Seeking Advice - Building 1st Gaming PC

[Raiyo]

Hey,

After playing MMOs for a few years on a laptop, I'm finally going to build a real gaming rig. I have a budget of ~$1000 and I'm look to play wow, tera, gw2 on max setting at 1080p - plus preferably have a little insurence for future games I might like. I'm in the USA.

Here's what I already own or have purchased: (Sorry, can't do links)
(BTW: Trying to get everthing from amazon since I'm a prime member and I'm in a sales tax state for newegg - sadface)

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS
SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 240 GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX
+ And external USB CD/DVD drive, keyboard/mouse, speakers.

Not going to have a HDD because this computer will only be used for gaming and I already have plenty of external storage.
Got the kingston instead of the samsung 830 because of an irresistable sale.
And got the case because I love it, and having a small, minimalist PC I like is important to me.

So here's my questions:

GPU: I have brand loyality to nvidia, so I was going to get an MSI GTX 660 Ti, but an article gave me doubt. (Google: MSI Caught Overvolting GTX 660 Ti, 670 Power Edition Cards) Should I get a get the same card from another company like Gigabyte or Asus? Or is that overblown and should I still get it from MSI?

Motherboard: Here's the one I really need help on, I'm clueless about motherboards. The two I found that I THINK will fit in my case are the Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe and the ASRock H77M-ITX, is that right? I think the Asus is suppossed to be better for overclocking or something? On that note I'm not planning on overclocking because I know nothing about it, and I don't think I need the extra power for what I want out of the system. Although it would be a nice option to be able to in the future I suppose.

Should just go with the $100 cheaper ASRock for my needs or are there any other good boards that will fit my case that you would recommend?

Cooler: I don't need one if I'm not overclocking, correct?

RAM: Planning on getting "G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1600MHz 240-Pin PC3-12800" because I've seen it reccommended.

OS: Is it worth waiting 2 weeks for windows 8? I was planning on just getting windows 7 bacause it's out now and I'm only gaming so I don't care. Windows 8 won't make games run better right?

Monitor: Currently thinking the Dell S2330MX 23" Ultra-Slim VGA Monitor for $155 seems like a really good value. Or is it really worth it for something better?

I think that's about it! Sorry ended up rambling more then I intended. Thank you very much for looking this over and any advice you have!

- Raiyo

[demonskies]

AsrockZ77E-ITX $150 That would be the board I got if I had to get a mini-ITX board. Paired with your 3570k it would be very capable of decent overclocks. If you dont plan on OCing theres really no reason for a 3570k and a 3450/h77 board would be fine. Windows 8 is worthelss Id get 7. make sure your ram is low profile. The gigabyteWF2s and the AsusDC2 660tis are very good cards as well. I wont recommend AMD cards since you said you have your loyalties to nvidia .

[Raiyo]

[Product link] That would be the board I got if I had to get a mini-ITX board. Paired with your 3570k it would be very capable of decent overclocks. If you dont plan on OCing theres really no reason for a 3570k and a 3450/h77 board would be fine. Windows 8 is worthelss Id get 7. make sure your ram is low profile. The gigabyteWF2s and the AsusDC2 660tis are very good cards as well. I wont recommend AMD cards since you said you have your loyalties to nvidia .

Awesome, thanks. I'll get that Z77E-ITX motherboard, corsair vengeance low profile RAM, windows 7, and I think the Gigabyte 660ti. And I bought the 3570k because I got it on a great sale as cheap as the 3450, plus it's nice to have the option to overclock if I want to later.

Updated Build:
CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz
PSU: Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS
SSD: Kingston HyperX 3K 240 GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini-ITX
GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 660 Ti WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5
Motherboard: AS Rock LGA1155 DDR3 SATA3 USB3.0 A GbE Mini-ITX Motherboard Z77E-ITX
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8 GB (2x4GB) PC3-12800 1600mhz 240-Pin DDR3 Dual Channel
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

All looks good now?

- Raiyo