Component Recommendations
I’ve already
mentioned two of the best cases currently available, the FOX and
the NOKIA.
I have found these
other components easy to use:
Motherboards
These boards will
suit beginners as they have Graphics, sound and LAN facilities
onboard:
For Pentium 4
Soltek SL-85MIV-L
Socket 478 P4 VGA Audio LAN
Pentium 4 ECS
MB-L4S5MG/LAN (478) SiS650 Micro-ATX
Audio/Video/Lan
AMD MOTHERBOARDS
A 266FSB Video
Audio LAN Modem
The CPU – Pentium
4
The choice of CPU
depends on your specific need. Pentium 4’s range from
1.6GHz – 3.7Ghz
The CPU – AMD
AMD CPU’s are
available from the AMD Duron 1.2GHz to the AMD
Athlon XP 2400+.
Be careful when
buying AMD CPU’s. Check the actual speed rating. For instance,
the speed of the 1700+ CPU is actually only 1.4GHz.
Some tests have
shown that AMD processors are faster than Pentium processors,
but I find that Pentiums are more reliable and less likely to
burn out.
The HDD
I recommend IBM
and MAXTOR HDD’s over any other. Both are reliable and do not
have complicated jumper settings. The IBM HDD’s are however,
from my experience, the easiest to set up. They are also the
cheapest.
The Floppy Drive
I use Panasonic
FDD's as they are reliable and cheap!
CD, DVD players , CDRW, DVD writers
The new range of
LITEON drives are generally my choice.
However, I
recommend the PIONEER 401 DVD writer as it’s cheap and accepts
almost all known media.
NOTE: With CDRW,
ensure that the media you use matches your drive speed. To use
the full capability of a 48x speed writer, you need CDR’s that
match this speed. Most CDR and CDRW media is okay with 32x
drives, but
I always copy at
lower speeds to ensure an error-free disk after burning.
I have used media
that wasn’t up to the task when writing at 32x speeds. The disks
are usually corrupted or unreadable. Use quality media, rated
for the speed of your writer, or record at lower speeds that are
within the capacity of the media.
Sound cards
If you’re just
going to use your PC’s sound system for listening to music
CDs or MP3s, the
on-board audio codec will serve your purpose.
If you want to
expand this to a surround sound system, the Creative Labs
Sound Blaster LIVE
5.1 Dolby is an excellent card that is quite affordable.
If you’re a pro
musician or just need a high quality sound system, I suggest the
Creative Labs Sound Blaster AUDIGY with eight speakers and midi.
Graphics cards
If you don’t have
any professional requirements regarding graphics, the onboard
graphics system will serve your needs.
If you’re an avid
game player or want to edit video, you will need something like
the ATI RADEON, a great 128MB card that runs ANY game at the
time of writing. It’s half the price you’ll pay for a Nvidia
GeForce!
For video, you’ll
need a good spec card and a capture card. The choice of capture
card depends on whether your camcorder is analog or digital.
For analog, WinTV
Primo is my choice.
I recommend a
Pinnacle system, such as DV Studio 10, for DV.
Modems (May not be applicable to
broadband users)
Make sure the
modem you choose is compatible with your operating system!
Rockwell do the
best chipsets for modems, so any brand of modem that is based on
this chipset should be okay.
You need a "56K
V90" for standard dial-up connections. You can buy these in both
internal and external (USB) models.
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