SFF Nightmare... 64bit or 775 PCI-Express?

[Napster]

So my parents agreed to fund my college computing experience.. But i want something with performance that will be smaller than a desktop but more powerful than a laptop..

So I want a Shuttle (See pic.) But it will need to last me.. PCI-Express hasnt shown too many noticeable results... SO what should I do? Go with an AMD 64-bit Shuttle or a 32-bit PCI-Express shuttle??? I already have an intel and would be interested in trying AMD... But if PCI-E explodes into something great I don't wanna be left in the dust....

Please Help

Well lets think about this. Unless you are a linux user 64 is not going to be useful for TWO years, by that time your processor will be obselete anyways. And also PCI-E has a signifigant boost now.

[Napster]

How did PCI-E get a significant boost?

in frames per second dude.

[vee_ess]

Just because you can't use the full functionality of a 64, doesn't mean you can't enjoy the benefits of the functionality you can use. 64-bit AMDs give you better performance at every price point than 32-bit Intels. I do agree with partofme1337 that PCI-E is what you should go with, however. Chipsets and sockets change in 8 to 12 month cycles, while graphics ports generally don't change for at least a half a decade. Later on down the road, if you do any major system overhauls, you can use whatever video card you have at the time, even if you will have just recently upgraded it. (Future upgrades are going to include procs/chipsets/sockets, why drag the video card along with it?)

[Jason425]

the whole thing is icky.. but yea, getting an athlon 64 bit for the 64 bit reason is.. well, the wrong reason... aka why I voted pci-e

[Napster]

but ill be living in a 32-bit world

[vee_ess]

Doesn't matter, because AMD64s are better than Intels in a 32-bit world, too. It's like saying even though you can get a BMW 525 for the same price as a Chevy Malibu, you don't want the BMW because you can't take it to 155MPH in your country (I know you obviously can't get a 525 for the same price as a Malibu, it's just an analogy).

[Jason425]

nice flawed analogy... it's like a land rover to that 525... they're for diff things.. for example, there is also a 2.8p4 and a643000+ in the house and the 2.8 runs seti noticeably faster...

[Napster]

So what you telling me is that 64-bit is for linux users? and PCI-Express is for gamers.... But my games are all 32-bit and would fly 64-bit.... PCI-Express it would not be too much noticeably faster... The FSB is 2x as fast as the 775 one...So I believe 64-bits would be great for gamers, video editors, audio editors, encoding... These are all things I will be doing A LOT. And I need the best performance processor as far as encoding and editing is concerned....