Gaming rig advice ($1200 budget)

[burz21]

Greetings,

I am currently in the process of building a gaming rig on a budget of $1200 USD. I am fairly new to all of this but I have done quite a bit of research and this is my list I came up with.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2p5yd

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-GD65 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer

This will be use primarily for X-Plane 10/FSX, Skyrim, and triple monitor setup hence the 4 GB VRAM GPU. I already have the HDD and misc. items which is why they are not included.

Before I purchase this, I came here to hopefully find ways to improve it and to further my knowledge in the process. Any advice would be appreciated.

Edit: I was considering the Haswell i5-4570k as well to get a newer chipset and motherboard if I wanted to upgrade in the future.

Regards,
James

 

[sportfreak23]

Well, I would do the following:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2p67l

I beefed up the PSU because if your going to continue to use the triple monitor setup you may want to SLI in the future. If not, switch to a smaller PSU and try to fit in a gtx 780. As for the cooler swap, I don't think the price difference to performance between H60 is worth.

 

[Abscent]

Some minor changes, Better PSU in case you want SLI later on, I would recommend the i5-4670k and at least use the H80i with it H100i if you can. Also used the Msi - 45 Board to keep a red theme to match your ram

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.98 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($89.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 4GB Video Card ($390.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill THOR V2 ATX Full Tower Case ($128.53 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 750W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1216.35
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-24 01:36 EST-0500)

Or if you want to run a Single 780, I had to change your case to stay in the 1200 budget but here is another option:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H80i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($139.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($68.00 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($499.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($58.86 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1221.78
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-12-24 01:45 EST-0500)