Major upgrade for AVCHD editing/Vegas Pro 8

[i6pwr]

My current XP/Opteron 180 will be way underpowered for this task., looking to stay under a grand and hopefully under $750.

Main software will be Vegas Pro 8, and Nikon Capture NX2, noticed a few MB's will cut bandwidth in half by enabling SATA6G...not sure how important that is or how it will impact my build.

Would mainly be rendering 30 min of video at a time on average, I understand this process is time consuming and would like to keep this time down and be able to view uncompressed video without jitters.

Figure W7 and 6-8 GB RAM to start....12 GB is prob what I will end up with.

Display is HP w2207 LCD

Ask me what you need, bear with me...seems rendering requires some HP from what I have read.

 

[i6pwr]

Sorry forgot to mention I'm looking for a mid-priced MB but will spend a little more to avoid cutting any critical corners. Planning on either a 2.6 or 2.8 Ghz i7 processor

 

[i6pwr]

The Phenom 9950/am3 platform is another option.

 

[justaguywithagun]

is the the software multithreaded
does the software make use of GPU enabled rendering. if so, ati/nvidia/both?

id probably suggest a system based around AMD six-core, 4/8gb ram, seagate 7200.12 series, 890gx/fx mobo. we just need more details

 

[i6pwr]

The audio engine is multi-threaded, not sure what that entails.

Does not use the GPU for rendering, only playback. I looked at some 890 boards, seems the f/x has more bells...definately like the optical input.

Will likely start out with a 6-core because the prices are good, unless a quad is more than enough.

Would a RAID/0 setup be significantly faster? If so, what are the ideal size drives to have a RAID setup on?

I have two WD Blue 320 gig drives and a Blue 80 GB. Current GPU is the 8800GT.

 

[i6pwr]

I'm also pulling my hair out deciding on an AMD Phenom II X6 1055T, or the i7 920.

 

[i6pwr]

Cannot edit so I want to add...What is the difference between the 800 and 900 series i7 processors, which one is better suited for my needs, which is AVCHD rendering/editing.

 

[i6pwr]

bump

 

[i6pwr]

So my plan so far is:

ASUS M4A89TD PRO MB
AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB)

Will the GeForce 9800 GTX card fit?

Should I go with 2x4GB RAM, planning for a 16GB setup later or stay with 8GB with 4x2GB?

 

[i6pwr]

What would you recommend for a decent but terribly expensive case also?