Urgent advice re new PC

[Peta]

Hi guys
I've had a faithful desktop PC die in the middle of a project and I urgently need (I have to buy replacement tomorrow!) some guidance from you pros! I am looking for the following specs and would appreciate your views and suggestions:
Power= 500W+\RAM = 4GB
Hard Drtive = 1TB
Onboard video memory = 1GB+
Hard drive = 7200rpm
Firewire (a must!)
Dvd +-RW/Blu Ray Dual burner
quad core?

I am in Australia, budget is OK can afford to be expensive/expansive

Any suggestions of makes - I'm currently adverse to Dell/HP with advise from various sources, but open to suggestions.

Thanks and I'll look forward to hearing before I go shopping tomorrow!

Kind regards
Peta

[Clevo]

G'day,

Don't know what you buget is but I'd go for an i7 CPU...bump up the power to 600w-700w (peak). Every thing you spec seems good if you include(mem DDR3 and incld USB 3)

MB...plenty of slots... for those cards. and if you can get a 1TB x 2 Oh and also an extra burner. I like to have two.

I have a quad core and it struggles AVCHD video. I tend to go for future proofing as much as I can afford. My PC is nearly 4 years old now and it needs up grading

[shanezep]

I don't know if you can get this one in AU, but my friend and I each just purchased one of these (we've had them for about 2 weeks now) and they run great with VSX3 as long as you don't use Canon's .MOV file format or Creative Vado's .MOV files natively in the timeline (you have to convert those using Cineform Neoscene or equiv.). The encoding is superfast and scanning through AVCHD files is also fast. check this system out - it's ready to ship and can be expanded:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/desk ... AA%2523ABA

Quick specs
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Processor Intel Core i7-870 Processor

Memory 8GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM

Memory speed PC3-10600 DDR3

Total memory slots 4 DIMM (240-pin, DDR3) (occupied)

Maximum memory expansion Expandable to 16GB

Graphics card ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics card with 1GB DDR5 dedicated graphics memory, HDMI, dual-link DVI, display port, and VGA capabilities, and support for Blu-ray and Microsoft DirectX 11

TV & entertainment experience N/A

PCI expansion 3 PCI Express x1 (three available); 1 PCI Express x16 (occupied) ; 1 MiniCard (occupied)

Hard drive 1TB (Terabyte) [7500 rpm Serial ATA]

Primary CD/DVD drive SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe Technology(6) & Blu-ray player(6) ; Write: 16x max DVD±R, 4x max DVD±R DL, 8x max DVD+RW, 6x max DVD-RW, 5x max DVD-RAM, 40x max CD-R, 24x max CD-RW Read: 8x max BD-ROM, 16x max DVD-ROM, 40x max CD-ROM

Secondary CD/DVD drive N/A

Networking 10/100/1000Base-T network interface

Sound card High Definition Audio with up to 7.1 surround sound capabilities

Speakers N/A

I/O ports Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader: supports SmartMedia, xD, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Mini Secure Digital, Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, IBM Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+ ;6 USB 2.0 ports (Back) ; 3 USB 2.0 ports (Front); 1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port (Back);Headphone; Microphone (Front) ; Optical Audio Out; LAN; Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; Rear speaker-out; Side speaker out; Center (subwoofer) ; DVI, HDMI, and DP available on the graphics card

Dimensions Unpackaged: 7.05"(W) x 16.30" (L/D) x 15.79" (H) approx. Packaged: 11.42 (W) X 19.49" (L/D) x 20.32" (H) approx.

Basic warranty HP Support Assistant: helps you maintain the performance of your PC and resolve problems with automated updates and tune-ups, built-in diagnostics, and guided assistance.

Display N/A

You'll have to purchase a Blu-ray burner, but this does have an expansion slot.

[Peta]

hi Clevo and Shane

Many thanks for taking the time to write such comprehensive replies. This forum always is so good.

I shall study the suggestions and take a look at whether that HP is available here before I go shopping later, it may have to be tomorrow now, so any further suggestions are still warmly received.

Thanks again guys

Peta

PS Just checked - only available in USA/Canada !! Darn!! I'll see how close I can get to those specs.