My main PC is getting pretty long in the tooth. It's an Athlon 1.2GHz from 2001, and it has served me well as a game machine, web server, streaming media server, multimedia editing workstation, and many other functions. I'd like to recondition it and dedicate it as my personal web-server, but that means I'll need a new PC for all my other chores.
So what do I plan to do on this new machine? Some modest gaming, photo/video editing, web browsing, email, Office document stuff, and running a statistics package pretty much account for the vast majority of the tasks it'll have to handle. Greg, a buddy of mine with a similar usage pattern (substitute .Net development for the statistics package and you'll have him pegged), is also planning on building a machine at the same time, so good suggestions will help both of us.
Based on some limited research, here's what we're currently thinking about for these new systems:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 (Venice core) 3000+ or 3200+ -- Great all-around CPU and not too pricey
Motherboard: Undecided, although we'll definitely be going with socket 939 and PCI Express for video. SATA II would be a nice plus (for upgradability). I'm a fan of Abit, MSI and Asus, but I think Greg has his heart set on a Chaintech mobo. I've read several reviews and there seems to be no general consensus. Suggestions here would be very appreciated.
Video: nVidia GeForce 6600GT -- Even though I'm a long-time ATI fan, I can't ignore the multitude of comparisons that put the 6600GT at the top of the price-for-performance heap. As far as mid-range cards go, there's nothing from ATI that even comes close. Plus, if we go with an SLI-equipped mobo, a second 6600GT would make for a nice upgrade in the future.
RAM: 1GB (2X 512MB) DDR400 -- I'm not loyal to any memory brands, so this'll probably just be some reasonably priced major name brand (I've been burned on the no-name junk too many times before).
Audio: Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 -- there's really no substitute for Creative if gaming is on the agenda.
Case/PSU: Undecided -- Possibly the hardest decision is going to be the case and power supply, since there are just so many good ones out there now. Antec makes good stuff for sure, as do some other companies. Since Greg will be hauling his system around on his commute a fair bit, something a little portable would be nice for his setup. We'll definitely get something that follows the new ATX12V 2.0 standard, but beyond that, we're open to suggestions.
HDD: I'm leaning towards a 160GB SATA II drive (under $200) as my boot drive (I have a relatively new 300GB ATA/133 drive that all my media will stay on), but I think Greg might be OK with a plain SATA drive (bigger and cheaper).
All the other stuff -- mouse, keyboard, etc. -- is already taken care of from our current systems, but are we forgetting anything? Are we ignoring some key technology that shouldn't be missed? Any good brands that we've overlooked? Help us out.
