Suggestions for a new computer please.

[cohenri77]

So, my computer turns 5 next January and I think it is about time for a new one. I am interested in suggestions for a new computer. For your information, I have about $2,500 to spend and I use the computer mostly for internet, word processing, music, video editing and pictures. My main frustration with my current computer is that it does not seem to have sufficient power/memory etc. to deal with video editing.

My current computer is a Dell Dimension 8200. I have a 1.8 Gig Pentium 4 processor and 1 gig of ram. Plus a 40 G hard drive and a separate 120 G hard drive.

I am interested in suggestions. My time frame is really to coincide with my computer turning 5 in January and perhaps with the introduction of Windows Vista...

In particular, I am thinking about the New Core 2 Duo E6600. I would like more RAM to help for future proofing a little (as you can see I tend to keep my computers for 4-5 years). Is 4 G of RAM overkill with this system? How about 2 G?

Video files take up a lot of space. How much of my budget would you recommend going toward a larger hard drive verse more RAM or a more expensive Core 2 Duo?

What about the graphics card? Does this make a large difference for video editing - I am not likely to play a lot of games.

I appreciate any feedback you can give me. Have a nice day!

 

[JMMD]

Drive space is cheap. You can get 400GB for less than $150 now. 300GB is usually around $90 on sale, two drives should do it. Add an additional drive for backups if you like to be safe.

2GB should be enough. You can always expand in the future if you needed to. Assuming the mobo had enough slots and could support the config.

Video card doesn't really matter for video editing, you certainly don't need a 7900GTX.

 

[XenaWP]

Plenty of RAM and a fast processor are going to help loads in rendering video.

Photoshop and/or PS Elements, for digital photos, also uses a lot of swap file space on the HDD, so a faster RPM drive could realize some performance gains there.