Advice on new build for Gaming/Music Recording and Editing

[metalstrike]

Hello, I'm brand new here and would love some advice from the community on two prospective build ideas. I would primarily use the PC for Gaming and Music Recording and Editing. Here they are

PC Build 1:



ASUS P6X58D Premium Motherboard
Intel Core i7-950
COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Case
EVGA GTX 470
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Windows 7 Pro

Total Cost on Newegg: $1,419.92


PC Build 2:


ASUS M4A87TD EVO AM3 870 SATA 6Gb/s AMD Motherboard
XFX Radeon 6870
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM
COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Case
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W Power Supply
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Windows 7 Pro

Total cost on Newegg: $1,024.92

So basically the two things I'd like to accomplish are:
1. Have a PC that's somewhat futureproof with today's games and upcoming games like RAGE.

2.Be able to multi-task with recording music and editing large audio files.

The big quesiton I guess is PC build 1's performance worth about $400 more to you?

Feel free to replace any current parts with one's that you feel are superior for either build. Keep in mind though I'd like PC Build 1 to stay around $1500 and build two to be around $1000

I don't upgrade often as my current PC is a pentium 4 3ghz with a 128mb radeon 9800 pro! So suffice to say either build will be a huge leap! :lol:

Thanks!

 

[gkay09]

^ Did you check the AMD's 6-Core CPUs ? IMO those would be a good option for you...
Here is a config
1055T + Mushkin 4GB DDR3 - A slight overclock to say 3.2GHz, would offer significant boost in performance...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.514576

Gigabyte 890GX + WIN 7 PRO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.534203

CM HAF 912 + CM Silent PRO 700W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.523819

Samsung F3 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

DVD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136168

HD 6870
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150506
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161349

CPU Cooler -
CM Hyper 212+
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-B10-212P-G1-Universal-Heat-Pipe/dp/B002G1YPH0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287987291&sr=8-1

Total - ~$1006

 

[ice919]

Both would be very fast computers.

Future proof is of course almost impossible. Intel will be changing the cpu socket and chipset for their next processor. AMD has not stated for sure whether it will be sticking with the AM3 or a new socket.

For gpu's you can easily get a motherboard that supports sli and/or crossfire and be able to just drop a second card for either gpu whenever it became needed.

For build 1 you can alost just buy the i5-760 and overclock it and it will perform almost exactly as the i7-950 for far less. This would also allow you to save money by only getting dual-channel memory and a socket 1156 motherboard which are generally cheaper then the x58s. The only difference between the two is the i7 has hyperthreading(allows 8 threads) which does help in certain programs and multi-tasking but it is a very small improvement for the price.

The second build is also quite nice.

The best bang for your buck currently is the i5 processor.

Build 1 will outperform build 2 by a fair bit but imho I don't think it would be worth the extra $400 as you put it.
Now may paying an extra $100-$200 might be worth it if you go with the i5.

 

[metalstrike]

Good points from both of you guys. From what I've been reading, perhaps I should go with a i5-760 and invest the money saved in a more powerful video card like the GTX 480 or whatever radeon 69xx. I recently purchased a Dell U2410 monitor so I plan to play everything in 1920x1200 so maybe that would be a better choice.

Silly indecisive me