Held out and saved some cash, help me build something nice!

[Rue Meridian]

Budget: 1000$ to start
Resolution: 1920x1080
Games/Settings Desired: WoW / FFXIV: ARR / Future Titles (Titanfall maybe?) - Ultra if possible
Country: USA
Parts that can be reused: GTX 660, DVD Writer
Do you need an OS? Nope
Do you need peripherals? Nope

Looks like this year I get to do what I want with my tax return and just filed, will be getting back about 1500$, so I wanted to put 1000$ of that towards a new build. Want an SSD for sure if at all possible. I was suggested the 4670K by you kind gents before, so figured I would work off of that and would go ahead and OC if I could research how to do it anyway.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($228.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Pro3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($94.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: GeIL EVO VELOCE 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($72.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($21.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $635.91
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-18 08:58 EST-0500)

Would something like this build I found here be OK and just move some things around since I already have a video card and OS, or would another card be suggested, more ram maybe, since that's like 300$ off from this build? Thanks again for the help guys, can't wait to hear what you guys have to say.

EDIT:
Took out the GPU/OS cost.

[Barcasaur]

I can't help you any except see how good of spec's that is for the price.

[chazus]

Just a heads up, the XFX is on sale at newegg for $25. I'd grab it now regardless of anything. I ordered 3 myself (different shipping locations, per rebate) because you can't find a quality PSU cheaper.

[Jakexe]

PCPartpicker is taking waaay too long to load atm so I'll do my best.

Everything in that build looks fine but I'd recommend a better mobo, Asus Z87-A or MSI G43/45 come to mind and i'd up that SSD to a 256GB samsung EVO. As for the GPU i'd stick with the 660 over a 760 BUT if you still wanted to upgrade i'd go with a GTX770. All that should come to around $1000 (I think).

[Rue Meridian]

@chazus Most def. gonna pick that up, thanks for the heads up on that.

@Voisier As I had said in my post, would love to OC if it wasn't that difficult, but its not a priority or anything, no. I will take your and Jakexe's advice and look into the Samsung EVO SSD's as well, thanks.

@Jakexe I will look at those other mobo's as well and see what the differences/comparisons are for sure, thanks for the lookout. I think I will just stick with the 660 since it's fine even in the setup I have now, its just with my current hardware, the bottleneck is def. my ram/cpu/mobo for sure.

My main goal is I just want something with solid performance that can play most anything I throw at it and rock @1080 while lasting me while. I've had this AMDx4/DDR2 setup for at least 4 years, solid as it is (as far as how long it's lasted), it's starting to show it's age and needs to be put out to pasture.

[Deleted]

Are you overclocking? If not you don't need the CPU cooler or the K version of the CPU. I'd change the RAM for a corsair vengeance set or Kingston hyperx series. I've heard horror story's about the crucial SSD's. If it's in your budget pick up a Samsung 840 Evo. Otherwise if say that's a good looking build.

You got a cite for those Crucial 'horror stories'? And for a $1000 build, you're not going to beat those GeiL sticks.

[Jakexe]

Oh and as for overclocking it's really really easy if you want to learn how. There's heaps of guides around and it only takes an hour or 2 max to get your head around what you're doing and get a decent oc going. I honestly don't understand why people avoid doing it or don't bother trying to learn how.

[Rue Meridian]

@Jakexe Could you go into specifics about why you would recommend another mobo? I see the one in my original post linked a lot throughout different places (here, reddit, partspicker), so just looking for any specific details as to why, in your opinion. Thanks!

[Jakexe]

@Jakexe Could you go into specifics about why you would recommend another mobo? I see the one in my original post linked a lot throughout different places (here, reddit, partspicker), so just looking for any specific details as to why, in your opinion. Thanks!

It's linked a lot because it's a good budget board. Unfortunately i've never actually used one, i'm pretty sure they don't even sell them here but I have used asrock boards before and while these days most decent brand boards all OC pretty much the same I still dislike using asrock boards as they seem to be more of a hassle to get a good clock at least the cheaper ones do. Asus (Z87-C was the one I shouldve suggested, cheaper option) on the other hand are a breeze, they have the best tuning software out of all the manufacturers and consistently get good results. As for MSI I just have a love for them this generation, (I just ordered a Z87M gaming for my first personal haswell build), besides that fact they look sexy they also get great results. My best mate has a stable i5 4670k 4.8ghz at 1.26V on a GD65 (mostly chip lottery at play but still) and I've yet to be see a bad board from them.

Now the asrock board would be fine but in my experience you can get better and don't be mistaken I do have bias against asrock partly due to the fact my first ever build I did myself got a shoddy asrock board.

[chazus]

Asrock as a brand is good. I think the more important point is that the Z87 Pro3 is a cheaper board, and thus cheaper parts. While not BAD, it's sort of gambling a 'double lottery' with the silicon lottery.

Example.

I have and MSI Z77-G41, literally one of the cheapest Z77 boards there are from decent brands. I love MSI, but there is no doubt that the Z77-G41 is a bargain board. I had trouble getting my 3570K up to 4.5ghz, even without heat problems. If I had spent a bit more (okay, $40 more), and gotten a Z77-G43, or G45.. I probably could have pushed it to 4.7 or 4.8... However I also didn't feel that $40 was worth a couple hundred mhz.

That said... it basically comes to this. If you absolutely can't spend more, without sacrificing other parts, the Pro3 is fine. If you can splurge 20-30 bucks... Or cut some corners (I think you can get cheaper ram... and also the XFX 550 is on sale as noted), then I'd at least go up to a Pro4 or Extreme4.

[Rue Meridian]

That MSI Z87-GD65 looks SEXY, the price shocked me lol, but DAMN it looks awesome I have to admit. Would I have any issues with that board as far as the other components go? I want to make sure that I'm not going to have any issues fitting stuff into a case, or that the ram doesn't get in the way of the CPU cooler, etc. I used to put computers together all the time, but these were 133mhz Pentiums. This is my first real solo gaming build and I don't want to mess it up. As stated, I have 1,000$ I can throw at this if it comes down to it, just want to make it right.

Another question I have, what is going to be the added benefit of going past 8GB of ram? I'm wanting to stream and do some video editing, is it going to be that much of a problem, etc?

- - - Updated - - -

What about something like this setup?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($171.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: GeIL EVO VELOCE 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($82.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($133.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT Source 210 Elite (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($41.56 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($25.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $726.45
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-02-20 13:21 EST-0500)

[n0cturnal]

MSI Z87-G43 and G45 Gaming look about the same but come at a cheaper price.

With a $1000 budget I would suggest that you look for a nicer case, perhaps something like Fractal Design Arc R2. A good case is something you can keep for several years.

[Rue Meridian]

It wasn't just about the looks of the GD65, but I liked some of the extra features, more SATA ports, etc. Will look into those other two now as well. That case just kinda was simple and it has a bunch of room. Know a friend who has it and he had nothing but nice things to say. Will look up that case you mentioned now too.

Also I have another question. If I was going to upgrade the GPU, would it be better to sell my card and look into getting another, or run another 660 in SLI?

[n0cturnal]

It wasn't just about the looks of the GD65, but I liked some of the extra features, more SATA ports, etc. Will look into those other two now as well. That case just kinda was simple and it has a bunch of room. Know a friend who has it and he had nothing but nice things to say. Will look up that case you mentioned now too.

Also I have another question. If I was going to upgrade the GPU, would it be better to sell my card and look into getting another, or run another 660 in SLI?

Depends on what you are looking to do, sooner or later the 660s will run out of vRAM. The G43 model doesn't support SLI so keep that in mind.

[Rue Meridian]

My main point with this build besides playing everything I can as well as I can, is to stream and do some editing here and there. Just trying to figure out a good balance, not sure about the amount of Ram I should have either, but I guess that's something I could always add later, would just rather know from the get-go I guess.