Heatsink/Fan/MoBo Help with New Build

[faithwarrior118]

Approximate Purchase Date: 4/4/2012

Budget Range: (e.g.: 600-800) Before / After Rebates : $200 (see below)

System Usage from Most to Least Important: SWTOR, WoW, Civ V, Word, Internet

Parts Not Required: (e.g.: keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers, OS)
Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Case (NZXT Guardian Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case), PSU (PC Power and Cooling S61EPS 610W ), the biggie is I already have an i5-2500 bare processor.

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg

Country: USA

Parts Preferences: by brand or type: Intel

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 14x9

Additional Comments: I've never had to shop for a Motherboard or a heatsink/fan before so I'm a little lost.

Other parts I'm buying:
HD6870 ($180)
500GB HD ($85)
8G Ram 2sticks of 4GB ($40)
DVD Burner ($15)
Win 7 ($100)

So I've got $200 left and I need a Heatsink/Fan for the CPU, and a Motherboard. I'd appreciate any suggestions you might be able to offer.

 

[sosofm]

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279 105$
BIOSTAR TZ68A+RCH http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138320 80$ after rebates.
CPU COOLER : COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 20$ after rebates.
This is not so tall like Hyper Plus : COOLER MASTER GeminII S524 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103100 35$

 

[adgjlsfhk]

Put $100 into the cheapest z68 mobo you can find that has good reviews on Newegg. My suggestion would be this biostar one ($94)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138320
Here is a good cheep heat-sink. You don't need anything special because you are not overclocking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835999018

 

[faithwarrior118]

Final Decisions (purchase today or tomorrow as soon as I'm comfortable)

I have an i5-2500 (no k!).

GIGABYTE GA-Z68AP-D3(R2.0) LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128538

OR

ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279

The boards look very similar, but the Gigabyte board states: PCI Express 3.0 x16 2 (x16, x4) (All PCI Express x16 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard. To support PCI Express 3.0, you must install an Intel 22nm CPU. ) What does that mean?

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The video cards I'm looking at is a Radeon 6870. They are PCI Express 2.1 x16. Does Sapphire or XFX have a better reputation?

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Will this RAM work in with the motherboard? G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBRL http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231308

 

[g-unit1111]

Put $100 into the cheapest z68 mobo you can find that has good reviews on Newegg. My suggestion would be this biostar one ($94)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138320
Here is a good cheep heat-sink. You don't need anything special because you are not overclocking.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835999018

Ugh... two recommendations for Biostar - why? Going cheap on the motherboard is never a good idea unless you're doing a sub-$800 build. Pay a bit more and get something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512

If you go cheap on a motherboard - one of the few areas where you really do get what you pay for - be prepared to sacrifice lots of features which will make expansion incredibly frustrating in the long run.

 

[faithwarrior118]

Best answer selected by faithwarrior118.