Help me with my Computer

[MDNGHT]

Would anyone like to help me ?

Please help me choose the right Motherboard for my build? I'm stuck in information overload and just need a point in the right direction on choosing the right Motherboard for my needs.

One of my biggest concerns is that I might buy components that would cause a bottleneck in performance.

MY GOAL is a heavily used VIDEO EDITING SYSTEM

PROCESSOR: AMD DUAL core
HARD DRIVES: Dual 300gb RAID
POWER SUPPLY: 600watt (Guessing 450 won't be enough)
MONITORS: Dual Digital 21'' (Have one already)
CARD: FireWire 800
RAM: 4gb (??Type??)
USB 2.0 (at least 2 on the board)
SOUND CARD: (Hoping I can use my current Altec 5.1 Surround Sound)(Black, Green, Yellow, 1/8'' jacks)
DVD BURNER: R/W + - R (At least one.)
CD BURNER: (At least one.)
OS: MS Windows XP Pro SP2 (I've read that ProSP2 out of the box has most of the patches for Editing built right in.)
COOLING FANS: More more more... Heat kills.

Could someone please help me choose the right Motherboard and Video Card so the I can move forward?

[Alaron]

Watch the language choice, this is a family forum.

Are you set on AMD? The Intel Core 2 Duo chips are the best performers on the market, and are very powerful for video editing. I would try this route, with an Asus P5B motherboard.

For AMD, the Asus M2N-E is a great choice. For an AMD system that uses the AM2 socket, you'll need DDR2-533 or higher.

A 500w PSU would work fine, check our list for what brands to go with: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195

I'll let someone else recommend the right video card.

I'd stick with onboard sound for now, it is fine for most people. You can always add a sound card later. I'd look at the Creative X-Fis.

For a DVDRW, go with LiteOn, they come with burning software.

[newbuilder14]

Hard drives: Seagate 7200.10
Memory: Corsair XMS2 PC6400
How about a case? Don't worry about cooling until you check your initial temps. The Antec Sonata II is a great case and is on sale for $59.99 after rebate - a termendous value. It includes a power supply which would power your system too as long as you didn't invest in extremely high powered video cards (i.e. 7900gtx, x1900xt).