Newbie starting on my journey to build my first desktop...

[vb6172]

As the title says - I am doing this for the first time, and I am trying to pick my components. Was initially shooting for a budget of around 1000, but I think that I will go over that (I am ok with 1200 too).

The end goal is to have a fast PC - with good gaming abilities - I am more inclined to have a workhorse than a gaming horse.

Initial thoughts after reading the sticky on the logical progression were to get something with the i5 3570 - but then I have found a great deal on the i7 3770/3770K - at Microcenter, such that it is only $50 or so more (the 3770 is $60 more, where as I get a $50 discount on the motherboard with the 3770K, so it ends up being cheaper - and only $50 more than the 3570K).

Now I am left to decide between a 3770 and a 3770K - I am not that familiar with over clocking, and I am not sure if I will OC. Given that, would a 3770 prove to be a better choice? Is the CPU stability of concern with the K's?

Thanks in advance...

[Ench]

I can't speak with first hand knowledge of the i-core series, but from all that I have read the K is probably worth a few extra bucks, even if just to keep your options open. The 2500K (sandy bridge) seems to be one of the all-time favorite CPU's, and the 3570K is continuing that tradition. There should be no extra risks or stability issues with a K processor.

[CrAzYsIm]

The K just means it can overclock higher because of the unlocked multiplier. The amount of overclock still depends on the quality of the silicone used in the chip.
Depending on what chip you want, depending on the sale there could be a $30 price difference between the K and reg version so if your budget is really tight I would get the non-k and use that savings elsewhere.
But as far as stability, at their stock clocks there the same.

[vb6172]

Thanks guys - I ended up getting the 3770K + Asus P8Z77 V Pro - together it was a good deal, I think. The 3770K was about $100 more than the 3570K, but with the $50 off on the Mobo, think it was OK.

Now to building the rest of the system.

I am not operating with a hard budget - just shooting for a figure around $1000 - without the GPU. Still have to decide which one I may end up getting - I have not decided on my monitor setup - 1 large or 3 medium... and I think only the Radeon's support 3 monitors??

[CrAzYsIm]

$1000 without the GPU will get you a high end rig. NVIDIA GPU's also support 3 monitor setups now so what you get should be decided on performance and price, and for this generation of GPU's NVIDIA wins that.
Also you should decide your monitor setup as well because 1 large 1080p monitor or 3 medium 1080p monitors will make a big difference. The size doesnt matter, the resolution does so if you get 3 1080p monitors than youll need a powerful high end GPU if not 2 to render games across a 5760x1080 display where a single high end GPU will max out any game for a while across 1 monitor. Personally while i wanted a multi monitor setup i ended up going with a 27" LED monitor instead.