"Ole Questionable" My unidentifiable P4 1.6 with no FCC # or discernable markings has finally kicked the bucket. (The one with the power switch that said "Are ya' feelin' lucky punk!)"

Sadly the namless motherboard supported PC100 so I was able to stick 1.5 GB in there for next to nothing. Now that it's gone I need to replace with something that has some juice to render the figure intensive scenes that could not be done (if they can be done)

Does anyone have any suggestions to building a machine with 2-3 GB RAM, a hefty FSB and a Processor that would be good for rendering HI-Res poser 4 and 5 images that are generally between 120 - 200 MB files? Do I need a PCI-Xpress Video or does anyone see no difference with AGP?

I would like to try and keep it under $1000 US if possible (I need Case, Power, CPU, RAM, Motherboard) I have ATAPI drives already and my poser install was on it's own drive so I pray my Runtime still exists somewhere.

Thanks!

Message edited on: 06/05/2005 18:04

Attached Link: http://www.tigerdirect.com

Check out tigerdirect.com or any other PC parts dealer, to get a good idea price wise of the component you might want. I recomend you get an Intel Motherboard, they're a bit pricy but they're worth it, they work with pretty much any other component out in the market. What you're going to spend on most is the processor, you can either get an AMD or a Intel, I chose intel, AMDs tend to overheat. AGP is old technology PCIX is supposed to be better, but more expensive, and there tend to be more AGP Video cards available on the market, and the better Motherboard tend to bring AGP, PCI, and PCIX ports.

I'm wanting to build a couple of new systems, but I'm waiting until hyperthreading makes it down to the Pentium D line. The D line is duel core, like the Extreme Edition line, but only the EE line is hyperthreaded. And the EE costs over $1000 while the D costs around $600.

My 2 cents is to wait if you can. There are too many changes occuring right now (Dual Core, PCIX, etc.)

And w/ IBM's new Cell Processor, more changes could be on the way.

Message edited on: 06/06/2005 00:30

Message edited on: 06/06/2005 00:32

www.apple.com ;)

Thanks, and Oilscum, I own three Macs (PBG3, iBookG4, MDD G4x2), I love Macs, I fix macs, however the good one is at my office and all my installers are .exe's and I'm not a fan of VPC, from what I understand the bang for the buck is with AMD, but now the two posts between are going Intel!

Attached Link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/31/amd_athlon_64_x2/

AMD is developing dual core processers too. The dual core Opterons are already selling, and the Athlon 64 X2 was just recently launched.

The one thing I like about Intel chips is the hyperthreading technology. I have a P4 hyperthreaded processor, so Win2K sees it as a dual processor machine. When hyperthreading gets down to the Pentium D line, Win2K and XPPro will see 4 processors instead of one. I've never thought to look and see if AMD has similar technology in their processors. If they do, then I might take a look at AMD processors for my next PC's. My 2 cents is to take a look at some review sites like Tom's Hardware for some reviews of AMD and Intel chips. Look at the numbers, then decide for yourself.

Message edited on: 06/06/2005 09:17

Go AMD64 Socket 939. The current mainboards just need a BIOS flash upgrade to support the Athlon64 x2. And you'll be able to plug in up to 4 GB of RAM. PCI-Express or AGP? If your graphics card is still alive and it's an AGP, you might want to keep it. On the other hand, AGP is rapidly being deprecated now. THere are fewer and fewer AGP graphics cards on the market, and the PCI-Express cards are soaring - and rapidly becoming cheaper than their AGP counterparts. Same goes for the mainboards. So - Athlon64 S939, PCI Express mainboard and graphics card. Don't shell out for SLI, that's only useful for the most recent heavy 3D games. Pick up a mid-end nVidia PCI-Express card (not ATI, you'll want good OpenGL support), they're not too pricey. Don't be cheap when it comes to case and power supply. A good power supply may cost a few bucks more, but you definitely don't want an unstable (as in unstable voltage) power supply. A silent one is also preferable to a cheap "vacuum cleaner". A good solid case will reduce noise and mechanical defects - once a bad case managed to warp a CD player, effectively destroying the thing and the CD in it. And don't be cheap about installing fans either. Pabst fans are pretty expensive, but they're silent and reliable. Keep it cool, keep it working!