PC configuration for fastest compiles (synthesis, place and route,etc)

[wallge]

I am looking at getting a new PC for doing FPGA development.
I mostly use the altera tools and aldec active HDL.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or comments on
optimal PC configurations for this.

What affects synthesis time, place and route time -

Cache size? SDRAM speed/bandwidth ,
amount of total SDRAM (2 vs 4 vs 8 GB main memory).
Do 32 vs 64 bit architectures make any difference at all?
What about CPU clock speed -
Is the price delta from a 2.0 GHz machine to a 3.2 GHz machine
really worth it in terms of reducing compile times?

What about multicore? Is it possible to have too many cores?
is there an optimal number in terms of bang for the buck?

Are there any advantages between the various Intel or AMD
chip architectures?

I know similar questions have been posed before,
but I thought it would be good to revisit this, now that we are
seeing the PC market flooded with new multicore processors,
and EDA tool vendors starting to parallelize their algorithms to take
advantage of the new CPUs.

 

[CM]

I am looking at getting a new PC for doing FPGA development.
I mostly use the altera tools and aldec active HDL.

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or comments on
optimal PC configurations for this.

What affects synthesis time, place and route time -

Cache size? SDRAM speed/bandwidth ,
amount of total SDRAM (2 vs 4 vs 8 GB main memory).
Do 32 vs 64 bit architectures make any difference at all?
What about CPU clock speed -
Is the price delta from a 2.0 GHz machine to a 3.2 GHz machine
really worth it in terms of reducing compile times?

What about multicore? Is it possible to have too many cores?
is there an optimal number in terms of bang for the buck?

Are there any advantages between the various Intel or AMD
chip architectures?

I know similar questions have been posed before,
but I thought it would be good to revisit this, now that we are
seeing the PC market flooded with new multicore processors,
and EDA tool vendors starting to parallelize their algorithms to take
advantage of the new CPUs.

CPU Intel Core2 Duo E8200 / E8400
MB ASUS P5K PRO $B!X(Bhttp://0rz.tw/
773vW$B!Y(B
or Gigabyte EP35-DS3
RAM 2G DDR2-800 x 2

C2Q can do 4 QuartusII process for different versions in a project $_$