Help with ideas for new PC

[curmudgeon]

I'm looking for advice on buying a new desktop.

I currently have a compaq with an 2.07GHz Athlon processor, and am now looking for something with a bit more oomph.

I had the idea to get a dual core, but at the moment I'm running 3 screens through a Matrox parhelia card. This is AGP, and I cant find a motherbioard with an AGP slot which also has dual core.

Any suggestions are gratefully received. As for budget, as cheap as poss!

Cur

[spannersatcx]

like this one asrock (http://www.asrock.com/product/775Dual-VSTA.htm)

[Mac the Knife]

Nice one spanners....!

"My other box is a 10,000 node zombie cluster of Windows machines"

:ok:

[curmudgeon]

many thanks Spanners (and to you Mac for your wise comments around the board)

cur

[Saab Dastard]

Yes, I agree that going for a dual-core processor (capable of running a 64-bit OS) would be a pretty good line to take.

I've noticed that the fastest available processor always seems to sell at a huge premium over its almost as fast brethern, so my advice would be to choose the 2nd or 3rd fastest as price / performance is a criterion.

SD

[Gertrude the Wombat]

I'm looking for advice on buying a new desktop.
I currently have a compaq with an 2.07GHz Athlon processor, and am now looking for something with a bit more oomph.
What for?

Nobody can really give any useful advice unless they know what you want to do with it that the current box isn't good enough for.

I can think of lots of applications that could need more power than that, but they'd all end up with different solutions.

[curmudgeon]

I'm doing a lot more proocessing of videos and the like. I've also got a freeview usb where I record tv programmes, and then end up changing formats sometimes. Do some work on jpgs too, and watch dvds.

I sem to find myself with a slow machine, with the processor running at the 100% mark quite a lot, and it isn;t because of viruses or other such nasties.

Thanks again to contributors.

cur