Originally Posted by
Kalmado
ram: 16gb would be fine if just gaming and what not. Can use the savings towards a monitor.
cpu: If only gaming an I5 will be fine and no difference will be seen. If no plans to overclock then yes, just drop the K and use the savings towards a monitor.
case: Tough call because it's all about personal preference. If $125 is in the budget for a case you really can pick so many different things. I personally went with the Phanteks Enthoo Pro and I love it. Usually around $85, great cable management, and a classy look. One thing I noticed was no replacement fans for the stock fans. This of course will depend on what case you buy and the quality of the fans. Corsair, Cougar, Thermaltake Riing, and others can serve greatly for replacements.
Monitor: I've never owned a 144hz so I have no idea how/why/what makes them so desirable. I also do not play games competitively or for that matter any game where I guess every hz and ms counts. When I had the QNIX Q2710 I had it overclocked to 112hz and I personally couldn't tell much of a difference from that to 60hz. For myself, my best upgrade was going from 1080 to 1440. I'd rate that as a better upgrade than a SSD (for me). Also, moving from 24" to 27" doesn't seem like much, but after you have it and then look at a 24" you'll be glad you have that 27". I love the QNIX as in my opinion it represents the best $ to performance/value. It can usually be had for around $220 if not less and a 970 will push it just fine although a 390 may help since it has more vram and truly is a better card. Newegg and Amazon carry QNIX, but a seller by the name of Dream-Seller on Ebay has tons of inventory and usually the best deals.