What to look for when upgrading my current build

[87Skier]

I'm looking at upgrading my current build (yes, it's very old)

120 GB SSD + standard storage drives
AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0 GHz
8 GB ram
Asus M4A87TD EVO Motherboard
550 W power supply
GTX 1050 Ti video card

I do a lot of video editing and conversion and my computer just isn't keeping up. I was thinking about going for an i5 or i7. I know I'm going to replace motherboard, processor, ram, and power supply. So here are my questions:

Should I overclock whatever processor I get?
Will I need water cooling or is a standard heat sink and fan sufficient?
16 GB or 32 GB of ram?
Is the additional cost of i7 worth it?
Would my money be better spent buying a cheaper processor and spending more on cooling to overclock?
Wattage on power supply (based on your suggestions)?

Thanks!

PS: For ram, power supply, motherboard, and processor, I would like to spend less than $800. May need to upgrade the case as well, I'll worry about that later.

 

[jwcrellin]

For $800 overclocking is out. An i7 6700 non k will do wonders for your rendering and conversions@310. MSI B150 ATX motherboard is cheap and reliable@$79. The more ram the better, so a4x8gb kit of DDR4 2133 is going to cost you like $200. I mean you could go 2x8 for $122 but that's up to you.
How old is your power supply? Is it a name brand?

 

[FD2Raptor]

I'm looking at upgrading my current build (yes, it's very old)

120 GB SSD + standard storage drives
AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0 GHz
8 GB ram
Asus M4A87TD EVO Motherboard
550 W power supply
GTX 1050 Ti video card

I do a lot of video editing and conversion and my computer just isn't keeping up. I was thinking about going for an i5 or i7. I know I'm going to replace motherboard, processor, ram, and power supply. So here are my questions:

Should I overclock whatever processor I get?
Will I need water cooling or is a standard heat sink and fan sufficient?
16 GB or 32 GB of ram?
Is the additional cost of i7 worth it?
Would my money be better spent buying a cheaper processor and spending more on cooling to overclock?
Wattage on power supply (based on your suggestions)?

Thanks!

PS: For ram, power supply, motherboard, and processor, I would like to spend less than $800. May need to upgrade the case as well, I'll worry about that later.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1230 V5 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($251.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock E3V5 Performance Gaming/OC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($135.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($108.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $543.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-02-17 04:12 EST-0500

That should represent an overclocking-ready i7 6700 equivalent. ~$100 for a new W10 license if needed, and you'd still have plenty for a PSU/case/SSD upgrade if wanted.

The only downside is no M2 slot, but PCIe based card solutions are available. And with those drives being 50-100% or even more expensive than standard SATA drive but providing little in term of concrete performance increase in day-to-day activity, I don't foresee you needing one in your budget in the few/several years term.