DIY Machine Spec Approval

Question

My plan is to build my next PC myself (first time!). Here's what I've picked.
I know there are some sticky notes on machine specs, but I can't seem to find them.
I currently use Premeire Elements 7 for SD editing. But I'd like to make sure my machine will be somewhat future-proof and allow HD AVCHD editing with PRE10 - I can definitely see that coming. Maybe even if I win the lotto one day, I'd like to do HD AVCHD editing with Premiere Pro, maybe even using a Mercury-supported CUDA card.
CPU: Intel i7-2600
Mobo: Asus P8H67-V (4 Dual Channel slots of DDR3 1333/1066, (4) SATA 3GB HD, (2) SATA 6GB HD, UEFI BIOS)
PS: Seasonic M12II 520 (520 Watts)
CPU Fan: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
Memory: Crucial 16GB ("Ballistic Sport", DDR3 SDRAM 1600), 2 x 8GB, Dual Channel
Video Card: None - I'll use the CPU's built-in graphics - I heard they're supposed to be pretty good
OS: Win7 64-bit
HD1: WD Caviar Black 500GB SATA 6GB 7200RPM
HD2: WB 1TB SATA 3GB 7200 RPM
HD3: WB 1TB SATA 3GB 7200 RPM
RAID: The mobo supports SATA RAID 0/1/5/10, but I don't have any plans to do RAID right now.
One thing that seems odd is the memory: I've picked the Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (#BLS2KIT8G3D1609DS1S00), which is $150 for 2x8GB DDR3. However, its speed is 1600 but my mobo only supports 1333/1066... that's OK, right? If I pick Crucial memory that matches my 1333 mobo speed, that would would be #CT102464BA1339 - but at $99 for 8GB, that would be $200 for 16GB whereas the Ballistix is only $150. Why is the slower memory more expensive? Is there something about the Ballistix memory I should know?
Also, my plan eliminates the possiblity of overclocking. I'm wondering if overclocking would buy me anything in the real world - I've never done this but from what I read it makes your CPU run hotter and can cause stability issues. Not sure what the performance gains would be, but I would not want to trade stability for speed. On the other hand, if the CPU cooler would mitigate any stability problems, I could go for the i7-2600K and a Z86 mobo for maybe $40 more.

Answer 1

Jeff, thanks for the thoughts.
Re: RAM...
I hadn't heard about that 12GB usability. Mostly I was just loading up on memory because every PC I've ever bought I ended up adding more RAM after the fact. My chosen mobo has 4 slots and dual channel, so whatever I get, I'd probably go for a pair of something, i.e. (2) 4GB or (2) 8GB.
Frankly, I'm a little stuck on memory.
On one hand, it seems fairly simple: get the cheapest (decent) memory and plop it in. On the other hand, there's a lot of options with brand, speed, and latency... do they have any real-word effect? I have no plans of overclocking.
For example,
8GB of Corsiar Vengeance (2 x 4GB) RAM is $50. Speed = 1600, Cas Latency = 9, Timing = 9-9-9-24.
16GB of Corsair Vengeance (2 x 8GB) RAM is $150. Speed=1600, Cas Latency = 10, Timing = 10-10-10-27.
So looking at the 8GB kit, I think: I could either do 8GB for $50, or double up (i.e. 4 x 4GB) and get 16GB for $100. For a $50 difference, that seems worth it.
But then I read a few things that basically said that all other things being equal, 2 DIMMs is better than 4 DIMMs just because of the coordination between the chips. Plus if I use 4 DIMMs I've used up all my mobo slots - if I ever wanted to add more memory (for Windows 11) I'd have to throw away perfectly good memory to free up slots.
So then I think, well the 16GB should use 2 x 8GB. But doing so means going from 8GB (2 x 4GB) to 16GB (2 x 8GB) is a difference of $100 instead of $50. Maybe that's not worth it. Plus from what I know about latency, less = better, so are the 8GB DIMMs actually slower than the 4GB DIMMs?
Arrgh!
Re: Video Card
For my initial build when funds are tight (i.e. my better half is watching closely ), I planned on just using the CPU GPU.
I looked up the GTX 560 and was pleasantly surprised to see that I could get an EVGA version for $190. That certainly makes the memory argument more compelling... a $50 memory savings won't do much toward getting me a GTX560, but $100 does!
So let me ask you this: Premiere Pro says it supports the GTX285/470/570/580 for GPU acceleration. The GTX560 looks like it has CUDA, so is that one of the cards that I could just tweak a config file and have Premiere Pro support it (albeit unofficially)?
I don't have Premiere Pro currently, but that's in my future plans, too.