[TomJ]

I'm planning to buy an AVCHD camera soon, and will also need to buy a new computer for video editing. I'll probably go with a desktop PC. I am looking for any suggestions about good systems to get? Which characteristics will give me a substantial boost in performance, and which ones are only marginal? Fast quad-core CPU? 4-8-16 GB of RAM? 10,000RPM hard drive? A top-of-the-line graphics card?

I'm willing to spend more on parts that will really make editing faster and smoother, but don't want to spend more on those things that will only produce a smaller improvement. Most of my editing will involve cutting and re-ordering things and converting video from AVCDH to other formats (e.g., to regular DVD to share with friends and relatives, etc.)

Any suggestions? If you have recently purchased a computer for these purposes, what configuration did you get? Are there good systems from Dell/HP/etc., or do I need to build one on my own?

Thanks for the help!