Thank you for your prompt reply..
I will look at the link to approved video cards... I'm sure that will help
me...

My company has an XP pro 32 vlp I have a few unused licenses from my last
upgrade so I'll go with that for an OS.

The AMD processor?... at the time it was faster (and better priced) than
available Intel CPU's... Now the table has turned and I'll most likely go
with Intel.
I'm looking at a core2 duo E8600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115054 , would a
quad core be better?
for a MB I'm undecided, is it worthwhile to get a MB that supports DDR3 ram.
It seems that at this time most are enthusiast boards with unnecessary OC
features.

Jeff



<Steve_Patterson@adobeforums.com> wrote in message
news:59b69dcc.0@webcrossing.la2eafNXanI...
> Regarding the GPU, you don't need a high-powered 3D-capable card for AE
> use. The OpenGL features that AE uses should be easily satisfied by much
> less than a top of the line gaming or 3D workstation card.
>
> Here's a list of currently tested cards for AE CS4:
>
> <http://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects/opengl.html>
>
> I've never built, or purchased anything with AMD procs, but the Intel ones
> I've had have always worked out well. What OS were you thinking of
> running? If you're sticking with windows XP 32, max it out with 4 GB of
> RAM. If you're getting a 64 bit OS, get at least 2 GB of RAM/core (or
> processor). In reality, get as much as you can afford. AE will eat up all
> the RAM that can be thrown at it, which is somewhat OS dependent, and also
> dependent on the nature of the app itself. Currently, AE is only a 32-bit
> app, but you can use multiprocessing features built-in to the software to
> launch background instances (which will eat up some more RAM), or, you can
> invest in GridIron's Nucleo Pro, which will also launch background
> processes, with a few more bells and whistles (some very useful ones at
> that). A 650w PS should be more than enough. Get some fast HD's too.
> Ideally, you'd have one for the OS and your applications, another for your
> source footage, and a third for "render" drive.