New system for photo/video application

Well, the way I understand it, is that Opty's are cheaper and overclock very well, which makes the an ideal choice if money is an issue. I'm pretty sure you are right about the Opty being a server chip, but I don't know much more about that issue. I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ and love it.

So I suppose a good question to ask first is, do you plan on overclocking? That would affect what is recommended quite a bit.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and AMD is comming out with a new processor around the June/July time frame, so prices on the X2 series might drop around then if you can wait.

From what I've seen on this board, get the Opteron 165 and do a mild overclock to 2.0GHz. Then its the same speed as the 3800+ but twice the cache and for the same price.

For a quiet case, get one with a 120mm fan or two, use a PSU with a 120mm fan, and use a cooler like the Zalman 7000, 7700, or 9500.

For the video card just get a midrange card with 256MB of RAM and you'll be fine. A 6600GT or x700 would work.

Definitely go some quick hard drives for the editting.

thanks, pissclams. Yes I don't plan to use that SLI feature at least in short term. But it seems that's a very good motherboard and have good reviews. Any other one you can recommend ?

The stock heatsink would most likely be able to cope with the extra heat from a mild 200 MHz overclock. But OCed or not, an aftermarket one might run quieter than the stock one and keep it cooler. I don't know how good the stock Opteron HSFs are. Also don't know how good the stock AMD64 ones are either because the moment I got my 3200+ I put the Zalman on it. I have yet to use a stock heatsink.

I hear the Zalman 7000CU(92mm) is really good because it weighs less than the 7700(120mm) and can be quieter than the 7700 while keeping the processor nice and cool.

For doing what your doing, if you don't plan to play games I don't see the point of getting a dual graphics motherboard. Just get a single 16x slot motherboard. I prefer Asus boards myself. If you want a little better card go with a 6800GT or an X800 (i don't know the differences of all the different versions of those) card. Maybe even a X1600XT. You don't need a Geforce 7 series or X1900 series card though.

Yes, the stock heatsink can be used for small OC's but no matter what you will need to keep an eye on your temps, they will dicate what you can and can't do.

The MSI K8N Neo4-F is a pretty good non-SLI 939 mobo and can be had for around $75 US, even less once the AM2 socket boards hit the market.

Check out the Antic Sonata II. I have the Sonata and it's pretty quiet but I usually am listening to music but when I'm not I don't notice any noise. I really like the case, very easy to work with.

Thanks, FITCamaro. Is there any specific Asus motherboard that can recommend ? I had good experience with Asus and I would like to stay with them.

pissclams: thanks for your suggestion on MSI MB. I will check it out. One thing I forgot to mention is that I need a firewire port for video editing.

g-paw: I had my eye on that case/PSU too. Seems to be a good value for money. Only concern I have is the power supply rating. Also does dual 12V has advantage or disadvantage ?

Apache_lives: thanks for the tip. I'm in no rush to get the computer now so if there is price drop in near future I will wait.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

Anyone ?