Suggestions for a raytracing/rendering PC

[matt_mm]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to upgrade my current PC (Intel Prescott 3GHZ, 2GB Ram) by building a new one.

My current PC is way to slow as I have to wait so long for 3d raytracing and video rendering. I'm in the multimedia field so I want something to handle my needs. Price is not a problem but I do of course want the best for my dollar so I'll be happy to go for older parts, especially if they provide better reliability. My current PC has started to overheat when the weather is hot and I'm raytracing, I don't want to ever have this problem again.

I've been looking at the multi core processors and read some articles which suggest possible benchmark fudging by both Intel and AMD so I'm not sure which direction to go. I'm also a little worried if the 4 core processors are running really hot and am weighing up to go for either 2 or 4 cores.

Any suggestions would be muchly appreciated since I think I'll be better off building a pc for my needs rather than trying to buy one.

[glc]

I'd wait till the end of April when the Core 2 Intel prices are going to be reduced considerably. If your software can take advantage of quad core, get a Q6600, if not, look at any of the 4mb cache dual cores. The motherboard of choice for this would be an Asus P5B series, Intel DP965LT, or Intel D975XBX2. You will want a decent workstation-grade video card such as an ATI FireGL or Nvidia Quadro. Go for 4gb of ram, just note that a 32 bit OS can only utilize about 3.25gb of it though. If heat is a concern, get a high quality case that's roomy and well ventilated - you don't need one with a ton of fans, just one that's designed properly.

[matt_mm]

Sweet, thanks heaps!