Building a Computer, Help

[20megmachine]

I'll try help, hopefully what I say is accurate...

1. The 64bit processor isn't mainstream at the moment, in a few years(2 or 3) it will be, but the CPU's for sale now will be outdated by then. About the performance, I've heard they're fast. But, if you get one, you'll need a good motherboard too. And maybe ECC RAM. But, if you don't get the 64bit AMD, I'd suggest one of their XP+ CPU's(a 3000+ or a 3200+).

2. Your video card choice is good, but if the version with 256MB RAM isn't too expensive, you should try getting it.

3. Generally if you don't overclock too much, your system will work perfectly. I've read that overclocking takes 2 years off a CPU's life, and most CPU's are built to last 10 years. If you do overclock, you'll definitely need better fans and heatsinks than the stock ones. I don't know if it will affect Maya though.

[status quo]

i wouldn't advise overclocking.

a Pentium4 3.0ghz seems to be the best value.

a 2.8ghz P4 would probs beat a 3200+

the ram doesn't matter on a videocard, unless your doing 3D work with heavy textures. mostly just a selling point.

a radeon 9800 pro with 128mb ram is the popular enthusiast card of the moment.

[dudders]

whatever you do dont buy the 64 yet.

I made that mistake when the first p3's came out, you pay over the odds for new stuff and like 20megmachine said by the time everythings optimized for it the damn things been supersceded.

I would thoroughly recommend shopping around on ebay and picking up some bargains on there.

[mayakindaguy]

To answer your questions as best as I can...
1)AMD64 or Intel P4-This is largely a matter of preference as both rigs should be similarly priced. Depends on what you want to do with your rig.
First off understanding the difference between the two cpus is that just because the AMD is clocked lower does not mean that it performs less than a higher clocked P4. AMD has devised a system where u see 3200+ which means that though the actual clock rate is only around 2ghz it is equivalent to a p4 at 3.2 ghz.
The reason for the difference is that AMD cpus have a shorter pipeline, which means in short they have a shorter instruction set, i guess. While Intel chose to have a larger pipeline to increase the clock rate. However, the thing is with a longer pipeline it's harder to keep it filled compared to a shorter one. Thus being less efficient, and having to push faster to keep up the same efficiency as the shorter pipeline. (don't really like that analogy or explanation, but eh). I think someone compared it to RPMs on a car...which is kind of the same.
At any rate, the AMD64 will beat out the p4 (of course we're talking about the same class cpu) in gaming performance and you get to have a 64bit ready cpu when other stuff catches up. With the P4 you get Hyper Threading and stuff like encoding will be faster. Rendering performance between comparable processors with practically identical rigs have been pretty close both ways. So, in the end it is you're own personal choice.

2)Regarding overclocking-Overclocking in itself is not going to kill your cpu, it's mainly people who juice up the vcore that kills the processor. 1.7v is about as high as you wan't to go ona p4, not sure about AMD.
I personally did not go the AMD64 route back when it first came out, but you generally don't really overclock these much. The Athlon is a different story. If you're intereted in overclocking the P4 would probably be the cpu of choice. You would get a p4 2.8C which is the Northwood through the 3.4C p4s with 800mhz Front Side Bus, depending on budget. The Presscott labeled with an E ie. P4 3.0E is not a good idea to bad heat unless you're cooling with something other than air. Do not buy the 3.06C with 533FSB because the lesser FSB makes this cpu inferior performance and pricewise. Though they list it as more expensive than the 3.0C it's really not worth it. The 2.8C is around $170USD and the 3.0C is around $200USD currently. If overclocking a p4 you'll want to also buy an enthusiast mother board (Abit or ASUS) IC7 or the P4Por P4C800-E, as well as enthusiast RAM like mushkin, corsairXMS or KingstonHyperX. If you are not overclocking then perhaps an Intel mobo is great and stable and geil or crucial for the RAM. I believe that the AMD64 does not need ECC registered on most of the mobos I recall, but the FX will.
For more info check overclockers.com or hardforum.com
3)Graphics card-I assume you're just starting out and learning 3d so imo a gaming card is just fine. The ATI 9800pro is a great deal, but with Maya u will notice some glitches like paintFX cursor refresh trails and renderview not anti-aliasing correctly at 1:1 ratio, but it is a great gaming card for the price. An alternative would be an Nvidia card if you are wary of such issues later on down the line. Price wise it will be a bit more expensive unless you buy a much older card and upgrade again later as needed.

Lastly, newegg.com is probably the best online retailer in my and many others experience. I think excalibur pc was pretty good also, but newegg.com is number in my book. I guess since you are on a tight budget there are certain items u may find cheaper at your local frys or a reliable local ma and pa shop computer store.

just post or pm if u have more questions.

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