Yes, the Intel Core i5-3570K is probably one of the best gaming processors out there. Quite a few of us on here have one and we all love them as far as I know. Would you be doing anything more stressful than gaming? For example, video encoding? If not, stick with the 3570K. If you pair that with a good CPU cooler, you are more than ready to overclock the fire out of it if you want.
There are quite a few options for motherboards, which is good for the consumer, but makes picking one fairly difficult. Generally, Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI are regarded as some of the best boards out there. It really comes down to what you want to spend on one, because all decent boards have roughly the same features, which is also all a regular system needs. I ended up with the Asus Z77 Sabertooth because of how reliable they are and the warranty.......also the unique look of the board fit what I was wanting as well. The Asus RoG series of boards are really nice, feature-rich, and many forum members have one. A good, all around board is the Asus P8Z77-V Pro...plenty of features, and a really rock-solid motherboard. Look to pay around $175+ for a premium motherboard. I don't know much about Gigabyte or MSI boards as I have zero experience with them, but I know they both make a few very high end boards, such as the Gigabyte G1 Sniper and the MSI Z77 MPower.
The graphics card recommendation is also mainly about how much money you are comfortable spending. There is a clear winner at just about every price point. For a gaming rig, I would start with cards around $250 and up. It's not about what games are out now, it's what games will you want to play a year from now? A $150 card won't do much for you a year from now honestly. As of right now, I believe AMD has the best performing cards FOR THE MONEY, but Nvidia cards, I believe, have better support and better drivers. "Who has the best graphics card" is a title that changes fairly often as AMD and Nvidia leapfrog over each other all the time. For AMD, I would start at the Radeon 7870's, and for Nvidiia, I would start with the GTX 660's. If you are comfortable with that price point, and you really want a solid gaming rig, I would step up to the AMD Radeon 7950 or the Nvidia GTX 660Ti. A card from either of those lines should play games for quite a while, no problem.
That addresses your most recent questions, but do you have a handle on your other PC components?
Kelly
There are quite a few options for motherboards, which is good for the consumer, but makes picking one fairly difficult. Generally, Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI are regarded as some of the best boards out there. It really comes down to what you want to spend on one, because all decent boards have roughly the same features, which is also all a regular system needs. I ended up with the Asus Z77 Sabertooth because of how reliable they are and the warranty.......also the unique look of the board fit what I was wanting as well. The Asus RoG series of boards are really nice, feature-rich, and many forum members have one. A good, all around board is the Asus P8Z77-V Pro...plenty of features, and a really rock-solid motherboard. Look to pay around $175+ for a premium motherboard. I don't know much about Gigabyte or MSI boards as I have zero experience with them, but I know they both make a few very high end boards, such as the Gigabyte G1 Sniper and the MSI Z77 MPower.
The graphics card recommendation is also mainly about how much money you are comfortable spending. There is a clear winner at just about every price point. For a gaming rig, I would start with cards around $250 and up. It's not about what games are out now, it's what games will you want to play a year from now? A $150 card won't do much for you a year from now honestly. As of right now, I believe AMD has the best performing cards FOR THE MONEY, but Nvidia cards, I believe, have better support and better drivers. "Who has the best graphics card" is a title that changes fairly often as AMD and Nvidia leapfrog over each other all the time. For AMD, I would start at the Radeon 7870's, and for Nvidiia, I would start with the GTX 660's. If you are comfortable with that price point, and you really want a solid gaming rig, I would step up to the AMD Radeon 7950 or the Nvidia GTX 660Ti. A card from either of those lines should play games for quite a while, no problem.
That addresses your most recent questions, but do you have a handle on your other PC components?
Kelly
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 7 Professional 64bit SP1Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.5GHzCorsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) @1866MHz CL 9-9-...EVGA GTX 750 Ti FTW
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
- Custom Built
- OS
- Windows 7 Professional 64bit SP1
- CPU
- Intel Core i5-3570K @ 4.5GHz
- Motherboard
- Asus Sabertooth Z77
- Memory
- Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4) @1866MHz CL 9-9-9-24 1T
- Graphics Card(s)
- EVGA GTX 750 Ti FTW
- Sound Card
- Onboard Audio
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Dell S2309W
- Screen Resolution
- 1920x1080
- Hard Drives
- Samsung 830 128GB SSD - OS
(4) Seagate 5TB HDD
(1) Seagate 2TB HDD
- PSU
- Seasonic X750 80+ Gold Full Modular
- Case
- Antec Eleven Hundred Super Mid Tower
- Cooling
- Intel Liquid Cooler
- Keyboard
- Max Nighthawk X8 Mechanical keyboard
- Mouse
- Mionix Naos 7000
- Internet Speed
- 50 Mbps Down / 10 Mbps Up
- Antivirus
- Microsoft Security Essentials/Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
- Browser
- Chrome/Firefox
- Other Info
- Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's
Asus RT-N66R Wireless Router
