Need help with my first build

[connectz]

Well this is the build in my wishlist right now

CPU Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)
Motherboard
RAM CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3
HDD Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5"
GPU EVGA GeForce GTX 660 Ti
PSU CORSAIR Builder Series CX600 600W ATX12V
Cooler COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO
Case Zalman Z9 U3
Monitor ASUS VS Series VS238H-P Black 23" 2ms HDMI LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor

I'm trying to keep the build as close as I can to 1000 dollars. Right now with everything listed above it's at about 980. So here are a few questions...

1. I'm still not sure I understand the difference between the EVGA, MSI, GIGABYTE etc. versions of the GTX 600 TI...can someone clear that up for me? I've looked everywhere but everyone just seems to be praising their own cards and shitting on the others.

2. I need a motherboard, actually I don't know much about motherboards at all so I'm not even sure I know what to look for. I don't want to just bandwagon on whatever everyone else is buying. What is a mobo that you guys recommend for this build?

Other criticism is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Horobi]

Video cards are mostly equivalent. Vendors buy chipset specs from NVidia, then just print it on their PCB and slap on custom coolers. Ocasionally they meddle with chipset frequency and some other parameters. Just try to find full specs and compare the numbers (chipset frequency, bus frequency, memory size etc) and pick the one you like the most. The difference in quality is almost non-existant.

[demonskies]

1. Theres differences in clocks, overclockability, cooling, afermarket pcbs. EVGAs are normmaly single fan closed cards with louder fans, MSI and Gigabyte have after market cooling setups which tend to be more quiet due to the extra fans. AsusDC2=GigabyteWF2/3>MSI>EVGA in my opinion for the 660ti's of the brands listed Id stay away from newer PNY cards, Zotac and Galaxy are more budgety but I havent heard to many complaints about them and Im sure shroudster will jump in and say something about a zotac AMP

2. Asrock z77 extreme4 or Asus pz77v lk are 2 great boards in the 130~ range. But if you only plan on doing a single card video card setup and less performance for super high overclocking a cheaper 80-90 Asrock z77 pro 3 would be fine as well.

Also Id look at getting a decent 520~ watt like a seasonic 520 over the cx series if you can at least go TX with corsair, or a XFX 550 pro.

[connectz]

1. Theres differences in clocks, overclockability, cooling, afermarket pcbs. EVGAs are normmaly single fan closed cards with louder fans, MSI and Gigabyte have after market cooling setups which tend to be more quiet due to the extra fans. AsusDC2=GigabyteWF2/3>MSI>EVGA in my opinion for the 660ti's of the brands listed Id stay away from newer PNY cards, Zotac and Galaxy are more budgety but I havent heard to many complaints about them and Im sure shroudster will jump in and say something about a zotac AMP

2. Asrock z77 extreme4 or Asus pz77v lk are 2 great boards in the 130~ range. But if you only plan on doing a single card video card setup and less performance for super high overclocking a cheaper 80-90 Asrock z77 pro 3 would be fine as well.

Also Id look at getting a decent 520~ watt like a seasonic 520 over the cx series if you can at least go TX with corsair, or a XFX 550 pro.

Thanks for the clear advice!

The PSU is another question I forgot to mention in my OP. I did the Power calculator on newegg, and my build will not exceed 460 watts...is there any reason to even go with the 600W unit then? Will a 500-550W unit be just as efficient?

[-Skye]

I guess if the price difference isn't too large it's future proofing yourself in case you ever want to overclock or something. I'm 90% sure it doesn't draw more power than needed.

[demonskies]

500-550 range is perfect area for PSU now adays enough power to do everything and more without going way to high. Neweggs power calculator tends to not be very accurate. With that build youll probably be under 350w maybe with some peaks to 375w at most. But its always good to have a little more.

[connectz]

how about this motherboard? it's got a good deal on it too only $112 after the promo code...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131832

[Noctua]

how about this motherboard? it's got a good deal on it too only $112 after the promo code...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131832

That'll do fine.
you could even get a smaller case with that if you want to think of small form factor