Building a Computer to Get Back in Business

[Cambdoranononononono]

After a long break from editing after a frustrating project with my lower-level software and hardware, I'm finally trying to put together a new computer that can hopefully last for a good while and accommodate the Adobe Creative Suite. (Particularly Premiere and After Effects, which don't fit on my current computers and would murder my computers if they did.) I've never built a computer before, so I ended up using this guide to direct me to (hopefully) good components. Here are the specs:

Motherboard: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core
RAM: Corsair XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Power: Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
Casing: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower
Video card: PNY VCQFX1800-PCIE-PB Quadro FX1800 768MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Workstation
Disk Drive: Pioneer BDR-203 Blu-ray Disc/DVD/CD Writer

I'd be running 64-bit Vista on this. (The site that designed this build has a whole explanation on why it's now recommending Vista at 64 bits as opposed to XP or something.) Since I know so little about all this, I thought I'd check it with more experienced AMV makers. Do the general system specs look okay here? Do things (video card, burner) look like too much? I'm looking to go a bit overboard to prolong the usefulness of the computer, and I'm also planning to do some light gaming.

There are also a few specific components not listed on the site that I'm trying to research:
-Sound card: Does the onboard sound look adequate, or should I be looking for a more powerful one?
-Video capture: For video games, if you're wondering. I'm trying to figure out a device that takes composite, component, and HDMI inputs, to cover my various systems and games. Anything particular to recommend here? This one might work better as a more external device and/or a later upgrade (for cost reasons).
-Wireless (card?): Outside the scope of this board, but I thought I'd include this because it potentially takes up a PCI slot for the above two or the video card.

Responses? Questions? Comments? Thanks a lot for any help; this is all pretty new to me.

[Kariudo]

Overall, that list looks good to me...but there are a few things.

-Ram: unless you are planning to do tons of 3d work, 6GB should be all that you need
-Power supply: You don't need a 750W psu for that rig. Might be nice if you plan to get another card and do sli/crossfire, but a 550-600W should do you fine. CoreI7 compatibility is just marketing hype.
-Video card: Pick another card unless you are going to be doing 3d modeling in Maya or CAD work. What you have will work fine for light gaming, but so will a sub-$100 card

More to come once I get back from class

[Kariudo]

Onboard sound should be fine if you're just going to be listening to music. If you're an audiophile or want to send 5.1 through s/pdif to a big receiver then you might want to look at getting a discrete sound card

For a video card, I'd look at a (nVidia) GTS250, 9800GT, (ATI) HD4830, HD4770, HD3870 or HD3850

One thing that I would strongly recommend is a different heatsink/fan to cool the i7 (stock HSFs tend to suck.) Noctua's NH-U12P SE1366 should drop load temps from 74C (intel stock cooler) to about 56C (the thermal grease that comes with the noctua hsf is pretty good, no need to get other stuff.)

Wireless card...only if a wired connection would be an extreme hassle. I don't have any recommendations here.

Capture card: The Hauppauge HD PVR 1212 can capture component/S-video/Composite, the Black Magic Intensity Pro can capture HDMI/Component/S-video/Composite. PS3's HDMI output is portected by HDCP...so you're really limited to component in that case.
Hauppauge's capture device is external, Black Magic's is interal pci-e x1 (you pretty much need a raid 0 array to capture uncompressed HD. 2 or more WD velociraptors and a good raid controller)

[Cambdoranononononono]

Okay, thanks a lot for the advice. Here's my updated setup, if you feel like checking the changes or are curious:

Motherboard: ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core
RAM: Corsair XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) (I think I'll stick with the bigger RAM and power source, since may attempt to upgrade or expand the uses for the computer in the future.)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Power: Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7
Casing: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower
Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
Video card: SPARKLE SX98GT512D3L-NM GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 (changed per suggestion)
Disk Drive: Pioneer BDR-203 Blu-ray Disc/DVD/CD Writer
Wireless Card: EDIMAX EW-7728In IEEE 802.11b/g, IEEE 802.11n Draft (Wireless is pretty important for the places I'm looking at. Can't count on having wired connection.)
Video Capture: Hauppauge HD PVR High Definition Personal Video Recorder (I think I prefer the external. Thanks, I hadn't tried to record HDMI from the Playstation before.)

Thanks again!

[Joe88]

paying $5 less will get you this more powerful card ( for reference 4850 = 9800GTX+ )
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102824

the CPU HSF
alot less money and probably the same exact performance
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835233029


the PSU you should just save $20 and get a 650w corsair, you wont need 750w even if you crossfire 2x 4850's (still would 100w to spare)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... air%20650w