Advice for a first time builder , $1000-$1300 range

The 3550 is a locked cpu and will not over clock.


Direct Canada and Best Direct Canada are affiliated (both ship out of the same warehouse in Richmond, BC) and both offer FREE SHIPPING. Any order over $50 @ Direct Canada is FREE SHIPPING and any order over $80 @ Best Direct Canada is FREE SHIPPING.

http://www.directcanada.com/

http://www.bestdirect.ca/


http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC3384&v... $73.50
Corsair Carbide Series 300R Black Gaming Case ATX 3X5.25 4X3.5 Front USB Audio No PSU

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-300r-compact-pc-g... <----- another look at that case

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/233768/P1750SNLB9/XFX... $97.77
XFX 750W PRO750W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 62A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze PSU

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950BD6547&v... $141.95
ASUS P8Z77-V Lk ATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA3 DVI HDMI DP USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z7... <----- another look at that board

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD0768&v... $227.79
Intel Core i5 3570K Unlocked Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.4GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11130AC0554&v... $31.05
Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366/1155/1156/2011 120MM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/240822/BLS2KIT4G3D160... $43.89
Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB 2X4GB PC3-12800 DDR3-1600 1.5V CL9 Dual Channel Memory Kit

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530DR5213&v... $17.67
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14120DR5445&v... $89.79
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=24940BD6994&v... $408.88
Galaxy GeForce GTX 670 915MHZ 2GB 3004MHZ GDDR5 SLI 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E DX11 Video Card

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5818/nvidia-geforce-gtx-6... <----- review w/benchmarks of the gtx 670

Total: $1,131.97


*** alternate case

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=11180AC6193&v... $86.52
Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid-Tower Case ATX 4X5.25 6X3.5INT USB 1394 No PS

http://www.corsair.com/pc-cases/carbide-series-pc-case/... <----- another look at that case

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12850SW2113&v... $99.55
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530MN6442&v... $150.95 MIR $140.95
ASUS ML228H 21.5IN Widescreen LED Backlit LCD Monitor Black 1920X1080 2MS 10M:1 HDMI DVI-D VGA

Looks like a great build, will put a lot of thought into it. One other thing though, I'll be moving to Calgary this summer and will literally be a few blocks from a Mem Express...should I still go with directcanada and bestdirect or would it be wiser to just stick with Mem? And if Mem, any other ideas for a build from there?

you can go to mem express website and check for good deals(they usually do) and maybe buy those parts over there and buy some other stuff at direct canada/bestdirect