Need some ideas/input

[xdeadkennedys69]

i want to spend up to $1200-1300 on a PC that could handle video editing, light gaming, multi tasking with adobe photoshop, premier,... and dvd burning/copying. I would like atleast 300gbs of storage. I would like to go with the e6600 core 2 duo unless someone recommends something better. Im very much an amateur in building a computer so and specific details on doing it would be appreciated.

[xdeadkennedys69]

i also need something thats reliable and will last for 3 or 4 years

[Grey.Fox]

how much gaming r u talking about? ie: what games?

[xdeadkennedys69]

Americas Army, Rainbow Six, Call Of Duty...
Here is one possible setup i had in mind(might not be compatible but it could be used as an outline to what im looking for)

GIGABYTE Triton 180 Black 0.7mm SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233016)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218)

OEM EVGA 512-P3-N807-AR GeForce 8800GT AKIMBO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130347)

CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005)

CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X4096-8500C5DF (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145197)

ASUS P5N72-T Premium LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131294)

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 Wolfdale 3.16GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8500 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036)

[xdeadkennedys69]

would these components be compatible with each other

[Anemic]

I dont know if you already got the computer but if you didnt my suggestion would be not to get a Nvidia board if your not going to run SLI. Also, get a E8400 instead and good cooling and you can easily OCit to 4 Ghz. Save some money for other stuff. Also, get a ATI 4850 or 4870 gfx instead of the 8800GT. Just my to cents. If you already got the computer, how is the P5N72-T PREMIUM board working for you?

[sinephase]

I got my setup for $1100, so you could do a lot better.

I got:

EVGA 790i ultra motherboard
2x1 GB Patriot extreme performance DDR3-1333 7-7-7-20 (only tightened to 7-6-7-19, but haven't tried to push harder)
Antec p180 mid tower (nice case with PSU on the bottom in a separate compartment)
corsair TX650w
EVGA 8800GTS KO 512MB
e8400

the 8800GTS cost me $210 at the time, so with your budget you could go for a GTX260 or 280 (with CUDA they're supposed to be really good for video encoding)

also, the case I got cost me $130, so you've room to breathe there with the one you picked, so you could probably keep the e8500, but almost $100 for the little bit of performance increase isn't worth it IMO.

I'd definitely go for some kind of DDR3 board that also has PCI-e 2.0 support, so an intel chipset would be the only other option that I'm aware of. That patriot memory cost me $114 at the time, so it wasn't a bad price, and less heat with higher clock to sync your FSB is worth it.

I know I didn't take your HDD into account, but there's seagate 500GB drives with 32MB caches for around $90 that you could get which is pretty cheap.