Built a computer?What do you have? [Archive]

habibbijan

01-20-2004, 06:12 AM

Look around. You'll find lots of threads on this topic.

Essentially, if you go with an Intel processor, most people opt for an Intel chipset on the motherboard. The 865PE and 875P chipsets are highly recommended. Many people prefer Asus or Intel for motherboard brands.

If you go with AMD (my personal preference), you have a choice. To 64-bit or not-to-64-bit? I think you'll find that the AMD 64 3000+ is the best deal for 64-bit processing at the moment, weighing in at just over $200. It's an investment for the future, which undoubtedly lies with 64-bit processing. However, we're still waiting for the majority of software to harness this power.

If you stick with 32-bit, you'll find a bargain in the Athlon XP "Barton" series. The 2500+ offers a good "bang-for-the-buck." You'll probably find that most people recommend the Nvidia Nforce2 chipset. I've used Via chipsets for years with no problems. Others have cited incompatibility problems.

Memory: go with a name brand, such as Kingston or Crucial. Ideally, you want the speed of the memory to match the front-side-bus speed of the processor.
For instance, a good combination would be: P4 2.6C processor, Intel mobo with 865PE chipset, PC3200 RAM (DDR 400)
or
AMD Athlon XP 2500+, Asus mobo with Nforce 2 chipset, PC2700 (DDR333) or PC3200.

There's no "one right" combination. Do some research, take a look around, and learn as much as possible. Oh yeah, Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com) is a good place to buy parts.