Hey guys, My friend is going to buy a new PC and he ask for recommendation. Performance is all about in building this PC, storage capacity and gadget is not this important. Also the lower the price the batter. He use his computer much on gamming and typing. He is not into O/C and stuff.

I would recommand him to buy:

AMD 2800+ (Bartion)/P4 2.66 (800FSB)
Abit NF7/Asus P4P800
40 GB Seagate/ WD
512MB pc 3500
Radeon 9800pro/ Radeon 9600XT
17" samgsung monitor
and all the little things (mouse and keyboard and etc)

What's yours' recommendation? Should i tell him to get a AMD or Intel?

just get my PC
its perfect for gamin ...
barton 2500 OCed to 3200/3400
abit NF7 or -s if you want SATA (I can only recommend it)
seagate barracuda 80GB (SATA if NF7-s)
audigy 2
9800PRO
2x 256 MB DDR400+ for DUAL channel
everything u need

oh and the MX500 as mouse ... really cool one

Except, go to a gig of ram
My computers awesome for games, just considering upgrading the video card.

i would wait for socket 939

AMD is definately the best going for the money... Depends on money to spend that is...

I would go with and this is in my opinion - my budget PC...

Look at my specs - Only difference is I would go with the new Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe ($110.00)... You save on not needing a sound card and network considering this comes with two of those and Wi-Fi ability also...

I would use 3 sticks of RAM Corsair PC 3200 400mhz ($115.00 each) to give you 1.5 as I did - Go with the Athlon XP 3200+ ($220.00) and change the drive to a Plextor CDRW Premium if you only want CDR-CDRW ($99.00) or go with the 708A if you want DVD and 8 drives in 1 setup ($229.00)...

Go with 2 SATA Seagate 80 gig ($85.00 each) or 2 120 gig ($105.00 each) - of course any case and any floppy - this will add about $100-$150 - I use only 600 WATT power supplies anything less for me has always blown up... 450 WATT is enough though...

I won't do the video thing only because I only get NVIDIA... This will set you back at least ($400) if you want the best of either NVIDIA or ATI...

I built several systems for people and the specs I gave you is what I consider right now to be a perfect top of the line budget PC... You can do the math...

I have a full spec system also if you want to spend the bucks and yes it would have a 64FX 51 chip in it and of course the NFORCE 3 board - and as someone mentioned I'd also wait for the 939 but MONEY is the issue there....

The system specs and items I gave will keep you going for at least 3-5 more years - I've been using what I have going on 2 already and it will last me many more but I am a power hungry user or power user so I always NEED MORE and I have 5 different systems and specs, "older systems that is" and they are still going strong for what I have them doing my slowest is a Pentium 120 with and overdrive 180 overclocked to 200mhz... And would you believe it, it has a 2.1 gig HD and 128mb of RAM and runs Windows 2000 just fine... My version of the E-Machine

Also you can change many of the things mentioned here to a lower speed etc. of any item and of course it would save you even tons more money - this is just my version of TOP OF THE LINE - Budget PC

Remember everyone has their own opinions and likings - this is just mine... Hope it helps...

Look at my specs - Only difference is I would go with the new Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe ($110.00)... You save on not needing a sound card and network considering this comes with two of those and Wi-Fi ability also...

buying mobo because of sound is really not an argument OK in first place it will save you money no question ... and there are really good chipsets ... but test show in reality Soundcards are still the best chois in performance and sound ... and most important if you go for mobosound you have to focus on that in any further hardware .... you always need a mobo with sound onboard even tho there may be better and/or cheaper boards
I can only recommend not to depend on mobo sound and most important not on a gaming PC .... hey if its going to be an office PC just to play miceklicks in speakers ...... no comment but on a GAMING PC ????

and huh 1.5GB RAM ???? a bit too much ....
512 are pretty much even nowadays
the improvement from 512 to 1024 is only noticable for hardcore users or professional applications ... thats really wast of money

Unless you have an EXPERT ear for sound you can not notice any difference between the Onboard and the Audigy Sound...

The sound on my system is just as good as my computer that has a Sound Blaster Live Platinum and in game sound is awesome...

I totally recommend this sort of sound to anyone and save on the sound card... Soundstorm is great... I was shocked myself because I've always been a SOUND CARD kind of guy...

But I've just since bowed down to the Onboard of Soundstorm...

As I said everyone to their own opinions and that's what these forums are all about...

Intel / AMD??? MOBO's, CDRW's, RAM, MONITORS, VIDEO CARDS??? I just have what I think is the best of everything and will only purchase those certain brands...[/code]

? you don't have to be an expert to note the difference between a onboard audio and the audigy2 zs... it deppends also on your speakers...

I use a headset and everything sounds the same to me...

I have once the best speaker system and don't even use it...

I used them and bought them back when I got my Sound Blaster Live Platinum and for anyone I've built a system for all agree with me Sound is NOT top priority and they LOVE what I've done for them...

That extra hundred bucks buys you an extra Hard Drive...

YES I KNOW THERE IS A DIFFERENCE but to play games and use a head set no matter what you have as long as it supports EAX is perfectly fine...

I'm not one of the GREATEST Battlefield 1942 players online for no reason the SOUNDSTORM IS AWESOME I hear everything from any direction perfectly... I will recommend it to anyone and everyone... I play more from sound than just raw skill... If I were Deaf I'd royally SUCK...

headphones can't be compared to real speakers ... and as I said YES soundstorm maybe good no question
BUT!!!!!
the you will always have to look for a mobo with sound onboard and with a good one for sure ...
with a soundcard you are just independend ... that was my point ... I don't want to say all mobochips are bad - although most are

Dudes, if you have digital speakers, you notice a difference. If you use a headset, its almost impossible to notice a difference. My speakers on the nvidia onboard sound sounds like crap compared to on an audigy.

Hey guys thanks for the info, The radeon 9800pro is kind of pricy (for student like us) so i think i'll tell him to get the 9600xt.

Get a 5900XT, its 10$ cheaper, and out performs them in most tests

but using a soundcard is better for cpu performance, he don´t have to calculate the sound, a soundcard got his own cpu for that....
maybe u should try the sound-test in 3dmark03?(but don´t know if anything changes, i have an onboard sound,too. But i connected my pc to my hi-fi rack and then the sound is more than bad and more than sufficient)

(i speak english very well, bröckleweis und nicht so schnell)