So, just as a test I posted my old system on craigslist and amazingly someone actually offered to buy it for $1200. My old system was:
Case: HAF 912
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
CPU: AMD FX-8150 (overclocked to 4.2GHz with stock voltages on everything)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
CPU Cooler: Hyper 212 EVO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
MoBo: Gigabyte 990XA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
RAM: 8GB (4x2GB) Geil 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... (exact one doesn't exist on newegg anymore)
GPU: XFX HD 6950
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
SSD: 64 GB Crucial M4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
HDD: Recertified 750GB Seagate 7200RPM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
PSU: Raidmax 630W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Fans: 4 Rosewill 120mm blue LED fans (they were actually very quiet and good fans for what they cost)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
OS: Windows 7 Home
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
DVD Drive: DVD burner (think it was Lite-on, not sure)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Card Reader: Rosewill card reader
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Other: Rosewill wireless card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Needless to say I took the offer considering some of my parts were over a year old and the offer was for more than it would have cost to rebuild the exact same system with all new parts. However when it came time to order new parts I went with a very different system. I am curious what people think.
Case: HAF 912 (I really like that case)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
CPU: i5 2500k
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
CPU Cooler: I will get that later, don't plan to overclock right away. (will most likely go with a 212 EVO again when I do get one)
Mobo: Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) Low Voltage G. Skill Sniper 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
GPU: EVGA GTX 560 ti
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
SSD: 180 GB Corsair Force 3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
HDD: None, I may use an old laptop hard drive I have sitting around if I need more storage
PSU: Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 800W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Fans: Cooler Master 200mm Red LED
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
OS: Windows 7 Professional (got it for like $8 from my school, yay)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
DVD Drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
Card Reader:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...
So as you can see (counting my windows for only $8) I ended up making a few dollars, and that is just newegg prices, I found a quite a few of these components cheaper on Amazon, I ended up spending $1150 total (plus made about $22 dollars to spend on Amazon by using my credit card and paying it off completely the next day). This new setup will also be much easier to just throw a second graphics card into if I ever feel the need to do so, the power supply is more than capable of handling 2 GTX 560s.
My biggest concern is the motherboard, I have seen quite a few mentions of getting stuck in a boot loop. But it had the perfect features for what I wanted and was a great price, so I decided to take a chance on it. If I have issues with it I can always return it I suppose, then just find something similar within $50 of it (which would be easy to do).
I will see first hand just how much of an upgrade it is come this weekend. The rest of my components should get here today and tomorrow (amazon beat newegg on shipping speed this time around). I could have gone ahead and bought the cooler, but decided I would rather wait and play with the idea of water cooling for a while. I don't intend to overclock unless I actually start to see some lag in games or just feel like my computer is going too slow.
Let me know what you would have done different, do you think it was worth selling my old one for the little bit of cash and changes to my computer? I saw it as a great opportunity to give intel a shot, my 8150 was great, but curiosity almost always gets the best of me in the end and I just had to see if there was any noticable difference. Either way, both computers are much more power than I will need in a long time, I just like to tweak things and see the differences.
*Edit: Realized I had put the wrong name to my new motherboard. At least I had the right link to it.