looking to build a new computer

brom32

I am looking to build a new computer and dont know if i should go with the amd 64, or go with intel and build a pci express machine. I have around 800-900$ for the hdd mobo processor vidcard, Lower would be better but could somone tell me which are advantages of either and what are some good parts thanks alot.

lordbean

I'd stick with the AMD Athlon 64 if I was building a new system. PCI Express isn't all it's cracked up to be because video cards aren't fast enough to take advantage of it, so good old classic AGP systems still do their jobs quite nicely. Here is a comparison of performance impacting features of the two CPUs:

Intel Prescott P4 LGA775 (assuming newest model): 1066MHz (quad-pumped 266) front-side bus.
1MB L2 cache.
Clock speeds approaching 4GHz.
Hyper-threading technology (CPU is somewhat better at executing two things at once)
Downside - this thing generates a lot of heat. Good cooling necessary.

AMD Athlon 64 (socket 939): 1600MHz or 2000MHz Front-side bus (8x or 10x pumped 200MHz bus)
1MB L2 cache.
Lower clock speeds, but these CPUs perform more instructions per second, so their actual processing speed is as good as or better than the Pentium 4s.
No hyperthreading, but the front-side bus (dubbed HyperTransport bus) gives you more speed anyway.
Onboard memory controller (eliminates a bottleneck in data transition from CPU to RAM and back)
Due primarily to the onboard memory controller and the hypertransport bus, the Athlon 64 CPU is a much better choice for games and most other tasks. There's still loads of AGP support kicking around - you have a nearly unlimited selection of video cards, including ATI 9800 pro, X800 mellow, pro, XT, or XTPE; nvidia Geforce 6600GT, 6800 mellow, GT, or Ultra, or any other lower-powered card if gaming is not the intended function.

CPU summary - AMD64 is typically better.

I would suggest MSI or DFI for the motherboard. The MSI K8N Neo2 is a good S939 board, and DFI has offerings of their own which are solid. Motherboards are more of a personal preference thing, but I would suggest sticking to boards with nForce chipsets, NOT VIA chipsets.

I summed up video cards when I did CPU - lots of offerings to pick from. For a system that may be used for modest gaming, my suggestion would be the Geforce 6600 GT. Not too expensive, and decently fast. If you want heavier gaming, I'd go with a Geforce 6800 GT.

As for HDD, it is, again, more of a personal choice thing. I personally will not touch maxtor, the reason being every drive I've ever bought from them has failed within 3 months of purchase. I'd stick to western digital, as I've found their drives to be reliable. If you're going to be downloading a lot, or storing a lot of large things (such as an excess amount of movies, TV episodes, or what-have-you), I'd look into a larger (160-250GB range) drive, but if you only want the PC for casual use, I'd stick to an 80GB drive.