Hi all,
I'm researching what I components I should ask for in a bidding process with three companies. I already know one of the three will be Apple, for their dual G5s at 2 GHz. I'm planning on doing bids with a PC manufacturer, and then a parts dealer (Newegg) for building it myself.
I feel pretty good about most of the components I want in it, but I recently started wondering if I should be considering going dual Opteron instead of single Athlon FX-55. (or is the Athlon FX 53 for socket 940 better?)
My first concern is cost. I'm aiming for $2,500 US, but have the cap at $3,000.
I plan on running 3ds Max, Sony ACID Pro 4.0, the Adobe Creative Suite Premium, Macromedia Director MX, and Macromedia Studio MX 2004. I also want to have a system that will be badass at running the latest games, such as Half Life 2.
I've researched the single proc solutions and concluded that the Athlon 64 FX-55 is king. Would dual opterons be better in terms of bang for the buck? If so, why? If you do suggest dual opterons, what mobo should I go with? Will I need 2 GB RAM if I go dual Opteron? Is there PCI Express support yet for Opteron?
I don't need new monitors, speakers, or a sound card (got a Sound Blaster Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro... weeee). I don't have the money for a current generation Quaddro or Fire, so I intend to go with a high end consumer level graphics card based on the ATI X800 XT or NVIDIA 6800 Ultra (input would be greatly appreciated on this as well... I'm leaning towards the X800 due to it's better DirectX support... but haven't been able to get info on who makes the best card featuring that chip, price/performance wise). For those who would like to make further suggestions, here's the other stuff I'm currently pretty set on:
2x512 MB Crucial Ballistix DDR400
Western Digital 74 GB Raptor
NEC 16x DVD-RW
52xCD-RW/16xDVD-ROM Lite On Combo drive
Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard
If anyone feels the need to suggest a case, PSU, etc, you're welcome to.
I would appreciate any opinions. Links to articles are also appreciated. I'm going to start doing some research myself, hopefully some of you opteron users will comment in the meantime.
I'm researching what I components I should ask for in a bidding process with three companies. I already know one of the three will be Apple, for their dual G5s at 2 GHz. I'm planning on doing bids with a PC manufacturer, and then a parts dealer (Newegg) for building it myself.
I feel pretty good about most of the components I want in it, but I recently started wondering if I should be considering going dual Opteron instead of single Athlon FX-55. (or is the Athlon FX 53 for socket 940 better?)
My first concern is cost. I'm aiming for $2,500 US, but have the cap at $3,000.
I plan on running 3ds Max, Sony ACID Pro 4.0, the Adobe Creative Suite Premium, Macromedia Director MX, and Macromedia Studio MX 2004. I also want to have a system that will be badass at running the latest games, such as Half Life 2.
I've researched the single proc solutions and concluded that the Athlon 64 FX-55 is king. Would dual opterons be better in terms of bang for the buck? If so, why? If you do suggest dual opterons, what mobo should I go with? Will I need 2 GB RAM if I go dual Opteron? Is there PCI Express support yet for Opteron?
I don't need new monitors, speakers, or a sound card (got a Sound Blaster Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro... weeee). I don't have the money for a current generation Quaddro or Fire, so I intend to go with a high end consumer level graphics card based on the ATI X800 XT or NVIDIA 6800 Ultra (input would be greatly appreciated on this as well... I'm leaning towards the X800 due to it's better DirectX support... but haven't been able to get info on who makes the best card featuring that chip, price/performance wise). For those who would like to make further suggestions, here's the other stuff I'm currently pretty set on:
2x512 MB Crucial Ballistix DDR400
Western Digital 74 GB Raptor
NEC 16x DVD-RW
52xCD-RW/16xDVD-ROM Lite On Combo drive
Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard
If anyone feels the need to suggest a case, PSU, etc, you're welcome to.
I would appreciate any opinions. Links to articles are also appreciated. I'm going to start doing some research myself, hopefully some of you opteron users will comment in the meantime.
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