Upgrade Options - E6400 to either Core i5 or Athlon X4

[asm495]

My current system is specced as following:

- Core 2 Duo E6400
- Asus P5B
- 4GB DDR2-800
- NVidia 9600GT
- Vista Ultimate

I used to game more heavily but I bought a HD camcorder earlier this year to record video of our new baby girl. I've found that this system doesn't seem to be up to the job of editing the videos and the playback is very jerky when viewing in video editing software.

I am planning to get a new system to put Windows 7 on to do video editing and will keep my existing hard disk and graphics card for the time being (waiting to see the cheaper versions of the next gen graphics). However, I am debating between either a Core i5 or Athlon X4 system and can't make up my mind.

I am all about bang-for-buck. I don't mind paying more for a system so long as I will really notice the difference. I'm not going to pay £200 more for a 5% performance boost,

The main reason I was thinking of a X4 system was that I could also re-use my RAM and keep the cost to a minimum. However, will this system be able to cope with editing 1080p?

If it will not be able to edit that, then what will? Presumably an i5 will but what about the Phenom IIs, are they worth considering?

I don't have any set budget in mind and money isn't an issue, but really want to get a system that will give me a smooth video editing experience at the minimal cost. I don't want to get my upgrade and still have it struggling to cope. I am not set on either Intel or AMD - this is just about getting a system that does the job.

Would be great to see opinions and thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance.

 

[asm495]

I'm sure the i7 gives the best encoding times. However, I'm not convinced that the extra money (which is quite substantial) is worth it. So long as the editing process is smooth I'm not so concerned over encoding time as I can just leave that running overnight.

Does anyone have any direct experience with the editing experience on 1080p AVCHD video?

 

[asm495]

The cheapest I could put together an i7 upgrade for is about £410. Would I really notice the difference compared to an i5 (£280 minimum) or Athlon X4 (£140 minimum on AM2+) when actually editing the videos (not the encoding part)?

 

[asm495]

I'm running at stock speeds. However, it sounds like from what you say any of the Quad Core options should be fine. However, I am very tempted by the i5 solution... the low power consumption when not under heavy load looks appealing.