Insurance replacing my obsolete $1500 PC for $1000//HELP

That should be OK for highish settings and playable framerates for BF3 I think, you could get something better for the price though:

Intel Core i5-3550
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz
ASRock H77 Pro4 ATX
XFX HD 7850 DD
500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue 7200RPM
Seasonic 430W PSU
Coolermaster Elite 430
Lite On DVD Burner
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit OEM

Total is around $950 before shipping on www.newegg.ca and it would blow away that build in games

^only thing i would change is to get a k series cpu and a cooler (hyper 212). Unless op does not want to overclock. OCing helps quite a bit in online bf3 though.

That would push him over budget which would make him have to get a weaker graphics card, I wouldn't recommend that personally. He couldn't overclock with that i3 anyway.

^ concur with slicedtoad on i5-2500k If you can swing it.
Some general comment.
BF3 Performance (1680 x 1050 - High quality).
.. 7850 .. 68 FPS
.. 550Ti .. 40.9 FPS
.. 6850 .. 45 FPS
Ref: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5541/amd-radeon-hd-7750-r...

On PSU:
My i5-2500k OCed to 4.2 GHz w/ati 6870, 16 Gigs of ram, 4 Drive draws 350 Wattsat the Wall - Draw at PSU est at 280W.
The PSU that jmsellars1 recommended would be a good choice UNLESS you plan on adding a 2nd gpu.

On Ram:
DDR3-1600 will default to 1333, UNLESS you manually change the settings in BIOS, or select XMP profile 1. HOWEVER intel only warrentes the CPU for 1333, NOT 1600.
There is NO real life diff between DDR3-1333 and DDR3-1600. Also verify that it is 1.50 V ram as RAM run above 1.575 also voids warranty.

MB. Z68 kind of a waste, if not OCing, but can only OC with a SB "K" CPU.

ON jmsellars1 build:
CPU is a set up quad core @ 3.3 vs daul cor @ 3.1.
.. Not OCable so H77 OK as LONG as it has the additional features that you may want Present and FUTURE such as Number of Sata III INTEL (NOT Marvel) and number of USB 3 ports. If Planing a future xfire or SLI you NEED @ x8 slots NOT an X16 and X4 slot.
.. 7850 is considerably better than 550Ti (already pointed out). Might look at the 6870. Not as good as 7850, but def playable.
.. Good call on PSU
Personnally I stay away from "Brand new, just released Components, primarily MB. Always wait for suffient user feedback - at least 6 -> 9 Months.

FWIW department. Understan tring to keep with in the 1000 that they are giving you, Just remember what you buy today to save, you flush down the lue if you upgrade that part in 6 Months to a years time. So If need, an can do, spring some of your own money for Item(s) that you really think you will want to upgrade near term.

he recommended the 7850, not the 7750...
but yeah, a 2500k with a $35 hyper 212 would be better. Get the hyper 212 later if you can't afford it. I just can't see buying a non-k cpu when it's only a $10 difference.

btw, newegg doesn't seem to charge tax to all provinces, so you may not need to include that.

also performance numbers for bf3 from benchmarks are kinda skewed. The online is quite a bit harder to run.

^ GOOD Catch changed my post

For an extra fourty bucks you could get an i5 with overclock ability for the cpu, so much better deal if you want to use for longer period of time before next upgrade.
Also, I know that everyone always of course wants a better deal on parts and software but with the OS you can wait for a office store or online retailer to have it on sale with some rebates to get a better deal. Its just not worth paying more than 100. Might take a little work and time but worth the difference in my opinion cause you could use that money somewhere else on the rig.

^ On OS, Since his old system was wiped out, Might save a little by buying an updrade version. He still has ownership of the Original OS and you can do a clean install using the upgrade version, just a couple of hoops to jump thru.

It's that extra cash for the CPU but also extra for the motherboard, cooler and PSU. That would push him way over budget.

EDIT: Just to add as well, Ivy Bridge supports 1600Mhz RAM natively.

hmm newegg.ca does have a combo deal for that asrock mobo and ivy bridge.

keeping the budget alive:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Item...
or if he can up it:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Item...
or slightly less:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...
with http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E1681...

unless someone can find something better.

edit: also, if you don't think you will ever need to upgrade the gpu, you can go with the antec 380d. Very good psu that will do fine in jm's listed system (with or without a cpu upgrade and ocing). That'd save you a bit over $20 after shipping and taxes.