Hi people...
I would really appreciate any comments from the hardware gurus that might read this. My girlfriend is about to start college in computer-graphism and will need to buy a computer.

I believe she will make a very heavy use of apps like photoshop, illustrator (most adobe apps anyway), flash etc. She will also be learning the basics of MAYA (very powerful 3d modeler) for 3 sessions or so. I believe that owning her first computer will get her into games a bit (if she ever quits playing the sims), but what we're looking for is more stability and compability.

That's why I am a bit lost between AMD and P4 processors. I want to know what should be the best mix, considering that the most important is to render images quickly (3d images or only when working on large bitmaps).

I've been told that even if the P4 could be considered as a "more serious machine", the AMD 1.4ghz (athlon, for instance) could end up being a very good choice. Is this true? If so, what motherboard should I go with (I was thinking of ASUS A7V) ? I would also appreciate if someone could tell me what the difference is between T-BIRD and AHTLON is (both from AMD)... I believe one of both is the earlier and more robust version of the processor.

Many more questions will come up but I believe that's a start.

Thanks.