I am going to build a New Desktop?

The Wizkid is right. As to the why it's pretty simple. $100 difference is not justified by the performance with 1-3%(±5FPS) going to either one http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=287. The HT(Hyper-Thred) technology does NOTHING for games. The fluctuations/differences in FPS is due to the 100MHz advantage that the 2600K/2600 has.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... is the best 560 Ti. I prefer EVGA. I have their http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... .

Whoops. I just read that you do not want a 560 Ti. I am leaving that info for others. Why 900MHz or above? Just because I have a gfx card at 900MHz I am not guaranteed an increase in performance. What is above 900MHz? Is it the core clock, shader clock or the memory? Mhz is really something you can increase yourself with an overclocking utility like MSI Afterburner, EVGA precision and many others. This http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8... can be overclocked above 900MHz but in my personal opinion you are placing that single value of 900MHz on a pedestal where it does not belong and will not even make a difference. Just because the card has a core clock of 900MHz it will of course be faster than any other plain/reference/vanilla GTX 560 but your zoomed in on the specs a bit too close. You see that big number when everything else around it makes it a moot point. I do not even know of a plain 560 that comes in @ 900MHz. I agree it is part of the BIG picture but not really overly important. Why are you stuck on the 560?

Hmmmm You know someone else that has one and plays BF3 on high? I believe it and the 560 that I suggested will give you high settings @ your resolution. Keep your AA/AF low

I would go for the 650W. It will EASILY handle two of them in SLI.

I was where you are at in terms of motherboards. I instead went for a cheaper MSI p67A-G43. Yes there is a MSI Z68-G43. In the end I am VERY happy I poured more money into the rest of my build and took some away from my board. I still have 6GB/s sata connections. I can still overclock. I still can set up HDD's SSD's in RAID. I still have USB 3.0 connections. I still have many many options open to me that makes a better board just more. Sometimes more IS just more. I would SERIOUSLY consider investing in a better card. I could look back in my questions back in March of 2011 and find that board and many other high end boards. I was where you are at. I'm glad I reconsidered and the change did not change my gaming in any way.

Operating System

MS Windows 7 64-bit SP1

CPU

Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.40GHz 30 °C

Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology

RAM

8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-25)

Motherboard

MSI P67A-G43 (MS-7673) (SOCKET 0) 33 °C

Graphics

DELL 1704FPV (1280x1024@75Hz)

COMPAQ FS7600 (1024x768@85Hz)

1280MB GeForce GTX 570 Classified HD (EVGA) 36 °C

Hard Drives

977GB Seagate ST31000528AS ATA Device (SATA) 31 °C

156GB Seagate ST3160812AS ATA Device (SATA) 29 °C

78GB Western Digital WDC WD800JD-00MSA1 ATA Device (SATA) 29 °C

Optical Drives

ATAPI iHAS124 Y ATA Device

ASUS DRW-22B2S b ATA Device

Audio

Realtek High Definition Audio

i recommend a i5 2500k

and use that extra money for a better gpu like the 580

or a 680 if they a low priced