tattyhat, I also agree with the suggestion for the I7 as in my experience the i series cores are more efficient per clock than the amd ones, but the latest amds are getting better, but still NEED about 20% higher clocks to equal the throughputs.

regarding the video cards it depends more on the games you want to play, ie FPS then the nvidia no fps then choose by your own preferences

but I am also going to suggest getting the highest speed ram you can as it is a lot easier to overclock and if you do NOT overclock it will still remain reliable at the stock clocks for a LOT longer than the low speed ram.

regarding the motherboards for intel cpus do NOT buy intel brand motherboards as the intel brand motherboards refuse to allow overclocking from personal experience and for overclocking ability on the i7 boards make sure you get the z77 boards so that you CAN try overclocking if you want.

harpo

tatty from a quick check on the web the 670 is about 330 usd, but has 3gb ram and 384 bit buss width, wher the next gen 760 is going to have 2gb ram and 256 bit buss width but about 250 usd, suggestion is if you have the funds then the 670 would be the better is older tech whre the newer 770 is about the 550 usd

harpo

the only advice I can give regarding paticular cards is to google the card for reviews and check the conclusions of the reviews.

harpo

Asus GTX 670 DirectCU OCII or top... extremely silent extremely cool and powerfull close to GTX680 with a liitle overclocking you get the 680 reference card easy *

The card has won several awards and it cant be heard under " torture" this card is nothing else but amazing.

here are video´s for u to check out 7 GTX cards tested : noise level of each check each and then listen to the asus card.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-test-review,3217-14.html 
Asus gtx670 OCII and Top are almost equal while the top model has some flaws i would recommend getting the OCII instead of the top, the silent level will remain remains the same since they both have the same cooling unit, unless you like having a permanent a vacum cleaner as GFX card when you play a game that uses D11 and high settings to ultra settings.( and no the Asus card video is not missing sound, you just need to turn your speakers up 

One more thing if you plan on buying I7 do not use the stock cooler get something good and powerfull like Noctua or corsair liquid, you can use the stock cooler as paperweight or sell it on ebay it is more of a gimic that comes with the CPU like a 3,5 diskette with drivers on it in 2013 as example.
If you get a board or CPU that fits socket 1155 well at least the Intel i7 3770k Ivybridge should be socket 1155 - NHD14 from Noctua is the way to go its a monster make sure it fits into your case prob will have to messure things out to see if it really does fit.
The cooler is also rated with dozens of awards... and even liquid cooling like the ones from corsair cant compete with it ( that is if you overclock ).

Rams: nothing else to add watch the timings tho and compare them since passive coolers can make a difference.

Tower: make sure it has enough airflow one vent at the end of the case wont be enough

PSU: recommend 800+ or ++ watts up to 1000W if you want to add another card in the near future.
Even if the newer hardware isnt taking up as much power as old hardware you need to keep in mind if you upgrade to sli or xfire you need aditional power.

good luck 

Am I the only one that thinks an i7 is completely overkill for gaming?  I guess if you have money to burn..

I call it future proofing.

I'm quite drawn to the GTX 760.  Looks like a very good card for less money then a 660ti