OK guys, I am currently running an AMD Athlon XP 1700+, 256MB RAM and Nvidia GeForce2 MX. I've had this computer for about four years and have been slowly progressing my skills with such programs as Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator etc. and in the future hope to expand into audio production and 3D modelling. This computer has been good all the while I've had it but I think i have finally decided that I need to invest in a new rig as I plan to start earning some money through graphic and web design. I began searching for components about 2 months ago and have just been researching, now comes the crunch. AMD or Intel? Based on what I will be primarily using this machine for (graphic design, audio production, 3d modelling) which would be the best choice? Or would it even be noticable? I have began to swing towards the AMD Athlon XP 3200+, mainly because of it's reasonable price (£86) which to me seems VERY good considering the prices being charged for the P4 equivalents, people have advised me to purchase a 64 bit chip but again, is this REALLY necessary for my purposes? I would love to be able to simply go out and by some mad chip with crazy clock speeds but that is a luxury I cannot afford as I am building this PC on a budget, so it would be helpful if you do not just reply to this thread informing me to buy a chip worth £150 / £200. I am relatively new to hardware so I am also not aware what a good motherboard to purchase would be, once again, any advise on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! -Tom

Just my 2 cents on this (and because I use photoshop, illustrator, quark, dreamweaver, flashmx) I went with the INTEL proc. It is definately better then AMD for these apps. Also, if you happen to have photoshop CS, it can take advantage of hyper-threading. In a nut-shell, you go with AMD if you are game savvy (which I am not) and you go with INTEL if you use your computer for (gasp) actual computing.....LOL. ASUS P5GD1 P-4 3.4 SOCKET 775 1G Corsaire PC400 ABIT RX600SE 256MB PCI-E

Have you ever used an AMD chip? If so what were your experiences with it? Thanks! -Tom

Go with an AMD, because AMD are better at graphics then Intel's are.

Better at graphics??????? A CPU is better at graphics????? My CPU processes the graphics???? Why did I buy a video card???? Cobra........all due respect bro but you're WAY off on that comment. I'm guessing you must have stock in AMD cuz that makes no sense. AMD processes gaming code better but that's not what makes better graphics and it's not what Tom said he will be using on his machine. Tom, Intel is by far better for the apps you intend to use. There shouldn't even be a question about it. And just to show I am not biased, I DO have stock in AMD.........LOL ASUS P5GD1 P-4 3.4 SOCKET 775 1G Corsaire PC400 ABIT RX600SE 256MB PCI-E

"Better at graphics??????? A CPU is better at graphics????? My CPU processes the graphics???? Why did I buy a video card???? Cobra........all due respect bro but you're WAY off on that comment." With all due respect, you're clueless about this yourself. CPU's have math coprocessors, which are used to make math calculations, which is heavily relied upon for graphics manipulations. Your video card makes calculations about what to display on your screen, whether it be a 2d photoshop image or a 3d image, but actual manipulations to the data file are completely done by your processor. Saying a CPU is better at graphics work CAN legitimately be said. If you're saying it won't help the quality of the image, you are correct, CPU has nothing to do with that; it does help speed the processing of changes to the file though. He said it was better at graphics, but did not specify how so, and I would assume he meant in respect to speed in editing. When it comes to the math coprocessor, AMD Athlon 64's are in fact superior to Intel Pentium 4's. Consequently, Athlon 64's tend to win compared to P4's in graphics software not optimized specifically for Pentium 4's, such as photoshop 7.0... http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/processorsmemory/0,39024015,39164010-4,00.htm However, Photoshop CS is optimized for Hyperthreading, so you will probably see better performance with Intel p4 HT enabled CPU's for that version. Which CPU will perform better for Tom will ultimately depend on which version of Photoshop he will be using. Lay off the sarcasm when you yourself don't know what you're talking about. Tom - IF you go AMD, I would highly recommend Athlon 64. Even the slowest of them will perform better for you than the highest clocked Athlon XP. Go Socket 939 on the Athlon 64 to provide an upgrade path for the CPU, Nforce 4 chipset boards seem to be the best. If you go Intel, make absolutely sure you get an Intel chipset motherboard (which one is your call), or the extra performance Intels offer often evaporate. Don't forget to factor in extra costs such as if you get a motherboard that uses DDR2, etc. With respect to Intel vs. AMD, within your budget, make sure FIRST you have plenty of RAM (min 1 gig) because that will have more of an impact than your CPU. Once you have enough RAM, start looking at what you can buy for the money. Even though Athlon 64's don't perform as well in Photoshop CS, look at the price comparison and decide in your situation if the extra money you're spending for a p4 is worth that extra performance. I'm not saying go AMD, but they are priced lower, so keep in mind what else you could buy with that money (more RAM, faster hard drive, etc.) that may or may not make as much difference in performance. AMD Athlon 64's are rock solid as far as reliability and stability goes as long as you use quality components - same with Intel. MCSE, MCSA Messaging, baby!

Tom - Rereading your post, you are running several graphics packages, not just photoshop. AMD Athlon 64's therefore could very well be better for you overall. Obviously, weigh which ones you use of those the most into your decision, and I highly recommend researching benchmarks that actually provide you with objective data on which way to go for all those apps. http://www.veritest.com/benchmarks/mccwinstone/default.asp Multimedia Content Creation Winstone benchmarks may be useful to you because they include Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and others, but pay attention to which versions of each. For example, the photoshop in it is 7, NOT CS, which makes a HUGE difference, as CS is optimized for p4's, while 7 is not. http://www.veritest.com/benchmarks/mccwinstone/default.asp Good luck! MCSE, MCSA Messaging, baby!