One of my dad's friends is in need of a computer. As badly as I wanted to build a system for him, he wanted HP or dell.
 
I'm not making much direct contact, unfortunately..
 
Basically the need was this:
 
19" monitor
fast
3d not important
 
here's what I gave my dad to give to the guy as a guide. What do you think?(other than I wasted 1 and a half hours)
 
# a note. I did this all off the top of my head with no research. If there's any mistakes I made, let me know.
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CPU
“IBM Compatible” = x86
x86 = 186: 8086/8088
286
386
486
586: Intel Pentium/Pentium MMX, AMD K5, Cyrix 5x86
686: Intel Pentium Pro/2/3/Celeron, AMD K6, K6-2, K6-2+, K6-3, Athlon(also
considered 786 through extended architecture), Cyrix MII,
Samuel,6x86
786: AMD Athlon/Duron(also considered 686), Intel Pentium IV
L1 Cache-first memory chunk a CPU accesses
L2 Cache-second memory chunk a CPU accesses. 256bit for intel, 64 bit for AMD
Overclockable-through either the use of multipliers(AMD) and front side bus(intel & AMD), the speed is increased. This voids warranty, but increases performance.
 
PERFORMANCE PROCESSORS
 
1. AMD Athlon(Classic{No longer offered} / Thunderbird)
Available in Tbird-B(200mhz theoretical, 100x2 actual) and
Tbird-C(266mhz Theoretical, 133x2 actual) [double-pumped]
In the future, the Palomino chip(Tbird-d) will be a usable upgrade to a
good motherboard. Expansion/uprgadability/overclocking is best. Tbird-C
is supposed to be SMP compatible, but AMD’s 760mp SMP chipset is not
yet available(some time in May)
Overclockable by multiplier and front side bus
128k L1 Cache 256k L2 Cache
Offered in 600mhz-1200mhz(Tbird-, 1000mhz-1333+(Tbird-C)
 
2. Intel Pentium IV
Available in 400mhz theoretical, 100x4 actual [Quad-pumped]
New architecture is coming out this summer that is incompatible with
current Processor. Requires RDRAM, a very expensive RAM
manufactured by RAMBUS, who is currently suing on copyright
infringement and being counter-sued on allegations of racketeering.
Performance is lacking. A 1.5ghz P4 is outperformed in most tests by the
1.2ghz Tbird-b. Little software is available that takes full advantage of the
new architectures of the P4 vs. the standard x86 processor. The first TRUE
7x86. Overclockable by front side bus only.
8k L1 Cache 256?L2 Cache
Offered in 1.3ghz – 1.5ghz 1.7 on the way.
 
3. Intel Pentium III(Katmai(Slot1{No longer offered} / Coppermine)
Currently the proverbial favorite by consumers. Available in in
e(100mhz), and eb(133mhz). End of the intel 686 line of processors. This
summer, the Tualatin will be released, but is slated for the mobile(laptop)
market. Currently at the peak and end of its speed increases(1ghz). SMP
capable, making it usable in dual CPU systems. However, a dual Pentium
III 1ghz does NOT equal 2 ghz, as the processing is done in parallel, not
series. Not many software applications utilize dual CPUs, so it’s not
advisable to the average consumer. SMP compatible Operating Systems
such as NT, 2000, XP(all except personal), Linux, etc. can utilize this.
Windows 9x(ME, 98(se), 95) cannot run SMP mode. 1 CPU will be
unused. Programs utilizing SSE will perform better with an intel P3 than
comparable speed Athlon. Overclockable by Front Side Bus only
16k L1 Cache 256k L2 Cache
Offered in 550mhz-1ghz
 
BUDGET PROCESSORS
The following are like their counterparts above, but have 128k L2 Cache instead of 256, and are clocked to a slower speed.
 
4. AMD Duron
Available in 200mhz(100x2) Double-pumped. Rumors of 266 coming
soon. Easily upgradable(to Athlon). Performance is very much on par with
Pentium3.
MUCH better than a Celeron2.
Overclockable by multiplier and Front Side Bus.
128k L1 Cache 128k L2 Cache
Offered in 600mhz –900mhz
 
5.Intel Celeron2 (Celemine)
Available in 66mhz, and 100mhz. Easily upgradeable(to Pentium 3 )
Highly overclockable, sometimes doubling speed(many 566 made it up to
1.1ghz). Performance is lacking in comparison to Duron.
16k L1 Cache 128k L2 Cache
Offered in 533mhz-766mhz
 
6.Cyrix
VERY POOR PERFORMANCE. Highly Unreccomended. Nothing more
needs to be said.
 
 
Recommendation: Athlon
 
 
RAM
1. DDR(Double Data Rate)
Double-pumped SDRAM(though not compatible with SDRAM). Offered
in PC1800(200mhz 100x2) and PC2100(266mhz 133x2). C2400(300mhz
150x2)(?) is scheduled for release this summer. Compatible with intel
systems(P4 support this fall) and AMD systems
2. SDR(Single Data Rate)
The current standard. Offered in PC100(100mhz), PC133(133mhz), and
PC150(150mhz). Very cheap in today’s market, prices may increase soon
though. The new KT133A chipset by VIA(for the AMD) provides performance within 5% of DDR systems
3. RD(RAMBUS)
Intel’s high end standard. Offered in PC600(100mhz equivalent) and
PC800(133mhz equivalent). Very expensive RAM with minimal
performance increase over SDR/DDR in most programs. High bandwidth
RAM that is proprietary to intel at the moment, and whose future in
computers is not certain, as intel is trying to get away from it’s contractual
binding to RAMBUS and support DDR for the P4.
 
 
Recommendation: 256MB PC133 or better
 
 
OS
BSOD-Blue Screen Of Death
1. Windows 2000 (Pro)
This operating system will get you prepared for XP, scheduled for
release this summer/fall. Based on the NT kernel, Windows 2000 is stable,
fast, and less prone to crashes than Windows 9x. BSODs are less common. Uptime is much longer than 9x, due to Windows 2000’s superior memory management.
 
2. Windows 98 (Second Edition)
This operating system will yield you the most compatibility with
programs and hardware. Based on the 9x kernel, it will die out with the release of XP. BSODS are (in)famous with this operating system. Uptime can be increased through freeware programs that free up the RAM. Anything above 128MB is not properly utilized.
 
3. Windows Millennium Edition (ME)
This operating system was geared toward the new user, and is “considered
most user-friendly”. Opinions are scattered on this system. Personal
experience shows it to be less stable, and far slower than the same system
running Windows 98SE. This is the standard on a new system bought
from manufacturers consumer end(low end) systems.
 
Recommendation: Windows 2000
 
Video
 
BUS:
1. AGP – current standard for video cards. Performance is best. Available in 2x
and 4x.
2. PCI – old standard for video cards. Performance tends to be good. Used mostly
when there is no AGP, or as a secondary video card.
3. Onboard-with few exceptions, this is inferior to either of the above 2 options.
Found predominantly in intel systems, due to the integration of the 810e
video controller on the 810 and 815 chipsets. Although they will advertise
it as an AGP, if it does not have an AGP slot, it will usually not accept a
new AGP video card. Upgrades can only be PCI in such situations.
However, the intel i815& 815e chipset has both onboard AGP graphics,
AND an AGP 4x slot. The 815ep lacks the onboard graphics in favor of
just the AGP slot.
 
Recommendation: AGP slot, no onboard.
 
Manufacturer:
1. nVidia – the current superpower of the consumer graphics industry. Best
support for drivers for Windows.
1. GeForce2 – High end to budget end graphics card, with VERY
respectable performance. MX is available in twinview-
allowing 2 monitors to be used simultaneously.
2. GeForce256 DDR – older high end card, better for gaming.
Compatibiliy with older AMD systems was problematic
due to power draw(twice that of a GeForce2)
3. TNT2 – OLDER video card. An inferior choice for machines
greater than 500mhz
 
*GeForce3-brand new card. Too expensive for consideration, and
not enough of a performance increase to warrant purchase
at this time. Especially for 2d.
2. ATI- older OEM(provider to companies such as Compaq, etc.) superpower.
Known for compatibility with systems across the OS spectrum(i.e
Linux, Windows, etc.) Not as good a performer in 3d as the
GeForce2, but much better 2D than nVidia. However, ATI’s
history with driver support is not great.
1. Radeon – Offered in many version, VE/LE being low end. This
is a neutered card that lacks HyperZ, making it less
powerful in 3d graphics applications. However, 2d is
relatively unaffected.
2. RAGE 128/Pro. See TNT2
3. Matrox-the leader in 2d performance. Not offered in many consumer end
systems due to a lacking OEM presence. Also offers Twinview
(although with a different name).
 
Recommendation: If Offered, Matrox G450. Otherwise, GeForce2 MX
 
HDD
(Assume IDE as SCSI is not usually offered in consumer end)
1. Spindle Speed. Sacrificing Size for Speed would probably be a wise decision.
Current drives are 7200rpm. This makes access much faster than the
5400rpm or slower.
2. UDMA/ATA transfer speed. Actually, this relates to the motherboard as well as
the harddrive. UDMA100 allows the potential of 100 megabytes per
second, whereas UDMA66 allows only 66. UDMA33 is low end, and only offers 33 at best. While the difference between 66 and 100 isn’t usually that large, you might as well take the best you can get.
 
3. Manufacturer: IBM, Maxtor, Western Digital are the best drives out there.
Seagate, Quantum, Fujitsu aren’t as well liked.
4. Size. Nothing needs to be said.
 
Recommendation: IBM(75GXP) or Maxtor(DiamondMax 45) - 45gb (UDMA 100, 7200 rpm)
 
Monitor
 
19” was a requirement.
1. Flat screen Viewsonic and Sony offer flat screen monitors. These are NOT flat
panel. These are still CRT(cathode ray tube), but they use thin foil strips
instead of a shadow mask(?) for their display. This makes for a crisper
picture than a SM CRT, and has less distortion.
2. SM. Cheaper than Flat Screen, the standard. These have curves to them both
vertically and horizontally, like the regular tv.
 
Peripherals(mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner, etc.)
Go for USB whenever possible. Due to expandability, with the purchase of USB
hubs, 127 devices can be supported.
 
NIC
100 base TX Ethernet controller. These can be bought for 20 bucks as an upgrade.
 
Modem
V92 is the new standard. Doubtful you’ll see anything but V90 in systems yet.
 
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not sure if it'll help anyone or not, but oh well.
 
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My PC is warm. I think our fire wall is acting up.
 
Will Work For Bandwidth
 
What You Say?
All Your Base Are Belong To Us
 
[This message has been edited by INFERNO2000 (edited 04 April 2001).]