I5 3550 vs i5 3570k

no overclocking??? then definitely go for i5 3550..

save your money!!!

If you decide to overclock you still require a beefed up heatsink and power supply. That said, the i5-3550 will still keep you running games for years to come. All you have to do is make sure your graphics card can handle it.

The others have stated what I wanted to say, however, there's one more thing you might want to consider.

If you're going to use your computer to convert video files and the like, you may want to consider the 3570(k) for the HD4000 graphics.

LucidVirtuMVP is a very nice feature that will save you a lot of time apposed to just raw CPU power  

thanks for the quick replies

Honestly for only $20 more you should absolutely go with the i5-3570k, definitely. Unless you are on a very tight budget, there's no reason to get the i5-3550 over the i5-3570k. Good luck!