I have to admit that I’m really humiliated to have to ask about this but here goes.
A guy I work with wants to build a new computer. Build, not buy. He wants it to be non-mac and he’s trying to decide what componets to use.
I suggested that he go with an AMD chip for the processor but he really wants to go with a Pentium IV. He said that he wanted a pentium because in the past he had a Cirex (<-sp?) chip and he couldn’t find any upgrade parts. IE… the replacement parts said that they were Pentium Compatable and he was under the impression that that meant he couldn’t use them with his cirex chip. Is this true? - I couldn’t be sure.
Now I know that many of you are going to say something along these lines, “Well, it depends. What is he going to use it for?” All I can say is don’t worry about that. What I want to know is what you would do if you were building a computer today. What are the best chips? Graphics cards? Motherboards?
Help!
I’d go AMD. The motherboards are different for AMD and Intel, but everything else should be compatible. Which processor is better is going to depend on who you ask, but I can tell you for sure which one is cheaper and apparently not real inferior.
Cyrix was trash. May be related to why they don’t exist any more.
Without being allowed to ask what he wants to use it for(price range is very usefull), You are going to get some really vague answers. First off all asa someone who has built many computers I don’t think there is much benefit to building it yourself anymore unless your want something special such as dual processor, their is such little profit margin these days, the companies can build it cheaper with their bulk buying power for components.
In addition There are very good sites such as Tom’s hardware Anand’s, and Hardware central that deal with those issues exclusively, and will probably get better response than here.
But for what it’s worth, my personal likes.
Motherboard.
for overclocking ABit
not overclocker ASUS
Video Cards.
Matrox Millenium G450(dual monitor kicks ass)
Hercules Geforce2 cards(for gaming)
ATI Radeon VE(I’ve been using one for about 2 weeks, I like it so far)
Chips
well if he wants Pent IV then he wants Pent IV, but Pent IV is so new, that it is far from the best bang for the buck. Everytime I’ve build a system lately Celerons have been the best deal at the time, But I’d have no problem throwing an Althlon in there. Cyrix basically sucked as far as compatiblility, AMD’s chips are much better, I wouldn’t let a bad experience with Cyrix scare me away. .
Hard drives.
I only buy Maxtor these days. I’ve had bad luck with IBM, WD, and Quantum. Never tried Seagate much.
Don’t forget the most important part of any computer: the case & power supply. If the power supply doesn’t have enough oomph (i.e.: wattage output), the computer it’s attached to can have serious operating problems! It’s always more econimical to buy the case & power supply as a unit; I’ve looked into buying just a power supply and they’re expensive.