First Build - Gaming Rig around $1400

The build looks pretty good. But why are you going for old technology when the new ones are out? With your budget you can afford to get an new IB i5 and a GTX 670.

You're probably right, but I'd have to make trade-offs elsewhere. Was looking to get a good all-around build that I could upgrade a few years down the line with IB and/or better gpu and/or SLI.

Looks great, but I think you are overspending with the power supply and case. I actually just finished a build with a $1400 budget.(I needed a monitor too though)
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/9Ksf
As you can see, I fit a gtx 670 and i5-3570k in, since you don't need a monitor you should fit them in easy. With the money from the monitor you could purchase the SSD.

If you do get the 670 a 750w power supply is enough to support SLI in the future.

I just build one for just under $1500, with a 670, i5-3570, 256Gb SSD, 3Tb HDD, ect. Heres the build, it shows over $1600, but when you shop around for deals I got it down to $1488, then will save another $30 on rebates.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx...

Just make sure you group stuff up on Newegg, if you have a microcenter within driving distance you can get the i5-3570K and a Asrock Extreme 4 for $300.

With mine you could shave off some more too, cause you wouldn't need 16Gb or RAM, the wireless adapter, or 256Gb SSD.

Anything on here linked to amazon can also be found on newegg. But anything less than a GTX 670 with your budget is a crime imo.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Series-Gaming-CC-... $129.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Mid Tower Gaming Case CC-9011012-WW

http://www.corsair.com/carbide-series-500r-mid-tower-ca... http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6821 <----- another look at that case along with links to professional online reviews

or...

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RC-922XM-KKN1-Exter... $129.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
COOLER MASTER HAF XM RC-922XM-KKN1 Black Mesh, Plastic, Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6821 <----- another look at that case along with links to professional online reviews

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $109.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 750W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply compatible with Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3 i5 i7 and AMD Phenom

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite... $199.98 save: $15.00
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/asrock_z77_extreme... <---- review of that board w/benchmarks

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z77%20Extreme4/ <----- another look at that board along with a link to the latest bios

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml... $189.99
Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz LGA 1155 Processor

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005O65JXI/ref=ox_sc_a... $35.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $46.99 FREE SHIPPING
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAO

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-24xDVD-RW-Serial-Internal-DR... $16.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25
Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST (Black)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168... $124.99 FREE SHIPPING
SanDisk Extreme SDSSDX-120G-G25 2.5" 120GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AS-670DC2G $424.99 Free Shipping
ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB DDR5 2DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card - GTX670-DC2-2GD5

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-... <----- reviews of that card w/benchmarks

http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Premium-64bit-System-Buil... $99.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

Total: $1,379.89 *not including shipping & rebates


http://www.amazon.com/VS228H-P-21-5-Inch-Full-HD-Monito... $129.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
ASUS VS228H-P 21.5-Inch Full-HD LED Monitor (Black) | LED Backlit with 50,000,000:1 ASUS Smart Contrast Ratio; Full 1080P with HDMI

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Sounds like I'm in need of a cpu/gpu upgrade and a psu and/or case downgrade (except that I'm really liking that Obsidian).

A lot of the newer builds I've seen posted are using the ASRock Z77 Extreme4. Anyone have a rec for this board vs. the one I posted?

You can get $50 off of either that Asrock or Asus board when you purchase that 3570K from microcenter. Both are good solid boards imo and you can't go wrong with either one although the heat sinks on the Asus board look a little more solid...larger to where they won't heat up as much if you try a serious o/c.

any link to that microcenter $50 off deal? I can't find it online

I added the cpu to the cart and then added that Asus board to the card and it took the $50 off. Then I tried the same thing with the asrock board and it didn't work. Either it's not part of that deal or my cookies screwed it up when I added that asus board first.

thanks for the tip - that helps a lot

It works with the ASRock, too. Damn those cookies!