WhoaitsZ

Okay. my pc is semi crazy again. time for a new one.

this is how I buy. first off.... I don't want to touch it for months, perferably years.

a guy down here in MS did a wonderful job for me but he is gone now.

I have no set budget. BUT god knows I don't have any to throw away, alright? I can do 4-500 np... 800... i can wing. 1k will have me sweating.

I have always used AMD chips.

my OS will still be XP home edition - although I will run Linux also. A speedy boot up would be lovely.

I want a great , solid system. I am trying to understand some differences between:

Athlon 64 and Athlon XP. for instance, I realize the 64 is 2 cpus. I also know it won't 'improve speed', but enhance the speed of running major graphicly heavy programs at once.

what else is where i go uhhhhh.
and..... for example

from pricewatch

ECS - ONLINE ORDER ONLY - - ECS 755A - 8X AGP 5PCI 4 ATA-133 Raid 0/1 2-Serial ATA (SATA) USB 2.0
Details:
-with cpu - AMD Athlon 64 3000 CPU includes Heatsink/Fan

$310

ECS - - ECS L7VMM3; VIA KM266; 1 4xAGP; 2 PCI; 4 USB2.0; mATX; Video; Audio; LAN. 1Year Warranty!
Details:
-with cpu - On board Athlon Pro3100A+ Fan; INCLUDING 256Mb DDR & CASE; (AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 333FSB Barton

$188


i don't understand this shit yet.

another question:

is 256M Radeon 9600 worth $100 extra bucks than a 128m Radeon 9600? why? why not?

I also need a case. I don't care how it looks. money is an issue.

oh yeah, with the mobo&cpu combo above... would i be better off not buying combos?

I will probably add 4-8 HHDs, 2 cd roms, if firewire will speed me up i want it.

I need a powerful cooling system. i'm cold natured so i keep my room around 80 and i know i'll need more cold when I upgrade.



I would be better off supplying my own RAM. probably supply my own os. depends. my own HDD most likely.

i think that's about it...

remember: I cannot work on my systems. i have to get others to. i really wish nothing more advanced to do than add a hhd or ram.