I just finished building my first gaming PC. According my ASrock Z77 Extreme4 mobo's reading, my i-5 3570K is running around 37c -39c. I have this Cooler Master GeminII S524 cooler (its the best one I can find that actually fits in my case) and Arctic Silver AS5 thermal paste. Is my CPU temperature normal, or did I screw up somewhere? 

Ok, thanks for the feedback guys. I definitely want to future-proof it and do SLI later on, so I guess the Asus is my best bet. The reason why I was considering the EVGA was because it has a higher core clock than the Asus, 1006Mhz on the EVGA compared to 915Mhz on the Asus. Then again, I don't know  if it'll make any discernible difference.

Also, with this set-up would I need an aftermarket CPU cooler? I was planning to use the stock one as is. And would you recommend getting a better thermal paste or is the stock one sufficient? 

Ok, first time building a rig here. I want a rig that can play Skyrim on highest settings plus some mods, as well as some other recent games. Completely open to suggestions and comments.

CPU + Mobo (save $60 with this combo)
Intel i5 3570K and ASRock Z77 Extreme4 - $294.98

GPU
Trying to decide between the EVGA GTX670 2GB and Asus 670 4GB $399.99 or $459.99

PSU
Seasonic X750 Gold 750W  - $139.99

RAM
Corsair Vengeance 8GB - $64.99

HDD
Seagate Barracuda 1TB  - $79.99

SSD
Corsair Force Series GT 120GB - $129.99

DVD drive
ASUS 24X DVD burner  - 19.99

Case
Azza Solano 1000  - $129.99

Monitor
Asus 23" 1920 X1080  - $169.99

Total: $1429.90 - $1489.90 depending on which GPU I get. 
 

So what do the experts of Computer hardware think? Are some parts not adequate? Are some parts overkill? Am I overpaying or underpaying on anything? As I said, this is my first gaming rig, so all suggestions are welcome.

I also want Windows 7 Home Premium as my OS, but don't have a copy and don't want to send 200 bucks on one. Any tips on that?

3570k definitely, which you should be able to find for ~$200-220.
That leaves you with about $300 for the GPU. A 7950 is going to be your best bet in that price range. 

 

What resolution will you be playing at?

LordEC911

1920X1080

I don't plan to do any overclocking in the near future, but i might later on. There seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions on Nvidia vs. AMD, so what are the differences between them? And what are the differences between the various GPU brands? 

So it's my first time building a gaming PC, and I would like a rig that can at least play Skyrim on high settings + a bunch of mods. The problem is I have no idea what CPU/GPU combos are good. I'm leaning towards either the Intel i5-3570K or i7-3770K for the CPU and have no idea what to get for the GPU. And the fact that there are so many manufacturers (Asus, Sapphire, MSI, EVGA), each with their own specs and quirks, for EACH card makes my head spin. My budget for the CPU+GPU is about $400 - $500, but I'm willing to tweak it based on your suggestions. So what would be the best CPU/GPU for me? 

So I just got Splinter Cell Double Agent for the original Xbox cuz I heard it was better than the 360 version. I boot it up on my 360 and try to play splitscreen co-op, but that option is blacked out. The only other options are Xbox live (which for original xbox games doesn't work anymore) and system link. Anyone know why they removed co-op from backwards compatible games? Or is there still a way to make it work?