Help me setup a PC for my freelance work Please

[motoxpress]

That system will work very well with your chosen apps. The MB is probably overkill so you could tone that down to an AN8 SLI Premium and be fine. Also, unless you go with the new AM2 chipsets, you will not use DDR2 memory. Just so you are aware, you would save a good amount of money by simply going with an Opteron 165 and OCing it just a little to get the same speeds as the 4400 for aboout $100 less.

-gl

[motoxpress]

Another advantage of the AM2 platform is that you could go up to 8 gigs of ram on certain flavors - like the Asus M2N-Sli.

-gl

[NealTse]

That graphics card you have in there is a very decent gaming card, which might be a bit overkill for your those progamrs, you can probably get a cheaper one and save for your apps, or more RAM. There are a lot of mid range cards out there, far more then there used to be.

[PoorGuy]

What is AM2?
I have not heard about it yet or i don't think we even have it yet in Australia.

So what will work with DDR2 Ram?

As for the graphic card i'm just trying to future proof myself in a way i guess.

[PoorGuy]

does the AMD 64 x2 chip have SSE2?

[motoxpress]

What is AM2?
I have not heard about it yet or i don't think we even have it yet in Australia.

So what will work with DDR2 Ram?

As for the graphic card i'm just trying to future proof myself in a way i guess.

AM2 is AMD's latest and greatest chipset implementation. It will allow you to use DDR2 (up to 8gigs). I assume Newegg.com is not an option for you so ask your favorite reseller for an AM2 motherboard and see what they have.

I would stick with the card you have chosen. It's a great option for all of those apps.

-gl

[motoxpress]

does the AMD 64 x2 chip have SSE2?


Yes, SSE3 actually. (http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_9485_13041%5E13042,00.html)

I have personally run PPro 2.0, AE 6.5, and the full Creaive Suite from Adobe on an Athlon X2 system and they all perform flawlessly and much more quickly than a Pentium D system.

-gl

[PoorGuy]

Thankyou George

What about windows? Can i run Windows x64?

[motoxpress]

Thankyou George

What about windows? Can i run Windows x64?


Can you? Absolutely. Should you? That depedns on how curious you are to try flakey software :) This system will be ale to support Vista with no problems however so you are very safe for 64bit...as safe as you can be anyway :|

[Valkyrien]

What is AM2?
I have not heard about it yet or i don't think we even have it yet in Australia.

So what will work with DDR2 Ram?

As for the graphic card i'm just trying to future proof myself in a way i guess.

You sure do have it down there! Can't remember what site I saw it on, but I know a mate of mine in Sydney recently built an AM2 system :)

[RiKToR]

I was under the impression that the 940 Mobo's addressed the lack of DDR2 support issue with AMD. Is this not the case?

[Valkyrien]

Well, AM2 is technically a 940-pin socket--just in a different configuration from socket 940 :)

[PoorGuy]

Quote:
Originally Posted by PoorGuy
Thankyou George

What about windows? Can i run Windows x64?




Can you? Absolutely. Should you? That depedns on how curious you are to try flakey software :) This system will be ale to support Vista with no problems however so you are very safe for 64bit...as safe as you can be anyway :|


So I should avoid using Windows x64 for now is that what you're saying?
But most programs (Adobe, Autodesk, Maxon, Softimage and maybe some games too) will work under Win x64 right?

[RiKToR]

Yes they will work fine but some configs are buggy in XP64, I used and quita after about a month of BSODs. Ask Lots, he's the resident XP64 guy.

[newman]

Windows XP 64 bit actually run very stable. In addition, every 32 bit app should run just as fine as it would on a 32 bit OS - even better, because 64 bit windows support up to 128 GBs of RAM, meaning it can assign large chunks of RAM to each of your apps. As for drivers, I understand there's plenty of 64 bit drivers already out there so that shouldn't be much of a problem. In addition, the 32 bit XP only supports 2, or with a little tweaking, 3 GBs of RAM - as you're getting 4 GBs the 64 bit OS is your only sensible option, as otherwise you'll have about a gigabyte of unused RAM. If you're really afraid of the 64 bit version you could always make it dual boot..
Now, as for your motherboard.. it's fine but why SLI? SLI will only help you in games at the moment. If you ask me, SLI is not worth the $ - get a single PCI slot mb (cheaper), a decent gfx card and you'll be all set.

[motoxpress]

Now, as for your motherboard.. it's fine but why SLI? SLI will only help you in games at the moment. If you ask me, SLI is not worth the $ - get a single PCI slot mb (cheaper), a decent gfx card and you'll be all set.

I would say the reason is not for SLI itself but the features that come with that MB.For example, the Premium version of the Asus SLI mb also offers passive cooling which is a nice feature. I see no reason NOT to get an SLI mb...leaves the possibility of adding a second card not for SLI but just another workstation card for accelerating another monitor with viewports.

-gl

[motoxpress]

So I should avoid using Windows x64 for now is that what you're saying?
But most programs (Adobe, Autodesk, Maxon, Softimage and maybe some games too) will work under Win x64 right?

My personal view is that I don't want to invest my time and money into something that is clearly going to go away in 6-12 months. Vista is going to be the 'real' 64bit win OS and I just don't see a lot of advantage to XP64 now or even down the road.

It appears that many find it to work well for them so there is no reason why it shouldn't work for you potentially. I just don't see the point except for the geek factor.

-gl

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