need some help please

[banabubu]

Hi, I would appreciate some help and recommendations for a mobo & cpu,
used for 2D graphics & audio/video editing with these preferences:
at least 4 USB, very stable, NO overclocking, at least 2 PCI, 1 PCI-E slot, AGP slot for older video card,
onboard sound that rivals nforce Soundstorm (is realtek all888 any good? if you dont know 1 with onboard sound, what is good sub <$40 pci card?), SP-DIF, 2 IDE ports is a must, SATA also

Dont care about:
OCing, firewire, SLI & 3D

2. Is 2D performance based mostly on memory, CPU, or GFX card?

3. how much faster are these dual core cpus like 1.86ghz Core2Duo (not sure if Conroe also) than a regular 1.86ghz cpu? I was expecting to get 3ghz by this year.

4. Is corsair memory the only one compatible with Core2duo? I read that there are many cpu/memory/mobo issues with core2 & conroe.

5. are these chips 64-bit and will work better with 64-bit version of winxp? (was told winxp64 eats cpu or memory power much more)

Someone told me to go for an Intel brand mobo if i won't OC because they are most stable with many options. asrock seems good too.

 

[akshayt]

2)CPU and Memory. You need a fast CPU with loads of memory, preferably fat memory I would suggest. It is advised to get a fast HDD as well.

3)They are just clocked at 1.86GHz, actually they would perform faster than any of Intel's previous offering. Like AMD whose A64 2GHz and Intel Northwood 2GHz are like 2-3yrs apart each other.

4)There may be incompatibilities, but not that Corsair is the only brand you can opt for.

5)These chips are 64bit.

I would say Asus P5W is one of the best buys today.

 

[Bobthelost]

5. No, they work fine with 32 bit or 64 bit. Unless you know what you're doing just stick with normal XP.

4. No, not by a long shot.

3. Lots faster, check the main site for comparitive reviews with other CPUs around. Also don't forget that these are Dual core CPUs, with rendering you do get almost twice as much performance going to two cores.

2. Depends, CPU is the most important, some programs love RAM, some don't use more than 500mb, GPU useage is out of my realm of expertise.

 

[tapir]

You might consider getting a cheap PCI-E GFX card instead of paying extra for a motherboard which supports both PCI-E and AGP. Thar could very well be cheaper.

 

[jackschmittusa]

Boards that support both AGP and PCI-E are usually on the less expensive side, Asrock, Gigabyte, etc..