Assistance with components for new build

[classicride72]

So far my new build consists of a DFI LanParty DK P35-T2RS mobo and
Intel E8400 LGA 775 @3.0 GHz. I'll use my existing Antec midtower case (3 fans), 2 external usb hard drives, and floppy drive if cable is of sufficient length. Computer speakers are Cambridge Soundworks THX.
I am not yet into gaming or overclocking but I am into music and video - mostly collecting, editing, and burning for use at home and in my vehicle. I plan to use 2 SATA hard drives (no RAID yet), and 2 SATA optical drives.
I would appreciate suggestions/recommendations for the following components:
1. What is the best RAM for this board.
2. Quality and reliable SATA hard drives.
3. Quality and reliable SATA optical drives.
4. Good quality video card compatible with this board.
5. Good quality sound card (5.1 Dolby Surround) compatible with this board.
Thanks in advance to any who care to assist this novice with his project.

 

[ohGrFreak]

What is your budget, when I see a 150+ dollar mobo on the list, I assume you're budget is pretty good eh?

Two gigs, if you need 4, just get two sets.
Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory

SATA harddrives, well, anything Western Digital that's SATA, I don't know what size, if you want to RAID in the future, you'd want to get two of the same size, what I do personally, is get a 160 for the main drive and my other drive would be 320gb+ for storage.

Optical drives, usually I go LG, but samsung is also good, do you need both drives DVD Burners?

Considering your mobo choice, here's the video card I would suggest, and for 200 more, you can step up to a 9800GT2
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics

Sound card, I dunno, that's what I use my home theater set up for.

 

[Trotter]

A 9800GTX for videos? Gack! A bigger budget does not automatically mean that it should be a killer gaming machine. A 9600 would be plenty, or something even further down the food chain. Unless there's a lot of gaming going on, you can drop WAY down the line for a decent vid card. My wife's media box is running on a MX 4000.

Since this sounds more like a media box, a fanless card would be the best fit. I pulled Newegg's selection for fanless PCI-E2.0 cards w/512MB of GDDR3.
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

WD or Seagate drives are your best bet. Seagate edges out WD as far as warranty goes, as Seagate has a standard 5 year warranty whereas WD goes with 1, 3, and 5 year depending on the drive.

For a sound card, a PCI-E x1 card would give a better throughput of data. here's a good one:
Newegg.com - Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Audio 70SB104000000 7.1 Channels PCI Express Interface Sound Card - Sound Cards

There's not a huge selection of SATA optical drives, at least not the last time I checked. Check reviews and compare the SATA version to the IDE versions.

 

[ohGrFreak]

Well classicride72, do you see yourself gaming on this machine? Trotter is completely right that you will want a passivly cooled video card (for the sake of quietness) if this is going to be sitting in the living room or if you plan to be watching a lot of movies on the machine itself.

Now if you're not into gaming yet, but may get into it later, and if you don't watch that many movies on the machine itself (like if you burn and watch on your tv with a seperate dvd player) you may still want a killer video card.

 

[classicride72]

Guys - thanks for your input and suggestions.
I just need one cd burner and one dvd burner. When I burn dvds I'll usually view them with a separate player on my home tv. I'm not heavily into gaming but I do a few games, hence the need for good audio and video cards. I'm also a music nut. I have very good speakers with my pc and also for my home surround sound because I have an ear for quality. Think I got that from my Dad who was also a piano player.
I don't think the video card needs to be an absolute top-of-the-line card, just a card capable of quality video.
Thanks again - stay tuned.