Hi, Folks. So far it is just on paper. I have 2 perplexities: RAM and Video/Graphics Card.
Purpose:
— HEAVY Multitasking, with very quick graphics support (thousands of files, think: Astronomy + gigantic fully-formatted WORD docs, hundreds of pages long with huge tables and many photos; think: books) —but no gaming
— Hourglasses NOT welcome
— Cool, energy-efficient preferred
Monitor:
— To be LCD 22" wide-angle, in the $300 range. Model as yet unknown.
PART 1
AMD 64x2 5200+ (Windsor core, Rev F3, 65 watt: ADO5200CZBOX)
— To be the (less popular, older) Windsor core, 65 watt but 90nm core. I want the 2 x 1024 L2 caches. There are 2 5200+ Windsors; the other is 89 watts. Although the 3rd option, the Brisbane, is a newer 65nm, its L2s are 512 x 2. However, on idle in Cool 'n' Quiet the Windsor tested exactly the same except a teensy bit BETTER. The Windsor uses no extra power until the 2 units are tested at full strength, when the Windsor pulls a bit ahead and uses a bit more juice to do so.
— I did compare my choice against the Black 5000+, which is immensely popular. I prefer the 5200+ Windsor for my needs.
Motherboard:
— Very, very difficult research. I would prefer a high-quality AM2+, but the M3A seems to be cheaply put together. The M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP would be nice but costs $220-$250, which is high for me. I might never switch to a Phenom, although other AM2+ features would be nice.
— Alternatively I could buy an older-series, cheaper mb. There is one that I've found that has 2xIDE connectors for 4 devices (+4 SATA connectors), so it would allow my 2 HDDs and my 2 Optical Drives. That is the Asus M2N-E SLI (but NOT the Asus M2N-E SLI Deluxe). I am seriously interested in this possibility IF I could actually find the RAM it claims it would take as max, which is:
RAM
— Total 8 GB: Dual channel, 4 x DIMM, DDR2-800; non-ECC (unless you tell me I should really get ECC).
— Yes, I want to put on 8 GB. That much will be ho-hum by tomorrow. I intend running XP Pro x64.
That ends the first major part of this query.
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PART 2
— Video/Graphics Card: I am under the impression I must replace my AGP with a PCIE. Okay, then. I've received conflicting advice. I have been told my needs will be mainly met through lots of RAM, preferably high quality, + good HDDs. I have a Seagate 10.1 7200 320GB HD on IDE, + a matching 80GB. When I can afford it, I might go to a Seagate 11.1 750GB, but I doubt I'm in the Raptor 10,000rpm budget. Hopefully, my Seagates will do the job.
— HUGE Question: It looks like I'll have to pay $80 - $120 anyway, for a Graphics Card I don't really want but must have (because my AGP is turfed out). So, would I get good results—or would I just be wasting $$ I don't have) if I went with a Diamond Viper Radeon HD 3870 512MB which I can get for $200?
That ends the second major part of this query.
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Other: Considering
— Fan: Corsair VX 450 watt
— Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX 2 (well recommended by Tom's Hardware review)
— Keyboard: I like the (strange) looks of the Saitek Eclipse—and I often type in dim light.
Thank you very much for your suggestions.