Best combination for 1,200-1500 dollars

[bubbasmith]

I am asking what would be perhaps the best combination of processor, mother board and video card for 1,200 to 1,500 dollars? It's been some time since I've built a new computer (six years), and I am clearly out of the loop. I want an AMD system, something that could handle high end rendering done by Maya, Photoshop and for audio processing like in Soundbooth. I would like to link up video cards for extra power if possible. Over-clocking is not an option for me. So for the amount I've put forth, what I want to cover is only motherboard, processor and video cards. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[jbakerlent]

An i7 would be better for your uses. Here's what I would get (you won't need to spend anywhere near all that money).

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202

ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131365&cm_re=p6t_deluxe_v2-_-13-131-365-_-Product

XFX HD-587A-ZNF9 Radeon HD 5870 (Cypress XT) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150443

Do you already have the RAM, PSU, Case, etc?

There's a form in my sig that you could fill out for more help.