WOT: Building a computer, to surf 914club faster Options

[MattR]

Ive been trying to research computers lately and thought I'd get the board's opinion. Here's the deal. I dont game or anything, this computer will be built to run CAD, specifically Unigraphics NX 2.0 and Solidworks 2005. I also want to keep the final price under 600 dollars if possible (for motherboard, cpu, memory, case, fan, and video card). I have some specific questions though:

Has anyone used the AMD 64bit technology? Would I be better off (for my application) with a 2.4 ghz AMD 64? or a 3.4 ghz P4? They come out to about the same price.

Can anyone reccomend a good CAD video card thats 256 mb and hopefully under 150 dollars?

Im planning on going with 2 gb of memory. Can you reccomend a brand thats "best"? Is DDR2 that much better then DDR?

Throw out some numbers. Give me a few options. I used to keep up with computers, and I built the computer Im typing on now about 4 years ago. Im not a total neophite, but Im not up to date with technology.

This will probably be coming from tigerdirect.com unless someone can reccomend a better source.

[bd1308]

to "properly" run solidworks correctly, you need specialized hardware. the ATI board name escapes my mind, but it's a pro board and very $$$. I built a Athlon64 system for my dad and I peed my pants when it booted windows in under five seconds and was ready to go at ten. I was very impressed. Make sure you go with socket 939, it's newer. Load the computer with ram and don't skimp on the video. Video and ram are VERY SURE EXTREMELY important. if you skimp on ANYTHING, skimp on the CPU. it ran fine with my athlon 2600+ with a 128MB radeon card.

im me if you have any Qs