I agree with the previous comments. I have a PhD in computer science and I have a lot of experience with designing computers for performance. The latest processors provide a small increase in performance for a large increase in cost. My assessment of what you do (small dimension youtube clips, etc) leads me to believe that you don't need the absolute top of the line. Also, you should be very focused on the amount of RAM on the system, since video files can be large. Too little RAM can be a huge bottleneck.

Why don't you let us know exactly what you need the system for, and what other system components you are considering (e.g. DVD-R and HD sizes)? We can have a discussion about what configuration you really need given your intended uses. Then, we can have a discussion about how to get that system the most cheaply.

Also, I'm interested in the specifications of the current computer that you use to do these tasks and your specific complaints about the performance of that machine. For example, if the complaint is time of completion, let us know how long it takes to complete a typical example task.

by jaredfox on 07/23/2009 01:31:20 PM EST