First PC Build

[Fiyaa]

So I've finally decided to make my own PC just as a project because I'm tired of using my Macbook Pro. Now, the main uses for this PC is going to be for high-end gaming (Battlefield 3, Guild Wars 2, etc.) and music production.

I'm having a bit of a dilemma here though, as I do have a budget of $1200 and it would be even better if I could save a bit of money...

One of my main problems is choosing between i5-3570k processor and the i7-3570k as I know that the i7 has virtual threads than can be useful for other applications. Now with music production is the i7 going to be beneficial at all? If not I have had people tell me that the i5 would just be perfect for games.

Now the Geforce GTX 660 Ti and the Geforce GTX 670 is a tough decision as well. Obviously the 670 would be the better card but is it worth the $120 difference?

So if anyone could help me tweak my list for a bit, it would be greatly appreciated!

(Parts are chosen also because I will be adding OS X Mountain Lion partitioned)

Bitfenix Shinobi ATX Mid Tower Gamer Case
Intel Core i5-3570K
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB 1600MHz RAM
Crucial M3 Solid State Drive 64GB
Western Digital 5400rpm SATA 2TB Hard Drive
ZOTAC Geforce GTX 670 2GB
ThermalTake TR2 600W Power Supply

Everything will come to a grand total of $1,159.92 w/o tax.

Any piece of advice will be greatly appreciated!

[cDnStealth]

An i5 will be perfectly fine for gaming. Basically, everything you have listed will run BF3 on ultra. I can't comment on the music production thing as I don't really know what goes into that. To me, I wouldn't even consider the GTX 660 Ti. I don't consider the price point to be low enough to justify buying one of those cards.

[Fiyaa]

Really? I was told that the 660 Ti was pretty much the budget version of the 670. What would be a better alternative for a GPU card then?

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by Fiyaa

Really? I was told that the 660 Ti was pretty much the budget version of the 670. What would be a better alternative for a GPU card then?

It's totally my opinion, but if I am already spending $300 on a card a little bit extra for the superior card is worth the money. I paid $360 for my GTX 670 and that's only a $20-$30 difference. If you're looking to spend around $300 then why not look at the HD 7950?

[sameg]

Here's a good link on the 660 Ti.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...view,3279.html

It's a very good card for the price. The lower power draw is nice but there's no way it compares to the 670

[Vulcan]

Don't forget to price match on your parts. Both Memory Express and NCIX do price matches. If you can save a little you can move up to a 120GB SSD.

http://www.shopbot.ca/