Solt

You've reinstalled the i5 with the same issue? 
 
Do you have a hard drive? (not ssd)  Does it spin up?  
 
Maybe it has switched to onboard video instead of the video card.  Try switching to a different port. 

How is the CPU bottlenecking if it's using only 40%?

Lately, I've had people telling me I wasn't doing things the way they they would have done it, and that my opinions are wrong, and that I wasn't a true "enthusiast" 

A total of 6 people (not on this site).

Point is, I'm "interested" in computers. I am, by no means, an "Enthusiast".

Enthusiast seems like such an arrogant term. I am by /no/ means an enthusiast. I've built several machines starting in 2005 (the "core 2" era) until now and I know how to build a system. Parts buying to assembling to loading the OS and drivers. I find that the term enthusiast couples with the fine gentleman holding a cigar in one hand and a nice glass of brandy discussing the fineness of his top-shelf caviar grade i7 4960x machine and how it destroys the poor boy's slapped-together machine.

Anyone else feel this way?

I'm currently enrolled this next semester for computer hardware training at Century College along with my other high school electives. Should be fun.

Also, this is a good read:
http://www.amazon.com/Upgrading-Repairing-PCs-21st-Edition/dp/0789750007 

I'm not a gamer, I just have a PC that happens to have games on it 

Get a 7970 not a 680, that will solve all your problems

I barely use 2.5gb of vram maxed out ultra everything+ max AA in 5760x1080, I really doubt bf4 will take 3gb lol

I really don't think you would need 3gb vram maxed out at 1080p. That's just a guess, though.
 
 
(Battlefield 3 took about 1.4gb vram maxed out at 1080p)

This is perfect for a media pc in my opinion. 
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks   CPU:  AMD A10-6800K 4.1GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($149.98 @ SuperBiiz)  CPU Cooler:  Noctua NH-L12 37.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($49.99 @ NCIX US)  Motherboard:  ASRock FM2A85X-ITX Mini ITX FM2 Motherboard  ($106.97 @ Newegg)  Memory:  Corsair Vengeance 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($49.13 @ TigerDirect)  Storage:  Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($99.99 @ NCIX US)  Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($79.99 @ Newegg)  Case:  BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg)  Power Supply:  Corsair Builder 430W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply  ($22.98 @ Newegg)  Optical Drive:  Asus DRW-24F1ST DVD/CD Writer  ($16.00 @ Newegg)  Total: $635.02 (Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) (Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-31 08:07 EDT-0400)

hmm still need to watch the livestream 

You can get Xeon for gaming. And 64gb ram for minecraft.

I was trying to make and affordable Nes gaming pc and it turned out fairly close to what i wanted. The power supply is on the outside, but i just hide it under the table :D When idling i cant even hear it running!
 
Specs:
Gigabyte Z77N WIFI
i5 3570k
ADATA 128gb SSD
4gb Corsair Ram
Corsair CX500 power supply
XFX Radeon 7850 1gb

This is really awesome.