I plan to build my first computer. I'm retired and have tons of photos
and video to organize for the grand kids. I'm not interested in gaming
and will install vista (home premium?). I will do a lot of video
editing and rendering while surfing the web, working with excel, media
player etc and eventually media center. I'm not limited by a budget but
not interested in wasting $. If spending a little more will provide a
noticeable improvement I'll do it

I'll use the Asus p5e3 deluxe MB. Either the Intel Q9450, Q9300, or
E8400. Would a slower Quad be more reliable and productive than the
faster dual. I plan to upgrade to the best performing video software.
Would the extra L2 cache in the Q9450 provide noticeable improvement
Over the Q9300.

How much and how fast a memory can I use. Would the premium for DDR3 or
faster DDR2 provide noticeable improvement over PC 6400 DDR2.

Would a 10,000 rpm HD for OS be advisable. Suggestions on a graphics
card and video hardware would be appreciated. I'm not interested in the
latest and greatest or skimping. I want the best bang for my buck and
something that will last. TIA, JMK

Get a Q6600 OC it wither way get a quad, esp. if you are video editing,etc.. Get some DDR2 800 4GB RAM (OC them too ), no need for DDR3 now. Get a 7200.11 HDD, which is as fast as a Raptor. For motherboard look in to a P35-DS3x or P35-P5K-x or any other good motherboards with X38/P35 chipsets. For graphics even a 8600 would be enough (since you will not game much).

It sounds like you will do a lot of multi-tasking. For that, a quad and lots of ram would be best. I would think about the Q9300, and 4gb of memory.
The P5E3 deluxe is a ddr3 motherboard, and very pricey. If you need wi-fi, it is much cheaper to add a wi-fi card to a more reasonable DDR2 motherboard .

Right now, DDR2 memory is king. It is MUCH less expensive than DDR3.
4gb of DDR3 costs $540.
4gb of DDR2 costs <$100.
The C2D processors are not very sensitive to memory speeds.
Real world application tests(vs. synthetic benchmarks) show
no difference in performance between DDR2 and DDR3 memory. In fact,
there is less than 2% difference between the slowest and the fastest modules.
If you are trying for record overclocks, then all bets are off, and faster is better.
In my opinion, it is unwise to build a system around DDR3 today.
You are better served by starting with 4gb of DDR2-800 memory. Eliminating
just a few hard page faults is worth it.

Pick a 4gb kit in a 2x2gb configuration. It is usually cheaper than a 4x1gb kit, and you preserve the option to go to 8gb.

Your work will likely be more limited by the hard drive, than anything else. The 10,000RPM WD raptor is a fine drive, but is pricey for the 150gb that you get. I don't know your total hard drive space requirements, but you might get 2 or 3 drives, so you can have editing source on one drive, and the output on another. That should make the process much faster.

You may not be into games, but your grandkids might be interested. I would consider at least one of the lower priced cards from this list: http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/0 [...] page2.html

You did not ask, but consider using dual monitors. It is one of the best upgrades I ever made. The increased acerage is wonderful when doing multiple things. Get two identical units so you can match the colors and quality.

My recommendations:
Q6600 or other quad core
P35-DS3x P35-P5K-x (ie P35-DS3R)
4GB (2*2GB) DDR2 800 from a good manufacture (ie. Corsair XMS2, Patriot,etc)
500GB+ 7200.11
Vista x64 or Vista/XP dual boot (make sure OS is x64, so you can use all 4GB)
XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 CPU cooler (much better than stock, and one of the best for OCing, and #1 on Frostytech.)
8600/9600(if gaming, the 9600 wins)
All of that should be about ~$800-900 total.

Q 6600 , and oc it to 3 or 3,2 gigs

some fast DDR2 , 2 or 4 gigs

hey shadow thanks for the heads up on the Xigmatek HDT-S1283 heatsink.

Get a quad core and stock your pile of DDR2, go 8GB if you like.
DDR3 is too expensive right now.

For XIgmatek HDT-S1283, I say go for Artic Cooling Freezer pro 7 for a cheaper but still a good one or Zalman cnps 9700 for a more expensive but better.

Don't Consider DDR3.
A complete waste of money at this point in time for your needs/goals.

hmmm,,the q6600 core2quad would be the best choice right now,and also offer real cheap futureproofing,also quite a few video editing and such like proggies are already multi threaded or going to be real soon,if you must run vista make sure that whatever hardware/software you end up with if fully supported,personally i wouldn't touch it with a barge pole,it needs more exposure to the market and user input,you would be better of with xp64 bit,for large memory use,and multi threading,,once you go 64bit you can use a lot more ram ,the best way to start seems to be 2x2 ,,as a few mobo's seem to have problems with 4x1,,also with 2x2 it's easier to get to 2x4..
as to your video,,,do not fool around get the best any 8800gt will do although at the moment it is more than what you might think that you will need,consider for 200-300+/-,,you are/will be getting a card that will give you 90% performance of cards co$ting 2x and more,right now it's the best single card on the market period it will eat up anything you will throw at it with ease and will future proof like there is no tomorrow,,as others have said"you may not play games,but what about the kids??"
in any event the bottom line as always with any computer purchase is all about future proofing like me at 60+ you play games or like my buddy also 60+ is into photography...

Why the Q6600? The Q9300 is about the same price, has more cache, is faster, and has the new SSE4 instruction set.
Thanks, jmk

Depends on where you live and what sales are going on. I picked up my Q6600 for $199.99, but there aren't any Micro Center stores in TN. I'm sure there will be some more sales on the Q6's coming up as the Q9's make their full debut, but right now a Q6600 will run you $250.00 at most sites.

Q6600 is $250 and Q9300 is $300 (both Retail and Newegg prices.)

I agree with shadow on the Quadcore/ddr2 memory.
Even though your not limited my budget, can you give a ball park range? Do you need mice/keyboard/monitor included?

Let me share my reasoning. I'm not interested in saving 50-80$ on an old q6600. I would consider spending an extra $100 for the Q9450 over the Q9300. I can afford to spend the additional $300-800 for theQ9550 or extremes but won't because I feel I'm being gouged and not getting much improvement for my $. I expect when all is said and done I,ll spend around $2000. I'm building because I've always wanted to and get what I want, not to save $. I have some existing hardware and software from my old old XP desktop. Thanks much. What would build?