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Quote from superfula

Hmm, any comments about these 3 potential mobo's?

ASUS P8Z68-V ~ http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131729
ASUS P8Z68-V Pro ~ http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131790
ASRock P67 Gen3 ~ http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157265

Unless you want one of the three main items a Z68 board gives (onboard video, ssd caching and quicksync), go with a P67. I wanted the onboard video in case I flashed my video card wrong (and I did, so it saved me). ASRock is solid...I'm partial to Asus simply because their uEFI Bios ui is so far ahead of everything else out there. In the end, you can't go wrong with either brand.

Quote from Glowyrm

Ok, sorry for the giant quote but I wanted to touch on everything.

Excellent CPU choice, althought if you're not really on a restricted budget the i7 2600k is worth 100 more bucks (I'm glad I decided to do it when I was looking at the i5) and it's more "futureproof" than the i5 due to hyperthreading.

For the Heatsink/Fan, you're already looking to spend around 50 bucks (close to it anyway) it seems so I recommend you go for the best Heatsink/Fan out there right now.

http://www.frostytec...p5heatsinks.cfm

#1 on that list, it's amazing has been consistantly #1 on that list for a year and it only costs like 59 bucks. Downside is it's hard to find. Here is a list of good sites that carry it. I got my from PerformancePCs.com buyt they are sold out ATM...http://www.frostytech.com/permalink.cfm?NewsID=78062

Superfula is correct when he says to stick with 1600MHz RAM. GSkill is a great choice and the RAM you picked is awesome.

Out of those 2, I would go with the EVGA card.

When it comes to the motherboard, I would look at P67 motherboards only unless you plan on using Intel QuickSync, SSD Caching, and the intergrated CPU graphics (the H67 feature). Those features are what separates Z68 from P67 and you'll save yourself 70-40 bucks depending on the P67 board you choose.

Choose one from here ---> http://www.newegg.co...ING&PageSize=20

I personally have an ASRock Extreme4 Gen3. Picked it after looking at a few motherboard "roundup" reviews. It had really good SATA 6GB performance, excellent temps and power consumption scores. The ASUS boards on there are good too though.

Quote from superfula

Quote from GhostLoad

I'm looking to upgrade my current PC (q6600 processor, 9800gt 512mb video card, 4gb ram) and get these components, but I don't know which mobo to go with....

CPU - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115072
Fan - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118223
RAM - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231468
Video Card - http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130593

CPU - perfect
Fan - I've heard the cooler is good, but can be loud. Check out the CoolerMaster 212 Plus http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835103065
It'll get your processor to 4.5 GHz easily. And it's quiet and a bit cheaper.
RAM - I'd probably go with 1600MHz. You just won't notice the difference with anything higher and it'll save you a bit of cash http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231314
GPU - And then you can put that extra cash into a slightly better video card
http://www.newegg.co...&Tpk=asus%20570
Both are 570s, but the Asus will be quieter and slightly faster.
If you were looking to save a bit more money yet not sacrifice much performance, you could go with an AMD 6950 or an Nvidia 560Ti. Of course they aren't QUITE as good as the 570, but are close. And it'll save you $80-$100, depending upon the brand, model, etc. I don't want to talk you out of the 570, because it's a great card. Just sharing what I thought through before I purchased my card. I ended up getting an MSI 6950, simply because I don't play THAT many computer games, and the ones I do aren't very GPU taxing (WoW, D3, SC2, Aoe3, etc etc).

PSU - you didn't mention what power supply you have. It may be something you'll want to upgrade as well, given the higher power requirements. As long as you have a good 650W or higher you'll be fine.

Edit: I saw this (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131791) motherboard, which looks like it's bad ass, but it's more than I wanted to spend. *frowny face*

Ha! Yikes. Check out that Asus I linked to earlier http://www.newegg.co...8-v+pro&x=0&y=0
Solid board, will let you overclock the i5 and, if you so choose, will work with the Ivy Bridge processors. At this point it should come with the required bios version of at least 0902 for the Ivy.

You could also go with a Gen3 version http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131790
But really the only difference between the two (aside from price) is the Gen3 supports PCI-Express 3.0. But I don't foresee GPU bandwidth being a problem for quite some time. So spending the extra $40 would be a personal choice.

Quote from superfula

Couple things to keep in mind

First, if you are going to spend that much on a computer, you just as well go with the better processor (Intel). Either way, unless you are going to be rendering some large videos, you won't notice a difference.
Second, with Ivy Bridge coming out in Q2 2012, you'll have a good upgrade route by going with a Gen 3 motherboard. Essentially, with the right motherboard you can upgrade to the newest Ivy Bridge processor with minimal expense (cost of processor). Where as with AMD...who knows what they are doing.