as RAM goes, 1600mhz speed ram is slightly better than 1333, but higher than that does not provide any real-world benefit in modern Intel systems (higher speeds will provide some benefit for AMD systems).

I'm assuming you're in the states. Confirm that and let me know if you'll be reusing your case\DVD drive, what sound card you have, how many GB or TB of storage you'd desire in an ideal build and what monitor you have (or its resolution), and I'll put up a part list of what I'd get if I were you for gaming.

Nvidia is preferred by many enthusiasts now because of price/performance ratio

For pure gaming, an i5 is more than enough. An i7 will do if you also stream/ encode videos/ photoshop/ etc...

Right now, you would want to go with a K series processor along with a nice quality Z77 chipset motherboard

Are you near a microcenter? That would save you tons of money

i5 3570k = $180 from MC, $220 from newegg

ASRock Extreme 4 Z77 = $90 with i5 combo from MC, $140 from newegg

Crucial M4 128GB SSD = $125

1 GTX 670 = $400

SeaSonic X650W Gold = $140 or Corsair AX650 = $150 (SeaSonic made both of these)

I'd go with an NZXT Phantom or Switch 810 Full Tower. Both from $130-$180

You could also go with a Cooler Master HAF X or 932 for the same price

For cooling, I'd get an H100 cooling system from Corsair or a quality air cooler like the Noctua D14.

Any 1600MHz 8GB RAM kit will do fine.

Don't double post, just edit it

Light photoshoping won't need an i7. You're just wasting money on 4 simulated cores.
Edited by TinDaDragon - 6/12/12 at 5:16pm

GTX 670 is the best right now compared to AMD's. The bit extra is about $80-$100. I don't think you will need that. It won't be any more futureproof than the i5

i5 3570k is a member of Intel's newest Ivy Bridge series. A very good chip

You will see a HUGE increase in performance

I guarantee it