Motherboards and Memory II

I have decided to take the plunge and build my own system rather than trying to configure an off-the-shelf Dell or Gateway. In addition to home office use, the computer will be most heavily used in photographic editing (Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Silverfast AI Studio) and CAD (Autodesk Inventor). The computer will only rarely be used for gaming (if ever).

One of my principal objectives is to configure a flexible system with a high potential for future growth. Thus, a principal aim is to configure a system that will accommodate the ongoing hardware and software migration from 32-bit operating systems to 64-bit operating systems. I consequently am considering a high end processor and motherboard such as the Core 2 Duo E8400 and the Intel DX48BT2 motherboard (only supports DDR3 memory).

That said, my question is in regard to memory and the Vista operating system. I am planning on a system with 4 Gbytes of installed memory even though a 32 bit operating system will only allow me to use roughly 3 Gbytes. Notwithstanding this limitation, it is my understanding that the available memory will roughly double to about 7 Gbytes when the system is upgraded to a 64 bit system.

Is this a wise choice? Or should I only configure 2 Gbytes and add more memory when the upgrade to a 64 bit operating system occurs? (I’ll probably upgrade when Photoshop upgrades to a 64 bit version.)

Also, I’m also interested in any recommendations for processors and motherboards.

In my opinion, I would get the Q6600 (best bang for the buck and its quad core), ditch the mobo in favor of a x38 or even a P35 mobo that takes ddr2 memory as its very cheap now.

As for 64bit vs 32bit, if your buying an operating system, might as well go 64bit now....

For a single thread, yes, but presumably at least some of your apps (Photoshop perhaps?) are able to use multiple threads.