I’m not sure I’m in the right section so if I’m not please advise me where to place this.

I’m considering building a pc just solely for music.  My tools are a Motif XF, Cubase Artist 7 and Pro Tools 9 and a few virtual instruments.

Now I’m stuck between buying an i3 or i5 processor. Now I understand the i5 is quad-core and the i3 dual core.  The cpu’s I looked at there would be a $70+ difference. May not seem big to many but it is for me. 

I understand that the quad is faster, correct? And I also understand about future-proofing the pc so the quad would probably be better regarding those two points.

But will the dual core i3 work just as well. I’m trying to do all the research I can regarding this; very frustrating.  Some say the dual core is more than you need; others say no. Some say with the two DAWs I’m working with (base and pt), the quad is overkill and wouldn’t be beneficial.  I’m not a gamer if that has anything to do with it..

I do use virtual instruments often. So would the dual core be :good enough” meaning the computer wont drag along like a snail if I go with a dual core, ssd, and 8gb ram?

Thanks for your input.