Best Processor/Mobo for web production work.

[imported_otto]

Ok, this is my first post here and my first computer I am building. I have done a lot of digging around on this site and tomshardware. My problem is that almost everything I read about for set-ups for the best systems it's about gaming. I need to build a nice stable platform that works best for programs like Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash development. Many times I have all those programs running at once plus email and maybe a few others. I also do not play any games on my PC because I spend too much time as it is working on it, that?s what my xbox is for. So I don?t care about LAN party capabilities and I?m not going to be running the most expensive video card. I will also do some audio and video editing but nothing crazy.

The reason I?m posting here is that that if I can figure what processor I should be looking at then the rest of the pieces will fall into place. I was wondering if anyone here could help shed some light on what processor I should be looking at that will work best for my needs. So far I have been looking at AMD 3500 (939) and MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA mobo but I was wondering if P4 may be the way to go. I?m looking to spend between 350-500 on the processor and another $150 on the motherboard. I don?t see myself going crazy with over clocking and I would like to get ram at a descent price (around $500 for 2gigs)

Where do I start?

 

[Mrvile]

If you have a nice hearty budget why not consider dual Xeon/Opterons? You can build a decent dual-CPU machine for around 2k.

 

[imported_otto]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
If you have a nice hearty budget why not consider dual Xeon/Opterons? You can build a decent dual-CPU machine for around 2k.

thanks, but thats more then I wanted to spend. Im looking at $1000 for CPU, Mobo and 1gig ram.

 

[sandorski]

You could go either way. When Win64 becomes available though the Athlon64 would be the clear choice IMO.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: otto
. . . programs like Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash development. Many times I have all those programs running at once plus email and maybe a few others. I also do not play any games on my PC because I spend too much time as it is working on it, that?s what my xbox is for. So I don?t care about LAN party capabilities and I?m not going to be running the most expensive video card. I will also do some audio and video editing but nothing crazy.

If you were doing encoding then Prescott would have an edge.

. . .been looking at AMD 3500 (939) and MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA mobo but I was wondering if P4 may be the way to go. I?m looking to spend between 350-500 on the processor and another $150 on the motherboard. I don?t see myself going crazy with over clocking and I would like to get ram at a descent price (around $500 for 2gigs)

Since you'll have many apps open at once, lots of RAM, your 2 GB is a good start

Where do I start?

Read this Xbit Article, especially the last paragraph. A Prescott will consume 2X the power under load and 3X the power at idle of a A64 90nm. This affects the cooling/noise and PS size. Go deeper into the article and compare performance for your apps vs. Prescott.

 

[Oreo]

I would say definetly go for a AMD64 setup. It's a great allround performer. Buy lots of RAM rather than the fastest CPU model.

 

[imported_otto]

Thanks for the feedback.