[bassilisk]

My previous three rigs were all mid-level AMD. With the disappointment BD has turned out to be, I tried to research "the other side" as best as possible. I'll be using it for a little Photoshop, a little Guild Wars 2, and a ton of legacy games. I might do a little OCing, but nothing about recent, current, or predicted future games makes me think I'll ever qualify as a "hardcore gamer" again.

i5 2500k
Asus P8Z77-V LK
GSkill Sniper 2x4gb 1866
CM Hyper 212
MSI 6850
Crucial M4 128gb SSD
WD 1tb HDD

Transfering from current build: NZXT 210 case, 700w Silverstone, DVD R/W

Thanks in advance.

 

[UltraVolta425]

First of all I'd like to know your budget.

Then, assuming it's OK with the budget, I'd go for an i5 3570K, also assuming you're not into overclocking.
If I were you I'd go with either the ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe if you want loads of extra features or the ASUS Z77 Sabertooth if you want great looks.
If budget isn't a problem, go for the 7970 if you wanna go for AMD or the 680 if you wanna go for Nvidea. Both will work great.
If you're on a budget, go for the 7850.

Other than that, it looks good.

 

[bassilisk]

Normally I'd be confused about saying get a K if you're not overclocking. In the past I've never OCd and instead tended to over-buy and end up with pieces I never made full use of. Amusingly, my demands are now far less than in the past. Everything you're recommending is probably what I would have gotten following my past habits. I'm actually looking for ways to downgrade parts from what my anticipation of needs are, especially since both procs are dead ends if Haswell ends up not using 1155. Maybe by then there'll be a game that will force my hand, but as it is, I don't have a use for anything more than I've listed GPU-wise.

I appreciate the advice; I'm just in a more casual place now. Budget isn't an issue.

 

[succesfulvoid]

Ehhh, Haswell will be 1150. New socket.