I'm looking to out together the fastest gaming and 3D application PC I possibly can. My current thinking is as follows:

1) Intel P4 3.06Ghz @ 533Mhz
2) Motherboard (?: suggestions welcome) -- Needs to support SATA-133, GB Ethernet, USB 2.0, RDRAM 1066 Mhz (to sync w/ processor), AGP 8x, etc...
3) 512 MB RDRAM

OR

1) Intel P4 3.0 Ghz @ 800 Mhz
2) Motherboard (?: suggestions welcome) -- Needs to support SATA-133, GB Ethernet, USB 2.0, RDRAM 1066 Mhz (to sync w/ processor), AGP 8x, etc...
3) 1 GB DDR400 (200 MHz) (2 x 512)

In terms of the graphics card I am choosing between EITHER the new Nvidia GeForceFX 5900 Ultra or the ATi Radeon 9800 PRO.

Can someone come with a recommendation for a motherboard? Which of the two configurations would provide the highest performance?

Also, what are the benefits of the Nvidia nForce2? Is this a board I should be looking at?

THANKS!

Mike

I would go for the 2.4c and overclock it. I would also get the less expensive 9700 pro (about half the price of the cards you listed). For motherboards, I can't comment, as I still haven't tried one of the new 865 or 875p boards. I'm waiting for a better selection at newegg.

Thanks for the suggestion. The reason I am asking about the P4 3.* processors is because I want to make good use of the hyperthreading technology. I will be rendering a lot using Cinema 4D and their latest version supports this technology.

In terms of the graphics card, I am a sucker for performance and just want the fastest thing available. Based on the review released yesterday on this site I am therefore leaning towards the GeForce FX5900. Anyone have any ideas when we will begin seeing boards on the market?

Thanks again!

-Mike

Mike,
your 2nd system is close to what I am doing ... here's what I've opted for -- I'm not a "pro" like some of these guys on this board so take it with a grain of salt! I did base my decisions on many reviews that I read and posting questions to this board and reading other posts .. here goes: (I am receiving my components - some today and tomorrow -- so, "real" experience has not been achieved yet!)

P4 2.8ghz @ 800mhz (w/HT - or supposed to be!)
ABIT IC7-G Max2 (read this board .. you'll find several threads on the mobo issues - others to look @ are Intel, ASUS, MSI ...)
1gb DDRAM (2x512mb) PC-3500C2 (corsair)
Video - ATI 9800 PRO (sapphire)
2x120gb Seagate SATA drives

So, when i put it all together ...we'll see how I do in the 'real' world!
But these are my choices so far plus the regular stuff too (cd/etc...)

why are you going with RDRAM? Why not 800MHz P4 with DDR400?

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

The 800 fsb 2.4c is about half the price of the 3.0 ($245 at monarch computers) and has hyperthreading support. It should overclock at close to 3.0 on any decent board, such as the asus p4c800. I would check the official threads for any boards you're interested in at anandtech for overclocking and memory compatability issues.

* Definetly get a motherboard with the canterwood (875p) chipset. For processor, 3.0C (800MHz FSB/Hyperthreading). For memory, two corsair xms PC3500 CAS2 memory modules.

* Here are some <A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=541047#541047" target="_new">reviews</A> of some canterwood motherboards.