I'm looking to build another system, this time for my wife. I need some opinions about the famous Intel vs. AMD war. She uses Photoshop, DreamweaverMX, Illistrator, QuarkXP and sometimes the warhorse Premier. I am looking for something with balls for OCing and stability to run such intensive apps. My first instinct is to go with a P4 Prescott with HTT with a 915 or 925 setting. But I hear that the AMD Athlon64 is more OC friendly. I just want some objective opinions. No games will be played on this as neither of us are into them.
Thanks for anything you have to say.

If you are not worried about gaming, than I would say stick with the intel based system.

The boards with the 915 and especialy the 925 chipset mated with a 3.2 or 3.4 would perfom beyond your expectations.

Set up with new ddr2 ram in dual chanel mode with the 925 chipset, I think i just might come and take the rig of you. LOL

Oh and dont forget about one gig of ram just for good measure, budget permiting.

Phewwwwwww - ENJOY

IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

I suggest the system in my signature. But drop the X800XT PE. I would say get a 3.2 but the reason i got the 3.4 is becuase with most LGA775 asus boards there is a feature called "CPU Lock Free" (also coming to older socket 478 pins in bios updates) what it does is drop the multiplier of any LGA775 Pentium 4 (3.4Ghz or above) down to 14x multiplier so you can then up the frequencies of your FSB so the CPU goes back to default or above speed. What that does is allow faster memory speeds and overall better performance. But, if your memory isn't over 500Mhz then i would suggest the 3.2Ghz processor which you cannot use the CPU Lock Free feature with. But my system i just bought is for professional video (dealing with HDV and HDTV) and some serious gaming in my spare time. Also, with the graphics card. Make sure you get the VIVO function. That allows you to capture video from your camera, VHS, DVD or anything else with S-Video (SVHS), quiet handy if your doing editing or want to get those old VHS tapes on to the computer (also, unless you have an older version of DVD shrink, you can copy DVD's, i do that when i'm converting DVD to AVI. works alot better and faster than converting using software on the computer.

I hope i've helped. Need anymore info on certain things just ask.

Professional Video Editing and Gaming PC in 1:

CPU: Pentium 4 550 3.4Ghz LGA775 yet to be overclocked
Motherboard: Asus P5AD2 Deluxe
RAM: 2x512MB Kingston PC4200 533Mhz DDR2
Video Card: Gig

If you get the more powerful components in either platform you will be fine.

About 7 months ago I built a unit for a student who is at a college of professional graphics, majoring in graphic arts.

AMD xp2600 Barton w/512_L2cache, 2GHz proc, 1gig DDR ram, 333FSB, Radeon 8500/128 meg RAM Video Card, Shuttle AN35N mobo, Aspire X-DreamerII case w/ Powmax 500W PS.

She regularly runs Photoshop CS and Illustrator (latest one, I forget the number) working with 100/200 meg files all the time. No waiting, no glitching, no hesitations or hiccups. I have even seen her with P/Shop, Illustrator AND Quark Express all open at the same time, flipping back n' forth with no waiting or redraw time.

Last month started learning Flash, runs all apps with same speed.

CS loads 3.5 seconds from cold boot. Accurate timing.

Total Cost, box only ..... you ready for this? ...... $500.00 no lie. All parts from Newegg, except the round IDE cables I got cheaper from a local source, Krex.com

She does have Premier and has worked a little in it, but hasn't started classes in it yet. Judging from how this unit handles the heavy graphics apps, it should have no problems at all running Premier. She watches DVD movies smooth as silk.

In my opinion, many times we spend money to purchase equipment that is totally overpowered for what we need. Then a year later new technology (such as the 64bit processors/boards) emerge and all that money was spent for parts that are outdated. This unit will take her through college, and when she starts a job it will be time to upgrade.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime;
Then industry pollutes the water and kills all the fish.

Thank you all, esp Ranch. I'm pretty set now on getting the 3.4 Prescott with HTT(for running several apps simultaniously) along with an Abit AG8 Mobo. (did a bit of homework) The rest I'll figure out depending on my budget, but I know I want at least 1 gig of DDR. Thanks for the guidance!!

Why not just go for a dual Opteron solution?? That way you really can run several intensive apps at the same time??? An why settle for only 1GB of RAM??? Premier could easyily take advantage of 2GB??? Or even better scrap that idea and buy a G5 PowerMac, that way you can drop Premier and use something decent like Final Cut Pro. Just my AU$0.02 worth.

Dual CPUs would definitely help with the multitasking/multithreading but overall cost would most likely be much higher. I would stick with what you got. The HT works well and helps (not as good as a second processor but...) with the multitasking. Just be sure you get at least 1 GB of QUALITY ram as those programs are very RAM intensive.

Alert me after you respond otherwise I'll forget to come back.

Oh, I forgot to mention: the reason I went for the 512 L2cache, is that a lot of graphic art gruntwork is very repetitious. In working with a graphic and you are detailing certain areas, the same Photoshop tool is used over and over, same in Premier. Especially if you get into advanced stuff and do 3D rendering. That is where the extra cache really shines; XP can load 'er up with the repetitious algorhythms needed and not constantly have to go back to the HD.

Also, if you want to save some money, here is where I buy my monitors:
http://www.merkortech.com/

They specialize in monitors that came off lease from big companies. I have bought three 21" Sun Microsystems CRTs (average cost $250 +shipping)and honestly, there isn't a mark on them. Look like they came off the shelf at Best Buy. After 2 years+ still run perfectly. Okay, I know they aren't LCD flatpanels, but have you priced a 21" LCD flatpanel????! Look at the prices of these things. I buy "Monitors, Grade A" only in the Right column of the splashpage. This outfit is small, but very honest and so far I am very satisfied.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime;
Then industry pollutes the water and kills all the fish.

GEEZ.......It was just a question.......LOL
Actually I have a PowerBook G4 for when she's on the road or with clients. That thing sure is fast. But I'm a PC guy and she does both. And as I recall, premier is made by apple so I'm not going to get into this mac vs PC thing anymore. Besides, I said she occasionally uses it. She mostly does graphic design.
I already have a dual monitor setup so I won't be needing those. For the most part I'm going to trade in this HP for some arse kicking gear while keeping most of it's hardware (optical drives, Radeon 9800, 9 in 1 card, hard drives) to install into the new setup.
Thanks again everyone!!