Specs for video editing - avchd

[thecrows]

Hello,

i have read quite a few posts here but still looking for a touch of clarity.

i'm reading that ideally an i7 is the way to go re cpu however with the latest 3rg gen that has arrived is the i5 (better end) now able to more than cover the requirements?

also how important is the GPU. again the importance/intensity seems to vary amongst what i've read. and to that what level of VRAM is useful / more than enough for editing and viewing avchd?

finally i guess "future proofing" will affect my decision at the end as last time i bought a pc was 6 years ago (if that repeats itself) and also hence why i need to update / buy a new one

any (updated) views would be hugely appreciated

 

[thecrows]

and please let me add that when stating that i'm looking for what i should buy to serve video editing, (at this point) i am only talking about maybe editing 4-6 home movies per year (i guess a casual user).

and with respect to $$$, i'm looking for best bang for buck - happy to pay more for specs/pc when it's worth the moula ($$)

cheers