I'm looking to build a system that'll run Doom3 and Maya decently well. I don't need blazing performance. Price and upgradeability are probably the most important factors. I don't see myself overclocking the system, but I would like to be able to upgrade it in May of next year or so and still have a quality system at that point. For example a P4 2.4GHz Northwood that could become a 3.4 then.
However, I'm not sure about the interchangeability of the Northwood, Prescott and whether to go with socket 478 or 775 (seems more upgradeable in the future). I'm also unsure about the different FSB speeds - does the motherboard matter in that respect or only the socket? Can one motherboard support the range from 400 to 800 MHz FSB? Also, do companies other than Asus and Abit make quality motherboards? I had a very good experience with Asus' K7V a few years back so I'm hesistant to deviate to a different manufacturer.
I'm not sure whether this goes in the CPU or motherboard forum.. sorry if it's the wrong one, but I think I want to decide on a CPU first, i.e. Intel or AMD, Prescott or Northwood and then figure out what motherboard to stick it into. RAM upgradeability would, obviously, also be important.. to start with 512MB and be able to go up to 2GB seems like a nice level of freedom with that. Thanks to anyone that can help.
However, I'm not sure about the interchangeability of the Northwood, Prescott and whether to go with socket 478 or 775 (seems more upgradeable in the future). I'm also unsure about the different FSB speeds - does the motherboard matter in that respect or only the socket? Can one motherboard support the range from 400 to 800 MHz FSB? Also, do companies other than Asus and Abit make quality motherboards? I had a very good experience with Asus' K7V a few years back so I'm hesistant to deviate to a different manufacturer.
I'm not sure whether this goes in the CPU or motherboard forum.. sorry if it's the wrong one, but I think I want to decide on a CPU first, i.e. Intel or AMD, Prescott or Northwood and then figure out what motherboard to stick it into. RAM upgradeability would, obviously, also be important.. to start with 512MB and be able to go up to 2GB seems like a nice level of freedom with that. Thanks to anyone that can help.
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