$1000 to $1500 Gaming Computer Need Help

Hi everyone, I've been reading through the forums and as this is my first build. Some of what I have read makes sense to me and others not so much. I would like to get some help on which way to go with this first build.

This plan is to start with about 1k to 1500. I will upgrade a few months later. I want to build a powerhouse that will last me a long time with a possible upgrade here and there just to keep up. So if possible I would like a build that is a good start and ready to go, with adding more GPU's, memory and HDD's a few months down the road.

I don't know if my idea is possible or if it even makes sense. What I was thinking was setting up the gaming system on one HDD and the multimedia on another. The thought is if I boot to HDD #1 (Windows) It will be setup for only gaming. Then if I want to watch movies, logout and boot to HDD #2 (Windows also) This would also be for surfing the web and so forth. The reason for this is to max the settings for gaming on one drive and then maxing the settings for multimedia. I don't know if this is a great idea or if it can be achieved using one HDD. Or if the best bet is run everything off one drive with the games setup on a SSD. Please help!

I want to be able to play/burn bluray and network to one of my flat screen Tv's, also this will be a work computer where the company I work for I have to have 5 to 6 programs and quite a few tabs open to do my work which is mostly web graphic's and MS Office. I would like to be able to set this up for dual monitors as to speed up my work.

On the side the wife wants to be able to use the computer to connect her piano (Electric Keyboad) to record songs she composes.

I don't know much if anything about hardware so any help explaining to me or even a link will be much appreciated.


APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Within the next month

BUDGET RANGE: $1000 to $1500 With an extra $1000 to $1500 a few months later. Most likely picking up a part here and a part there as I can afford it.

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming FPS and RTS. I would like to set a Multimedia center also for movies and such.

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Mouse, Keyboard, Speakers.

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Tigerdirect or newegg. I am open to others though.

PARTS PREFERENCES: Would like to go with AMD unless you can tell me Intel is better and won't change where I won't be able to upgrade in the future without having to replace many parts.

HDD's: I want to be able to run at least two SSD drives for gaming and two regular 500gb drives. Would like more as I consume an enormous amount of space due to my work, also I have many external drive which I have to access all the time. Is this the best way to go? Should I use SSD for movies and the such or 10k rpm HDD?

OVERCLOCKING: Do I need overclocking? If yes, why? Where do I go from here?

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Yes

MONITOR RESOLUTION: I don't know what is the best please help me with this.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I’ve been doing some basic research and I just can't figure out where to start. I hear Asus is a great start for the MOBO but again I just don't know.

In other words please treat me like a complete idiot that is willing to learn but may need to be smacked around a little bit!

Thanks in advance to everyone willing to take the time to give me a hand.