I must make up my mind...fast...any opinion wanted....(urgent)

[ene.xis]

hi:
i m trying to figure out wich system i should pick....and i m gettin really confused.
its single purpose its for intensive work in apps like cad and max...i m having problems to choose between amd or intel...and i can t figure out wich graphic card should i go for... at the office i m on a XW6200 workstation single P4 3.0 1Gig with a nvidia quadroFX 1300...it s awesome!...but of course im on a tight budget...so wich system is the bang for the buck?wich configurations either on cpu s and graphics should i look for?

ok...
i know intel might be a step forward in cad and 3d apps...i m not realy concerned about the cad stuff....but the 3d is my major interest! and my point is (thanku DaveSimmons) if the extra buck is really worth it...
i m now leaning over AMD...i ve been reading a lot...i think i would try a A64 3200 or 3400 (winchester) with a pumped mobo, 1 or 2 Gig ram and probably a quadro....not sure dough...as i ve been told tha the $ might not be worth it...
i WAs thinkin on goin dual...but i gave up....i don t think its worth it and i rather save now an buil a render farm in a short time....(?)

another thing on my mind is the GPU concerning renderin task....im really confused here...i check out the gelato app from nvidia but i couldn t get it clearer ...is the graphic card used in rendering? can it be? how?


…
#1
.AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ / 3200+ SKT 939
.MSI K8N NEO 2 PLATINUM NFORCE3 ULTRA
.NVIDIA QUADRO FX 500
.2x512 Mb CORSAIR RAM
.MAXTOR 80Gig 7200Rpm


#2
.INTEL PENTIUM4 3.2
.ASUS P5P800 / ASUS P5GD2 DELUXE
.NVIDIA QUADRO FX 500
.2x512 Mb CORSAIR RAM
.MAXTOR 80Gig 7200Rpm


#3
.1x AMD OPTERON 142 (?) / 2x AMD ATHLON 2800+
.MSI K8T MASTER2-FAR (2x PROC.)
.NVIDIA QUADRO FX 500
.2x512 Mb CORSAIR RAM
.MAXTOR 80Gig 7200Rpm

or
MSI nVIDIA GeForce 6600

any tips?
most appreciate!

[utdmleach]

A tie between 1 n 2 in my opinion. I read that intels were stronger in vid proccessing and using HT was good for demanding apps. However, AMD's also rule. I'm an intel man (dont wanna start any AMD vs Intel wars). I'd go for the second option.

[ultimate]

No 1 is a def as it is the only way to go at the moment and it is the future so will give you a bit of breathing space.

I have the amd 64 3000 and it is so fast and stable, so just dont go backwards

[JimmyBoy]

wouldnt going 4 a kt800pro chipset board be the better option tho, rather than nforce3 ??

if u went amd n e way....