I have been extremely happy with a new box I built using the Athlon 64 3400+. The clock speed is around 2.2 GHz but the Athlon does more work per cycle, so it seems to be about equivalent to the 3.2-3.4 GHz P4. Since different applications put different demands on the processor the P4 with a higher clock speed will excel in some instances (floating point operations, for examle) whereas the higher "amperage" of the Athlon does better in others. The cache allows quicker computation because as I understand it it is like having memory directly on the chip. So a larger cache can speed up some operations where otherwise the CPU would have to address memory. Bus speed essentially is how fast the CPU can address memory. This is clearly important in Photoshop, where large amounts of data are involved.

If you want to stay in Windows (no Mac G5) and money is no object I would suggest going with dual-processor AMD Opteron 64s. The Opterons and FX-53 Athlon 64s have better memory access than the standard Athlon 64s. Another option along the same lines is to go with dual Xeons if you are a fan of Intel.

There are plenty of sites around that address the issue of AMD vs. Intel. Do a search for "Athlon vs. Pentium" or something similar and you will get plenty of hits. I read through a bunch of these before finally deciding on the Athlon. And of course you should get plenty of RAM--it's cheap these days. As far a graphics cards go--you don't need anything too fancy for 3D or gaming--no need for speed for PS. Do consider getting a card that supports dual monitors--this can make working with PS much more pleasant.

My 2 cents.

Toby
"g-w" wrote in message

J. L. Jones wrote:

I want to build a computer for PhotoShop. I work with big 48 bit files.

What are your recommendations for the best CPU? I gather, but don't fully understand, that it's not just horsepower but other issues involving cache size and bus speed, which I do not really understand.
Thanks,

Larry Jones

For right now or shortly into the future? The Athlon 64-bit CPU's should be supported by Photoshop and Microsoft (64-bit Win XP due this fall) shortly.

g-w

David French

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hardware question; best CPU