Processor: Intel i7-950 LGA1366 ($300)
Solid performance, relatively cheap. You could go slightly lower or higher (930/960) for small increase/decrease in performance along with price.

Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5 ($7)
The best thermal paste available. Ceramique is an alternative, as it's not electrically conductive, & some people prefer to use it on stuff like GPUs. I recommend AS5 though. You can ask your helper buddy what he thinks, but I might suggest removing the Motherboard/GPU cooling solutions & replacing w/ AS5.

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus ($30)
Offers performance on that competes with High-End coolers, for half the price. An extra 120mm fan can be added. Even if you don't OC, I'd still nab a better cooler. Less heat is always good.

Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D-E LGA1366 [2] ($220)
Good mid-level board, excellent price & performance. Doesn't lack features such as USB 3.0 & SATA 6.0 like many other boards in it's class. Board Layout. Install mem in light blue slots. (A1, B1, C1) Updates Here.

SSD: OCZ Vertex 2 60GB ($110)
One of the current best SSD's. 3.5" converter included, has TRIM support. Some quick info regarding SSDs: MLC based drives flash memory will eventually die after ~10,000 writes. While this sounds super fast, they implement a form of 'wear leveling.' Even with heavy use, the drive should last you at least 5 years. TRIM support also prevents performance degradation over time. This page gives some helpful tips on how to increase the lifespan of an SSD. SSD Awesomeness Example. Firmware Updates Here.

HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black ($90)
It's a Hard drive!

PSU: PC Power & Cooling Silencer 760W ($130)
High quality power supplies are essential for everything to go smoothly. Power rails need to stay constant, rather than fluctuating, so lower watt PSUs that provide a constant stream of power are preferable. PCP&C are generally regarded as the best PSU makers. This sucker should be heavy! Total Wattage Double Checked Here.

Video Card: GeForce GTX 560 Ti [2] ($250)
This model in particular from MSI the "Twin Frozr II/OC" is especially appealing. It supports current technologies like DX11 & CUDA as well as coming pre-OC'd. It also comes with a non-stock cooler which allows for even higher Overclocks if desired. The performance you get for the price is excellent. Can Upgrade w/ SLI later if desired. Drivers Here.

Sound Card:
Want one?

Optical Drive:
Came up a bit empty handed here. I know you want a Blu-Ray burner, but some specifics could help. Does it need to be able to burn Dual-Layer, or is Single OK? & How about Lightscribe? If your wife wants a burner, I could imagine her wanting something like that, IDK. Anyway, lemme know, & I'll take another stab at it.

I intentionally left stuff like mouse, keyboard, monitor, & speakers out, I'll leave em to you. Logitech stuff is good.
I didn't list them all, be sure you get the latest BIOS/Firmware/Driver Updates. You'll also wanna do Windows Update when you install too.

awesome dude. this looks great. thank you for researching and giving such detailed info, links, price. i will most likely take a good deal of these parts and use it. just for reference, i want to show you what helper guy came up with, as they are actually very similar. https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?pli....g#gid=0

(if u care about the price or money conversion, its currently 82yen to the dollar. but when i first got to japan it was 140. so as a balance of my total experience in j-land, i usually think of it as 100yen=1$ so 23000yen =230$ etc.)

same CPU suggestions
same motherboard
same videocard

i hope u dont mind, but i mentioned to him about ur suggestions. he said

the i7 950 sounds fine. he mentioned that the 970 dropped down from 900 to $500, but i think ill pass.
dont really want to wait 2 months to get the computer up and running, so i guess that settles the CPU.

only main difference in your builds is that he suggests spending more on the cooling fan and RAM. im not adverse to getting a beefier, cooler setup, as i want the PC as quiet and dust free as possible, and of course to cool the parts effectively.

also, and u dont have to answer if u dont want to, but where in the hell did u gain all this knowledge? schooling? tinkering? research? all of the above? either way u slice it, u are my computer hero, and i salute u.

ps. i would guess my wife would like lighscribing (ie printing coolio title/design on the DVD?) and dual layer burner.

BTW red, saw your awesome-ass RUST on your latest YT uploads!

Motherboard: The Sabertooth X58 was actually my 'second' choice. I was thinking of throwing it up there w/ the P6X58D-E, but didn't as I wanted to consolidate the list. When I found them, I attempted to find a comparison between them, but came up short. He did though, & the choice is clear. Agree w/ him 100%. Get the Sabertooth.

Thermal Paste: Shortly after I posted, I looked a bit more closely at what was available these days, (need some myself) & yeah, AS5 isn't at the top anymore. Aside from getting worse thermals, it also is slightly conductive & has a sizable cure time of 200 hours. While declaring a single paste the 'best' compared to others can be difficult to do with variations in application method, room temp, etc, the Noctua paste is solid. Some of the other alternatives I would suggest would be Shin Etsu X23-7783D, Tuniq TX-4, & ARCTIC COOLING MX-4.

Thermal Paste Comparison

CPU Cooler: Probably the only thing I have a different opinion on. I chose the CM Hyper 212+ because of it's value; it competes w/ $60 coolers well. I also chose it considering you weren't gonna OC. That said, less heat is always better. The Noctua is virtually unmatched in temps of air cooling, while also also being quite & easy to mount. The downsides are that the thing is massive, heavy & expensive. It's just a bit much for your setup IMO, it's geared towards OCing. For alternatives you could go w/ something like the Zalman CNPS9900MAX ($55 @ Newegg) [Zalman CNPS 9900MAX] [9900MAX Vs. NH-D14] You can see in both links the Zalman generally does slightly worse, with the exception of the OC'd load test, where the Noctua does substantially better. So for your needs I think something like the Zalman is adequate, & preferable IMO. But truthfully I'm not really a fan of massive, obstructive coolers. If you do end wanting it though, it's absolutely not a bad choice. Or another Noctua product like the NH-U12P.

SSD: I haven't read the article about the Vertex's issues yet, but will do so. Everything I saw about the Vertex was positive, so I'm interested in seeing what the deal is. While looking for an SSD, the Crucial RealSSD C300 was on my radar, esp when I heard it supported SATA III, (The sole drive?) but was left somewhat disappointed. It definitely wasn't bad, I just don't recall it standing out substantially. The guy owns one, & is happy w/ it; I trust his judgment, so I say go for it.

RAM: I don't have much to add here. I initially went w/ 6GBs to drive down the cost, but RAM is pretty inexpensive. I agree, bump her up 12. So you could get the Dominator 12GB Set which is far more expensive, but has better timings & has a sick fan to boot! ...It's not necessary though, & apparently loud. XMS3 Set. I think you could get away w/ 6GBs though. Your call.

PSU: I was eyeing this PSU too. While not necessary, spending the extra 30 for the modular vers. can go a long way to keeping your case tidy. Which in turn, can actually lower case temps somewhat.

Case: NZXT Phantom is one of my faves, aesthetically, too. One guy commented that it looked like a stormtrooper. You know what? It DOES.

This is great though. Nearly identical suggestions, w/ slight variations here & there. Getting multiple opinions for this kinda thing is smart move. Guy is def helpful & enthusiastic about the whole deal. & I like how he said that it took him a month to plan it all up. I did this in a week, & had to re-educate myself quite a bit, so I'd lean towards his choices more. I told you, building is the easy part! ^_-

For shits & giggles, I took the x264 HD Benchmark, as posted here. While the review is for Sandy Bridge CPUs, the i7 950 is included there. If you are interested in taking it, to get a rough estimation to how you current comp will compare you can DL it here:
x264 HD Benchmark

(For comparison to my comp, I get 13.50FPS 1st pass, 3.05 2nd pass.) >_<

And last thing, be sure to get the 64-bit vers. of Vegas for your new comp when you get it. Don't think the 32-bit vers. can make use of multicore renders. Also, are you gonna let the guy do the whole build, or are you gonna watch/contribute?

For my own tech talk stuff, I cracked my PS3 open today & gave it a good spraying down. (Bugger was dusty!) The thermal paste on there was very, very dry, as well as not applied all that well. So, a nice dusting & thermal paste reapply, & it's running well so far! It's fun to do a little maintenance e once in a while; I like optimizing shit!

i7 960 *25680
sabertooth x58 *17230
noctua nh d14 *?
corsair 1600c9 12G ram *14600
nVidia GeForce 560Ti *24980
corsair psu 750hx *13996
western digital HDD (size/model undecided)

case:
GMC H80 *7980
nzxt guardian 921rb red *10800
3R system L600 black *5980
cooler master HAF 922 *16980 (much more expensive than US)
cooler master scout *11480

Also, forgot to mention the SDD deal. Again, nothing really surprising, I go w/ the dude's choice, Crucial RealSSD. His stuff was well thought-out.

Get that bitch to @ least 4GHz, for me, K? ^_-

Monitor.

there are XX-billion monitors out there, and i cant just decide based on name brand alone. can anyone give advice on these criteria?

1. needs to have D-sub port (PS3 video output is going into Hauppauge, then Hauppauge component needs to go into monitor)
2. needs to have absolute minimal input lag, dont want anything more than 2ms (for some piece of mind!)
3. needs to be able to display PS3 native 720p without scaling issues (ie i want it to play in full 720p without problems)
4. needs to display and switch easily to 1080p for viewing PC content in full HD
5. needs to have a great picture (spending the big bucks for a great PC but skimping on monitor is not smart)
(6. hopefully between $2-300.)

doomo arigato, mr. roboto!
------------------------------------------------

EDIT:

er, im not even sure if its POSSIBLE to play through the monitor and also record using the PC....??!?
in essence, the video will be displayed on the PC monitor, and my recording software is also running on the PC monitor.
so if it COULD work, i would have to switch quickly between gaming image (D-sub port) and PC input (HDMI/DVI port). now if there is a button that lets me switch between them instantly without having to go into settings manually and press shit, that would be fine.

so question: is it possible to play from ps3 and record via Hauppauge on same PC, by switching the input source very quickly??
ugggg. if this doesnt work, i may have to sell my Hauppauge and get a damn BlackMagic Intesity Pro (internal PC cap card). no.......

1. use VGA port on tv (in essence acting as a PC monitor.. of all things!) to reduce input lag
a few ppl have mentioned this, but is it merely a rumor? or will there be more lag since im going from avmulti - component - vga?

2. use same monitor for displaying ps3 and accessing vidcap software
tried goofing around with my monitors buttons, and could relatively easily access the input function with a few clicks, so i guess in theory i could use the monitor for 2 tasks. again though, its just a theory, and no one seems to share this experience...

really getting bothered by the idea (again?lol) of playing with lag, which i could eliminate or at least greatly reduce. i would rather not have to play on the monitor though, since i just enjoy the feel of sitting on the floor in front of my tv as opposed to sitting on a chair for hours on end. (i already do that for work).

would really appreciate advice on these 2 points. im so frustrated im about to just buy a component-vga converter and just try my luck, cuz all the researching is leading me to nowhere. no one is putting their HDMI capable ps3 into component, and then converting the component into VGA just to display it on their HDTV. i feel like im the only one in this situation (though that cant be the case). need some closure on this issue.

Using the VGA port on your TV 'will' reduce lag. If adding more stuff in the chain will offset that gain, I can't say, but I don't think so.

Monitors should have a relatively easy to access button to switch inputs. Mine has a button right on the front actually.

Since you'd prefer to play on the TV, I'll focus there, but I'm confused about some aspects of it too. Anyway, here we go. While few, I've heard some people having it work directly, w/o a converter box. (Component to VGA) This usually won't work, as 'PC' monitors won't accept a YPbPr source (Component) & need a RGB source instead; thus needing you to get a converter box. Though, apparently occasionally it 'does' work. This is where I get confused. Anyway, my point being, is that your TV obviously accepts YPbPr, so maybe it will directly accept it via VGA? If so, that'd be great, & it'd be the cheapest method. So, all you'd need is a Component to VGA cable, & maybe a Component coupler. I've got reservations as to if this would work, but apparently is has/does for some people, & is a pretty cheap experiment, so you could definitely try it out.

For the VGA converter, the only one I can recommend that isn't total crap would be the XCM 1080p. & IDK if it's ideal either. I heard some that aren't pleased w/ the quality. There are some really nice solutions available, but they are very pricey. (Like the DVDO Edge)

I may look a bit further, but I really doubt I'll come up w/ anything that's just the thing you need... I hate to say this, but your best bet may be to throw some money at the prob, see what works for you... >_<

I've asked this before, i know, but what is your TV model # again?