First time build, $1300 budget. Need final opinions and advice on it before buying.

[shirazjr]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Respire T40 68.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($20.53 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($65.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($64.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($108.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.98 @ Outlet PC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.98 @ Outlet PC)
Monitor: Acer H236HLbid 60Hz 23.0" Monitor ($177.23 @ Amazon)
Total: $1284.63
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 13:56 EDT-0400)

 

[dannyboy2233]

Here you go. This gets you an SSD for a boot drive, as well as (in my opinion) a more easy-to-build-in case.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($127.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Dominator 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Crucial M4 64GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Microcenter)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card ($349.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec One ATX Mid Tower Case ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1025.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-07-04 14:01 EDT-0400)
As for a monitor, I think the Asus Asus VS248H-P is a great one. Same price, same resolution, but 24".

 

[TheBigTroll]

a smarter build
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1dfgi

 

[dannyboy2233]

a smarter build
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1dfgi

The Phanteks cooler will perform marginally better than the Hyper 212 EVO for $20 more; not worth it. Also, this has a worse GPU...? Plus, lower quality RAM, as well as a lower quality SSD. You will also see no performance benefit over the motherboard which I listed, which is $25 less.

 

[TheBigTroll]

yes it performs about 3c or so better than the hyper 212 evo, but at half the noise

there is literally no reason to buy a GPU that costs 40 dollars more just because it can overclock itself 50mhz. not to mention in the end when you crank both of them to the max clockspeeds, the difference is around 20mhz, which is around 1fps in the end of the day.

lower quality ram? sure. when both ram kits cant overclock anyways, what difference does it make to get a dominator kit? and if you think it can overclock well, forget it. if it did, your kit would have ended up in the 1866mhz bucket

the SSD quality argument is just wrong. first of all, they both use the standard synchronos NAND with 3000 write cycles, so on the nand side of things, they are about the same. as for the controller, yeah your m4 will perform better with incompressible data, but then overall, they perform the same so that argument is a bit invalid. as for capacity, i have double of what you have for the same price. it would be stupid to get that smaller SSD

the main difference between my board and yours is that i have more fan connectors which may or may not be useful, a vastly superior vrm that is more robust and more efficient, and that the IO option is much richer although that is up to the user if they want that or not. if the OP decides that he wants the better vrm provided by the ud3h but not the IO, the z87x-d3h and the i5 4670k combo at newegg is also great

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.1355051&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

 

[shirazjr]

Also, NZXT respire T40 is slightly better and cheaper than hyper evo 212. http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/heatsinks/31882-nzxt-respire-t20-t40?showall=&start=5