- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Motherboard: PCI-express is maybe 10-20 more, in fact many budget pci-express boards are lower than $80. Lots of AGP boards are more...940-pin is solely for servers and workstations. It was the predecessor to 939, and held the first wave of FX cpu's. It's pretty much a dead-end now unless you want to use an opteron. I have a dual-opteron 940 board, but only because I have a server, do 3d design, edit music, etc. 939 is golden. 478 is aging, you can get one with an 800MHz FSB, but an LGA775 is Intel's 939-ish. However, I would still get 478 simply because LGA775 is outrageously overpriced.
Memory: PQI Turbo...PQI Turbo...Also, good memory will not be labeled 'value'. That is almost always memory that failed to pass the company's normal tests. Corsair is popular, but a bit overpriced.
Sound: Audigy 2 ZS is great, but if you want more studio-quality, non-mainstream, get a Turtle Beach 7-channel card, like a Santa Cruz. Very nice for recording and media work - easy on the ears, too. Not overly crisp or too mushy.
Fans: For AMD, I can say an XP-90 copper fin/pipe cooler, Zalman CU 7000 or higher, or Thermaltake Venus are some good choices. Thermaltake, Zalman, Cooler Master, etc. Great brands. Concerning the CPU cooler, copper is by far better than aluminum. The thermaltake venus is a pretty low-priced copper cooler. At any rate, a good cooler runs at least $20.
PSU: something with good rails, wattage isn't as much as a worry. A 400 watt psu with good rails is better than a 600 watt one that has virtually no amps on the rails. A word of advice, if you buy a case with a psu, ditch the psu unless it's out of a Thermaltake case. They usually suck.
Cases: Aluminum is the bomb, very lightweight and pretty but also expensive. Steel is more rigid, heavier, and cheaper. consider airflow, too. My setup has a 120mm fan in front, 2 80mm on the side, and 120mm on the rear + video card blower + 2x40mm fans as exhaust. You hard drives do need cooling, especially SATA drives and faster, so get a case with a front intake. Thermaltake's cases seem the best thermally-designed on the market.
You forgot hard drives! SATA has faster transfer rates, but not much faster than IDE right now for mainstream SATA drives. 7200rpm is good, and makes like the Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA are faster than most. WD Raptor is the fastest consumer SATA drive, at 10k-rpm. However, 74gb is the highest capacity. I would suggest the raptor for those that love fast load times, but a Seagate Barracuda is awesome if you're on more of a budget.
SCSI drives, well, they are good for servers but also great for gamers. you do need a controller PCI card, drivers, and special cables, along with the right type (Ultra320 is backwards compatable with Ultra160, but that's about it). They have similar rates to a Raptor, but paired in RAID, kick some butt. The Fujitsu 18gb Ultra160 is the best value, and an Adaptec card is a good match. Get these things on eBay, SCSI is very expensive...
Nice guide. Everything is concise and pretty much the advice I would give, too. Err, what's that word...I, um, 'concur'.