Help me put together a system...

[Ginsu543]

A friend of mine has asked me to recommend a system for him. He wants a Pentium-based system and his budget is $1300. He wants a 3.4 GHz processor. My question is whether to go with Socket 478 or with the new Socket T. Parts he needs:

1) cpu
2) mobo
3) ram
4) video card
5) cd-rw
6) dvd-rw
7) hdd
8) sound card (on-board or third-party)
9) case
10) psu

I'm not too familiar with Pentium-based systems, so could you guys help me put one together? I'd appreciate it if you could make one based on Socket 478 and another based on Socket T (LGA775). Obviously, the best parts for the dough.

[Avid6eek]

I'm not a very Intel savy person, so I do not really know which motherboard to recommend. I would suggest trying to go with the socket 775 platform. If it goes over budget, then build him a socket 478 system. What does your friend do on the computer?

[therealwesty]

There have been a number of issues with the Socket-775 motherboards and the PCI-Express stuff. I am not sure if the issue have been cleared up yet but I know for a while PCI-Express adapters were 'not supported' even though the boards had a PCI-Express controller and slots. That in mind here are some recommendations...

1) Well you said he wants a 3.4GHz
2) Asus P5AD2 Premium (Intel 925X) - Good performance and a good overclocker
3) 1GB Crucial PC2-4200U DDR2
4) 6800GT
5) cd-rw
6) Pioneer DVR108 16c DVD+/-RW drive... not that much more $ than the 8x models
7) WD Raptor 74GB for OS and then something of suitable size for storage
8)Onboard sound
9) Case - All prefferance there
10) Enermax 460W

[EWeezy]

must he have a Pentium 4? bcuz i think u can build a faster AMD system with that much money

[Ginsu543]

I've already told him, but he insists on P4. Don't ask me...

[Wolfgang]

This Asus motherboard.
I paid 173, now it's $109 USD. It has won numerous awards (ie editor's choice, best all around, ect.)

**********************.newegg**********/app/ViewProduc...31-464R&depa=0

$80-90 The best IDE HDD on the Market. I like them so much I bought two for RAID 0.
Specifications:
Capacity: 120GB
Average Seek Time: 8.9 ms
Buffer: 8MB
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Features: High-performance with 8MB Buffer
Manufacturer Warranty: 3 years
Packaging: OEM Drive Only
**********************.newegg**********/app/ViewProduc...144-118&depa=0

$162 The RAM. I'm guessing he's just going for the faster chip and then not worring about overclocking. I reccomend a gig of this over 512 of the premium stuff. Corsair value Select

**********************.newegg**********/app/ViewProduc...145-480&depa=1

$80 Can't Do without this Lite-On DVD Burner! Plextor probably makes the highest quality drives. cdfreaks********** will tell you that. But plextor burners don't allow you to burn to DVD-ROM format, which can help finicky DVD players. Lite-On still has a good reputation at being able to burn protected CD-ROMS and having a good bang for the buck. I own an older LO DVD burner with DVD Shrink and have had Zero coasters with that software/hardware configuration (DVD CopyXpress gave me a couple). Avoid the SOHW-1633s, though. It's another model.
**********************.newegg**********/app/ViewProduc...106-951&depa=1

[Geedy01]

does he play games on it? Cause i would factor in the video card and this pentium chip he wants first. There might not be all that much left to spend, but i'm shur you know this already.

[Wolfgang]

Right, if you gets a P4 as fast as he wants, something like a 9800 PRO would be the bottleneck. But that card is okay for now. $329 is the current cost of a P4 3.4 . He could get a 3.0 for about $200. That's saving a fat wad of cash. And of he has a card like the 9800 Pro, the extra 400mhz would be a waste for games anyway.

Oh yeah, the sound card. The sound on the motherboard aformentioned should suffice. It will provide great sound, my Audigy 2 wasn't that big of a differance.

[Ginsu543]

Thanks for the response, guys. I also thought the Asus P4C800-E Dlx would be a great mobo for him, so I priced that for him. But he wants to go with the 3.4 GHz P4 550. Since he wants to stick with AGP for now, I thought that he should go with the Abit AS8 or the equivalent board by Asus (I forget the part number right now). The only thing is that these boards are based on the i865PE chipset. I didn't see any based on the i875 chipset until lo and behold, I see from PCStats********** that DFI just came out with a LanParty mobo with LGA775 based on the i875 chipset. I don't know if it's available right now, but I'm gonna tell him to look into it.

[GNXtreme]

BAH!!! Intel is for pussies....tell your buddy to pull his head out of the corporate Intel ass and build a real machine. AMD ALL DAY BABY!!!!!

[gokusimpson]

AMD ALL DAY BABY!!!!!

Wait....AMD all DAY? What do you mean by DAY?

[Ginsu543]

AMD all day, any day, all the way... these are just emphatic expressions to say that AMD is much preferable to Intel.