AMD or Intel for 3D programs (Maya)

Heya people, first time here so hello.

Recently been wanting to upgrade from my p4 2.4 and have never had an AMD before.

The two things i love to do on my compy are game and do 3D work in Maya or 3DSMax. iv seen a few people say things about AMD being good for actual 3D work and some say bad but havnt found a thread on it anywhere. Basicly my delema is im itching for an upgrade and i dont really know anything about AMD except that i read everywhere they are better for gaming and they are cheaper which is a plus for me. So will the intel end up working better for actual 3d programs or will AMD or are they so similar i wont be able to tell a difference, it seems like the more i read on forums the more undecided i get so im breaking down and just asking you guys, my eyes are tired of sifting through forums.

In short the mains things im wondering about are:

1. AMD or Intel for 3D programs
2. Is it even worth upgrading now or should i just wait for the next amazing thing to come out
3. On a side note could anyone explain the AMD rating system for speed? if there is a specific one at least, a 3200+ isnt 3.2ghz its like 2.2? i just dont understand it.

Here is what i was planning on buying. But i just cant click the BUY button yet.

Buying the following:

-Mobo ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939

-CPU AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice Integrated into Chip

-GPU BFGTech 6800GT OC (x2)

Have the following (keeping from current compy)

-Ram Geil DDR 400 PC3200 2x512 (x2)

-PSU Enermax 550 eg651p-ve

-HDD Just a WD 120gig 7200.

-And the rest of the crap you need for a compy but doesnt matter here. And if anyone sees any compatability issues PLEASE let me know, i checked on the stuff and everhitng seems ok but im only human.

Thanks for reading this and if you have something to say please do!

-Ryan

Well, Maya 6.5 is a 32 bit application. Going to a 64 bit processor may not get you any real performance gain, and in fact, Maya 6.5 has only been qualified on 2 64bit processors
( http://www.alias.com/eng/support/maya/q ... 5_win.html )

3DS Max is also still a 32 bit application, though I haven't been able to find any compatibility info for 64 bit processors.

I just realized to i have to go and buy the 64 bit windows i keep reading about, not longhorn but the 64bit xp? or will my standard XP home work if i just slap my hard drice from my old computer into the new one, using the specs above. Or am i just on crack.

Thanks

-Ryan

XP 32bit will work, but just wont utilize the 64bitness. But its been said that 32bitness on a 64bit processor ran with new hotness speed. So it's up to you.

i am getting in to the Maya Unlimited and i am on AMD workstations...A friend of a friend works at Alias and has hinted that an update for Unlimited coming not to far from now will upgrade it to full 64 Bit and multi 'dual' core CPU's...i dont know of the truth of that,but i dont have an reasons that he would lie to me...but anyways,i have heard that the Maya runs great on AMD....

Just so you know, most new Intels are 64 bit as well now.

So far, I've seen no benchmarks that show 64 bit processing giving any real performance gain. This could be due to lack of software support though and increased performance may be on the horizon.

allright so its not really worth me spending the 150$ for the new XP 64, just wait for longhorn?

so if im reading this right, the 64 windows it self might run faster but actual games on the 64 or 32 will run the same since they are made for 32 even if i had the 64 windows...

64bit-processors are not that bad.
ur list is OK.
if u want better performance for 3d processing,
then <clean throat> USE A ATHLON 64 "FX" (joke)
if u really want better system performance, choose SATA HDDs.

I would use an Intel for any form of 3d rendering or movie editing stuff because the HyperThreading Technology helps out with it a lot! You can get a p4@3.2 ghz for around $200 if you look around, and then you can wait another year and get a dual-core.

And don't buy windows....Steve Jobs announced last week that Macs are gonna run on Intel Processors....which means we are only 1 step away from Mac OS X on PC's!

Thanks for the infos, about the OSX on windows, id rather stab myself in the eye than do that, but thanks for the suggestion!

-Ryan

All Intel Dual-Core processors will most likely be 64bit based. However the hyperthreading and faster memory bus does help, that x2 for the dual cores may even be better for such although the time differnece between the highest end AMD vs the highest end P4 isn't very big at all. However, not so far down the line AMD will release quad core processors.

Bias Aside, The best bang for the buck still might be an AMD.