Need some input on my (potential) new $2000 gaming build.

Approximate Purchase Date: Within a month

Budget Range: 2000

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming >> Music Production

Parts Not Required: keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Tigerdirect.ca, newegg.ca, newegg.com (have to get it shipped to a US address across the border)

Country: Canada

Parts Preferences: Always had Intel processors, been using an Nvidia gtx 260 for the past three years.

Overclocking: Yes

SLI or Crossfire: No

Monitor Resolution: 1920 x 1080


So I'll likely be ordering the computer from a local computer shop that has a good reputation (both my brother and I have purchased rock solid gaming PCs from them in the past), but from the time I purchased my current rig from them until now, it seems they've put a bigger profit margin on the builds.

I got a quote for $CAD 2099 (not even sure if that includes tax or not?) ($US 2016)

These are the specs I was given:

Intel i7-2600K Boxed
MSI Radeon HD 7970
Asus P8Z68-V/GEN 3
Kingston 8GB DDR3 1600Mhz
Corsair HX850 850W PSU
Cooler Master HAF 932
OCZ Synapse 128GB SSD SATA 3
Seagate 1TB 7200rpm
LG 22x DVD-RW
Cooler Master Hyper 212+
$2099
2yr In Store Warranty if we build, no extra charge.

I've just got a few questions regarding the build:

1. Is the 2600K worth it over the 2500K? I'll be using it for gaming, but I mess around with recording/music production in DAWs (I personally don't think this is enough to warrant the upgrade).

2. I know it's only ~10 reviews, but I noticed the OCZ Synapse got some bad reviews on newegg. Has anyone had any experience this drive? I noticed it was a cache drive, meaning that only 64 GB is allocated to storage, the rest is used for caching "hot" data. Is there any benefit/downfall of using a cache SSD instead of a standard one? Should I be getting something like the Crucial M4?

3. I've heard something about there being issues with Sandy Bridge CPUs and using a higher end PCI sound card for music production, can anyone elaborate on this? Also, is there any real reason to get a good sound card other than this? (I've got a nice set of headphones that would benefit from a nice amp, apparently some soundcards have built in amps).
3. I feel like $2099 is a bit much for this build. I was able to build the same/similar computer on iBuypower as well as make a shopping cart with all the components on newegg for around ~$1900. I feel like it would be rude to walk into the PC shop and ask if they can "lower the price" or something to that effect, but I do think $2099 is a bit high.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.