Hello friends I need your advice about upgrading my computer. I have Pentium 4 2.40 with Gigabyte i848 mainboard - 1gb of DDR400 ram (512x2) and a Ge-Force fx5200 video card with 128 mb of ram... In last few days I was thinking to upgrade it to a Pentium 4 3.2ghz with i915 chipset mainboard and a PCI express video card. Some professional artists I know like Wade Wood suggesting me an AMD 64 bit based system. It looks cheaper and faster than Pentium 4 3.2 - so I am confused. But I am sure an 64 bit processor can cut my long render times. The only thing that buggers me is the software I use. I am using Cinema 4D 9, Poser 5 and Vue 5 Esprit on my 3D works. And Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat and Microsoft Word for my part-time desktop publishing works - to make money. So my computer is important for me to earn my life. What do you suggest ? I am asking because I exprienced problems with Vue D'esprit 4 and Ge-Force fx5200 (because of its driver). I dont want to have problems with my software and I want power !!! :D So please let me know what you think and share your AMD expriences with me. Thank you guys...

I wouldn't upgrade yet. In the fall a dual core athlon is coming out which should be worth the wait. Also 2 gigs of ram is much better than 1 gig. I upgraded my ram and felt a noticable increase. The dual core athlon with 2 gigs of ram and 256 ram video card should be very powerful. Plus, a 64 bit operating system and when vue can work with 64 bit operating systems will also be better. The new operarting system can also handle more than 4 gigs of ram. However, this is only my 2 cents and all these upgrades need to come together.

I'm currently running an AMD 64 system and it's sweet. I have encountered no problems with any of the software I run and with V5Infinite, it is great. That dual core is something to wait for, but my 2G Ram, 256 ram video card (6800GT) and 64 processor is making me very happy.

If you are intent on upgrading now and not waiting until the "ATHLON64 X2" CPUs are released (and become affordable), you can get a '939' ATHLON64 CPU now. The dual core "ATHLON64 X2" CPUs are supposed to swap in with only a BIOS upgrade needed (a free download). As you are (no doubt) used to INTEL prices, the "3400+" rating would be affordable, and then in early 2006 you could upgrade to the new dual core CPUs.

IF you are intent on upgrading, do NOT get the "754" Athlon64 CPUs - those are not upgradable to the upcoming dual cores.

I would suggest that you get a knowlegable friend or a computer shop to help you put a system together that matches your needs. I always prefer to build a custom computer to buying one from a store. By custom building it, a knowledgable person can put together a very fast system with no 'weak' parts.

FYI - I've been running AMD CPUs since AMD K-5 and have never had a compatibility problem. I run AutoCAD, a high-end civil 3D modeling software, and of course Vue, along with the usual MS stuff. My wife also runs AMD CPUs, and she does a lot of work with Adobe products with no problems whatsoever.

As an added suggestion, I would not upgrade. You'd be 'trashing' literarily the whole computer except for the hard drive & case. I would recommend keeping the old computer as a render box or a spare, and building a new computer from 'scratch'. With the cost of the components, the drive and case costs are minimal, especially if you'd be getting a larger drive anyway.

Good Luck.

Message edited on: 05/13/2005 15:10

(Cracks knuckles) Definitely keep the P4 system; that would allow you to run a render on the fast box, and still do other things. The Athlon 64 would increase your rendering speed; if you only have a 32 bit OS, then it runs in 32 bit native mode. Something none of the Intel '64 bit' chips can do at the moment. You definitely would want the socket 939 version, as that one will be upgradeable to the dual core X2 with a BIOS flash; but keep in mind that it may take some time for the cost to come down into the realm of affordable. The first dualies out will be aimed at the enterprise market, and both companies are talking a release price around $1,000 per chip for the server version. No word yet on the desktop version's cost. But the Athlon 64 is simply a better chip in design and implementation; they routinely wax Intel chips clocking almost again as fast (with the exception of applications that have been specifically coded to perform better on Intel). Plan on a PCI-E board; AGP is being phased out as fast as they can get away with it. Plan on most of your storage being on SATA drives, as the PCI-E boards are configured to support more SATA than IDE (leaving the IDE ports for things like DVD burners, etc). YOu don't need SLI unless you are a power gamer, and whatever you do, stay away from the video boards with gobs of memory (unless you want bragging rights or are a power gamer). More and more video cards are requiring a dedicated connector to the power supply's 12v rail, or a separate external power source. And the heat the generate is impressive. The next Nvidia chip due out ths fall is specced out at 95 watts of power consumption (which happens to be about what 2 80486 computer =systems= would pull under stress). So keep adequate ventilation in the back of your mind, as well.

yep keep the p4 and buy a new box (amd64x2, thats the amd 64 dual core), but as mentioned start with a regular amd64 (motherboard needs to be a socket 939 solution and preferably a nforce4) the price is real low nowadays on these rigs and it will let you upgrade to the amd64x2 once they are out and affordable. performance wise dual core realy shines in your target segment (3d,media encryption(music/video), office, 2d (photoshop and the like) and amds dual core is so much better then intels so amd is the right choice for you. But be wise and start out low with an affordable 939 system (3400 or 3500, or why not if its alot more affordable for you a 3200) its afterall just an temporary cpu in your case, and as mentioned keep the p4 for now, having 2 rigs is always neat.

Attached Link: http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050509/cual_core_athlon-20.html

following up on my post with a few new tests between amd/intel and their respective dual core solutions, as you can see, not going the amd route when going dual core is a bad decision. this is another great preview, includes p D aswell, check out both articles since they cover everything including both performance and quality (power consumption, heat). http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2410

AMD64 Socket 939, definitely. You can upgrade to dual core later. If you can spare the money, go for an nVidia Quadra graphics card. Not for gamers, but for 3D professionals. Excellent OpenGL support. Pricey, though. And go for 1 GB RAM modules; that way you can upgrade all the way to 4 GB using current AMD mainboards. Last but not least: the drives. If you can afford it, I'd advise two WD Raptors 10,000 RPM as OS and working drives, plus a large 7200 RPM disk for mass storage.