I wish there were a way to tell if a CPU cooler is too big to fit around the heatsinks and memory slots of the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard or not. The Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO seems to fit and supports Sandy Bridge, but i'm not quite comfortable using a cooler that came out before the Ivy Bridge CPU I plan on using.

Edit: Ah screw it, from the user reviews i'm reading on Newegg it seems that cooler works just fine with Ivy Bridge.

On to the memory, i'm down to about two choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233196
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233199

Those have different specs of course, but i'm not sure which one I should choose as I don't know what voltage, latency and timing is ideal. Plus there's the matter of if those are compatible with my motherboard or not. Those memory sticks aren't listed, but the site also says that not every compatible memory is listed.
I thought of going with Kingston, but alot of their memory seems to use higher voltages and most of the memory don't seem to list the timing.

Check comments, I don't see why it wouldn't work for Ivy bridge, don't think they changed the die size, really. I have one in my rig right now, the contact area is flat, just like you'd expect it, they weird pin thing that comes down for the mounting bracket fits into the top of of the contact surface, keeping firmly in place. (their diagrams are shit, but you'll see what I mean when you get one).

Actually, there's a backplate behind the whole thing (yes, put these on BEFORE you put the mobo in the case), that's where the Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge specs might be different, I'd check it out, before I bought this one, that other 212 model someone posted might be the Ivy Bridge version of the same thing. I didn't know when I responded that you were looking at an Ivy build, sorry.

Neither version is an Ivy Bridge version cooler, but from the user comments on Newegg it seems the newer EVO version (released late 2011) works fine with Ivy Bridge. The die size has changed with Ivy Bridge, but that cooler does fit the MB.

Die is smaller, right? As long as the screw holes haven't changed position for mounting the backplate it'll work, then. It sounds like those holes are the same, so you'd just have a bigger heatsink contact area than on the actual die. Don't goup on the thermal paste and it'll work fine.

The only thing you need to worry about with regards to processor type when choosing a CPU cooler is the socket it uses. Your CPU uses socket 1155, so any CPU cooler that says it's compatible with LGA 1155 will work.

Yeah, thanks again DarrkPhoenix.

Keep an eye out later on as I might make a new thread giving the final listing of all my parts and check and see if I need any further parts or accessories as the title of this current thread really no longer matches the current discussion. I'll probably make one more to try and figure out a good choice of monitor as well.
Thank you guys so much for putting up with me, i'm almost through with this adventure. :D

A late entry, but build it. All it takes is a few hours of research to get the parts (or just ask someone for a good build), and put it together.

The only time I felt anxious about it was when I was installing the processor, but everything went fine nonetheless. (and some adventures installing windows and all the basic programs, but that takes just time, not money)

I'm still saying use http://pcpartpicker.com/ its auto checks for compatibility, yeah you want to do a hand check before you click buy but this will give you solid quick results, no more questioning cpu vs heatsink vs mobo.

I've yet to have PPP give me a bad combo, and Ive built 3 systems through their design.