If I just wanted to install the platform in its most basic form (for testing purposes), would it take long? I am using the Athlon64 with very powerful performance RAM (Corsair). U think that would speed things up?
on my athlon 2500 (oc'd to 3200), 512Mb ram and 7200RPM hd, it takes about 10 seconds. but thats only to the log in screen. it obviously takes a bit longer to actually get into gnome. (i boot up straight into the gdm log in screen)
Agex - it would definately speed things up. and if you just want to install a pre-compiled version then go for it. It should only take about 5 -10 minutes on a system like yours. im just saying that you wont be getting the full effect of having linux on there.