well i usually say that a z77 w/ high end processors is a good pair, also, do you have a good cooler for the cpu and a sufficient power supply?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501That's the best you can get for your socket I believe, correct me if I'm wrong.
they can't go togetherif you would've read the descriptions, that i7 is for lga 2011 socket while his mobo has an lga 1155 socket
The i7 linked is for a LGA 1155 socket, you must've mixed up the links.
oops
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/OrBT
What could I change it too to still stay in the $500 price range?
Try this maybe?
No hard drive. If you are assuming he already has one you might as well not include the optical drive either.
How is this build? I'm going to keep my current 500GB HDD.
See:
im a very gay and handicapped piece of stuff