1. Processor- Pentium 4 3.0 GHz vs 3.2 GHz
It's almost linear the payback here. At about 6% faster a 4 hour DVD rendering will finish in 225 minutes vs. 240 minutes.
2. Memory- 512 MB vs 1 GB
Very small payback. Our 1GB memory machine finished 5 minutes sooner than the 512M machine of the same motherboard, CPU, hard disk, video card and such parts. For that 6 hour run, the "bigger" machine finished in 5 hours and 55 minutes...
3. Hard Drive- 160 GB vs 200 GB
Small change. 160GB drives are (on sale) for 99$. Don' sweat this one.
4. 20 minute video.
Figure 1GB per minute and 2X that for work copies on the very outside. Tons of space.
Bob
I am looking at the HP a450y. The cost to upgrade the processor, memory and hard drive would be $350. Are there significant differences between the following that would warrant paying the increase in price:
Processor- Pentium 4 3.0 GHz vs 3.2 GHz
Memory- 512 MB vs 1 GB
Hard Drive- 160 GB vs 200 GB
I can't speak to file size, but I can't imagine making a video longer than 20 minutes or so that would also include music.
Any feedback would be appreciated.

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