Re: Newbie questions???

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo. The best mainstream CPU is the E6600 (about $300), but if you want to save $100, the new E6420 is a good 2nd choice (about $200).

Memory - 2GB of PC6400 (800MHz) DDR2 (about $125).

Motherboard - "Low End" (ha ... it's not really low by any means) Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3, about $110. If you want, Asus has lots of higher end boards for $175 to $250, but for most people there is no compelling reason to spend the extra money. Although I've usually been an Asus fan in the past, this Gigabyte board has proven to be a very, very good choice (and that's not just my opinion, in the mind of many reviewers, it's the top or one of the top boards for Core 2 Duo CPUs). This board is very similar to the Asus P5B (discontinued) and P5B-E boards. But if you really want RAID, it might not be the best choice, you might be better off with a higher end board that uses ICH 8R (this board uses only ICH 8, without raid, although the board has a second, separate onboard raid controller).

Video - A board based on the ATI X1650 with at least 256MB of video memory is only about $100 and is pretty high-end. Be sure that the board is supported for Vista's "Aero" interface. Be sure that you get a PCI Express (not AGP) interface. From you description, you don't need SLI or Crossfire, or anything high-end or exotic for the applications that you are running.

Hard drives - You will normally want SATA hard drives rather than IDE. I'd recommend just getting a 320 or 500GB SATA drive, about $90 to $140. Really, I have seen no evidence that RAID is worth the trouble or complexity for a desktop system.


BobL wrote:
I build a new machine every 2 years and of course I have to re-educate
myself everytime. I am looking for recommendations for my new system
as for mobo, processor, memory, video card and the like. I am not a
gamer and use the computer for Office apps and surfing. I have a abit
board now with a couple of Raptor 75's that are striped. Here is what
I have so far. Oh, I am not looking for the cheapest I want to keep
the system below 1500.00US. . What is with the SLI designation by the
way? Can you please send me a link to read up on it?
Thanks Bob

.

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