$1200 Gaming/College Build!

An i7 will not future proof you as that does not exist in technology. You're looking at a good 5-10 years before HT is caught up to games.

For 1200 you could probably grab something like

CPU- i7 3770k or save $100 or so and grab i5 3570k which is still easily good enough for any game atm
GPU- GTX 670 or save $200 or so and grab a 560ti which will still easily max out SC2
Mobo- Asrock Extreme4 z77
Ram 8Gb of whatever ddr3 you like 1600mhz is the best value for money
SSD 64gb OCZ agility 3 or 4
HDD 1tb of whatever is cheap
PSU- XFX/Corsair/whatever 750w
DVD Drive
Case- based on your taste

the $1000 range pc is about the best value for money imo  

For SSD, I'd get the Samsung 830 128GB; only $100 on newegg.

ok, first of all, read your messages. i linked you something that i know you are going to find very usefull   -----> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum1.php?config=tom...

For ~1300 CAD $ this is what i'd get:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($224.99 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS12X Ball Bearing CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ Canada Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($43.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 830 Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($399.99 @ Canada Computers)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($81.71 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NS90 DVD/CD Writer ($17.69 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $1273.32

Its perfect for wild overclocking. The PSU is more than enough to sustain 2 overclocked GTX 670s + a ~4.8Ghz overclock in your CPU

The case is very good looking (And its Tom's Hardware recomended) and you can add a few more fans if you want better airflow

http://www.directcanada.com <------ Free Shipping on orders over $50

http://www.bestdirect.ca <------ Free Shipping on orders over $80


This build allows you to add another one of those cards later on in SLI.


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.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15180AC8566&v... $80.20
XFX 650W PRO650W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 53A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze PSU

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=16950BD6547&v... $145.81 MIR $125.81
ASUS P8Z77-V Lk ATX LGA1155 Z77 DDR3 3PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA3 SLI DVI HDMI DP USB3.0 Motherboard

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12200BD7004&v... $196.56
Intel Core i5 3470 Quad Core Processor LGA1155 3.2GHZ Ivy Bridge 6MB Retail

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=15380BD5211&v... $42.95
G.SKILL Ripjaws X F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 8GB 2X4GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Memory

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=10530DR5213&v... $17.58
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X SATA DVD Writer OEM Black

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=14120DR5445&v... $79.79
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gbps 3.5IN Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/241539/SDSSDX-120G-G2... $109.99
SanDisk Extreme 120GB 2.5IN SATA3 6GB/S SandForce SF-2281 Solid State Disk Flash Drive SSD

http://videocardz.com/nvidia/geforce-600/geforce-gtx-66... <----- NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 660 TI 2GB (due for release August 16th, est. retail $300 USD)

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=12850SW2113&v... $97.79
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64BIT SP1 DVD OEM

Total: $1,144.17 *not including rebates and tax



*** Alternative psu and vid card. Just switch out the psu and vid card up above with these down below. (Total w/changes: $1,255.47 *not including rebates and tax)

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/233768/P1750SNLB9/XFX... $99.70
XFX 750W PRO750W Core Edition Single Rail ATX 12V 62A 24PIN ATX Power Supply 80PLUS Bronze PSU

http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/243162/GV-N670OC-2GD/... $391.80
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC 980MHZ 2GB 6.0GHZ GDDR5 2xDVI HDMI DisplayPort PCI-E Video Card


http://usa.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1155/P8Z7... <----- another look at that Asus board along with a link to the latest bios

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

If you'd read the OP, he mentions this:
"Overclocking: NO"

Get the i5-3450 but keep the Z77 board as it allows you to CF/SLI in the future.

I'd rather go with Why_Me's build as it is cheaper and just as good.

No worries, i will tought him out of that and for what i know my build is a lot better (the cpu is overclocable and the GTX 670 will simply be superior to the GTX 660ti)

Besides, when VirtuMP is ON the i5 3570k will be better because of the higer-end IGP