First gaming PC w/ overclocking questions

If you know what your doing or are willing to take the time to study,learn,understand overclocking get the Core i5 3570K with a z77 motherboard. For those who know me and have me do their builds, you’ll know that it’s just about the best processor you can get for the money today. With plenty of performance, top notch overclocking capability and enough horsepower to run any game you throw at it, the choice is a no brainer.

Those who are lazy or don't want to take the time to learn about overcocking should get a Intel Core i5-3550/i5-3470 processor.Your benefits going that route are you will be able to save a little money from not having to buy a aftermarket cpu cooler or hassle with learning to overclock.Yes it would make sense if you have no interest in overclocking to get a 3470 and a H77 motherboard.No overclocking does not increase noise enough to bother me,i couldn't say if it would you but i seriously doubt it worse case you just need a very quiet aftermarket cpu cooler.

I am glad I chose a "k" model CPU. I get much better performance out of my 2500k. I think the extra cost is worth it unless you are going for a budge build, but your build isn't what I would consider "budget".

First off, the Intel stock heatsink/fan sucks. So you probably want to replace it for a quieter fan that cools much better. Most decent ones will run you $25-30. It is a must for overclocking.

If you want to simply turn on your computer and not deal with the hassles of settings and optimization then a 3470+H77 is great.

$40 is a large price gap between a 3470 and 3570k, where are you buying from?
Also if you buy the 3570k and don't overclock, should still outperform the 3470 as its clocked higher at stock.

Overclocking doesnt necessarily increase noise, it increases the heat output which then has to be matched by your cooling setup. If your cooling setup becomes louder the more it has to work (Intel stock cooler, most budget oriented heatsinks), then it will be louder. Invest in a good heatsink and fans, and you can run an overclock while still preserving relative silence.
The aforementioned 212 EVO is a great heatsink, used it myself before I switched to custom water-cooling.

The performance difference between a moderately overclocked (~4.2Ghz on a 3570k) and non-overclocked CPU is decent. Don't have any numbers to back this up or quantify it, but it is a noticeable difference.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Pfk8
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Pfk8/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Pfk8/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS5X Performa CPU Cooler ($13.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI B75MA-E33 Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Outlet PC)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($42.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data XPG SX900 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($363.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.01 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 69.0 CFM 120mm Fan ($5.01 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($15.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $883.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-08 05:14 EDT-0400)

This is the build I do if your not interested in overclocking and just want straight performance from the get go. The heatsink is only there to give it airflow to exhaust out, that and it's better than stock, though I personally buy it somewhere else than from newegg and pay the couple dollar premium so I don't have to deal with a mail in rebate.

As for an overclocking build we can help you with that as well, I'm just suggesting this right now as it sounds like your still learning and overclocking is part art and part science. In order to get what you want out of the parts you need to know how to do overclock, assuming you want to do it properly and not shorten the lifespan of something or rely on someone else when something goes wrong (happens more than you think, which is why we generally steer people away from auto OC software). So if you want to go down that route start reading up on OC guides we have some in the OC part of the forum stickied, and than absorb as much information as you can from where ever you can (though personally I avoid youtube, it takes too long and a lot of people just plain don't know what their doing on youtube).

Can you also tell us your budget? It's hard to suggest builds when we don't know what were working with.

extra noise on what?on the fan?

tell me what you mean!if you mean the mean the stock one wont be even needed in case you oc!you are going to buy a new one whose fan has a controller(used from windows)so i dont understand what you mean!

40$ is nothing for this cpu the 3470 and 3570k indeed have a bit performance difference also the one can be oc so its a big advantage for 3570k!the money difference is so small but the performance totally worth it!

I would recommend having the 212 EVO anyway, stock cooler is loud under load, even at stock clocks.
But yeah, if you wanted to have a non-overclocking rig, those are the changes you would make.

How overclocking will impact the lifespan of the component will depend on how far you push it. Generally, the higher the voltage you have to run (to keep it stable at higher frequencies), the shorter the component will last. Extreme overclockers who like to push their chips into the 5Ghz+ range can expect it to die fairly quickly unless they'v got beastly amounts of cooling.
That being said, if your only going to ~4.3Ghz the chip should last well beyond its own usefulness.