Building a new comp... Suggestions!!!!!!!

[McRhea]

Basically, I want computer component sites. I'm building my new comp from scratch.

Idea's, you got'em... I want'em. You'll be seeing a LOT of me from now on. Umm... I don't have a deadline as to when I HAVE to finish the comp... I guess before school starts next fall.

I'm a gamer, don't use the comp for much else, besides the occasional report here and there. I play some FPS, some RTS, some RPG... come to think of it, some of everything.

This is the system I got right now, bought it 1 year ago today from Gateway. And decided never to buy pre-made PC again. I don't like all the crap they put into it. Anyway, here's the specs.

PIII, 450MHz
128 SDRam
10Gig 7200RPM HD
32x CD rom.
And a Matrox G400 that I bought and stuck in it. It came with a Voodoo Banshee. Ugh...
It also came with all the bells and whistles... modem, SB sound card, speakers w/sub... etc.

So it was a good comp 1 year ago, but now I'm sick of it.
Sure, it runs everything fine, but not fast enough, as far as I'm concerned.

What's a "good" comp like these days? Point me in the right direction please.

[HollyBerri]

I call 'dibs' on the P3 450 (if shipping isn't ridiculous and you're selling, McRhea)!!!

I'd go for the Athlon if I was you... no telling what Intel upgrade compatibility will be like by next quarter....

--------------------
Holly

[Jorden]

May I offer for the 128Mb RAM (PC-100 ??), let Holly have the P3-450.

Come on, Chris, we've been good to you, me especially

Jord.

[Jorden]

up

[HedsSpaz]

Weee!!! These types of questions are so much fun!
So, lets establish a couple of base points. First, what is your price thresh hold? Second, do you prefer Intel or AMD?

I don't know much about Intel boards beyond the fact that a good BX board is probably still your best bet. Someone else can enlighten you on the pro's and cons of these boards.

Athlons though....
If you decide to go this route, the best price/perf ration is either the 750 or the 800, keeping in mind that that is right NOW. And I do mean NOW. Next week it may very well be the 850 or even the 900.

The best Mobo depends on what you are after, and how soon you are willing to upgrade again.
I know from experience that the MSI K7Pro is a GREAT board! It is however based on the AMD 750 chipset, which doesn't have AGP4x, or PC133 support.
Meanwhile, the KX133 based boards have both of those. I've heard good things about the Asus K7V and the Abit KA7. The EPoX board is alright, avoid the Tyan Trinity K7 and the Aopen AK72.

The real problem with all of these boards is that there is a LOT of cool new technology that is just around the corner. The AMD 760 chipset that is due out mid summer will have support for SMP, AGP4x, DDR SDRAM, UDMA 100, PC133, and in general better stability than either of the current chipsets out there.

So theres a good ramble on Athlon Mobo's.

As far as HD's go, unless you plan on going with SCSI, get an IBM or a Quantam.

Sound, this should be obvious, some SBLive variant, take your pick.

Vid Cards? He he... I'm not so sure we should broach that topic.

And if you need suggestions on other stuff, speak up and I'm sure you'll get lots of opinions.

Hope that gives you a good start!
Ian