Computer Purchase Query

[Whacker]

Nothing against Asus, but I've heard reports that their support rather is rather... . I having nothing against Intel either, but I've heard some one say that their is only a 5% overall difference between the two, and second, I don't know how to overclock even if I tried . Still, does the C2D run cooler, and is thier another motherboard (I prefer retail)?

Support from most hardware manufacturers is going to have a checkered history. Asus right now is one of the stronger companies in terms of tech and soft/firmware support for their products. eVGA is another that has been getting good marks and reviews, and was a determining factor in my decision to purchase their products. Apparently Gigabyte, who have generally been strong players in the mobo market, have been getting some hard raps for bad tech support over the past months. I don't really stay on top of things like this, but in the reading I did several months ago up until the purchase of my current PC indicated what I just stated. Current research from verifiable/reputable sources will go a long way to providing you with good information to base you decisions on.

In terms of performance difference, it really depends on what the application is. In general, when comparing "apples to apples" Intel to AMD products, 90% of the time the Intel CPU is going to do better on the benchmarks. The amount that it "wins" by is going to again vary by software application and version. Be warned, many of the shoddier review sites (such as Tom's Hardware) will skew tests and reviews to favor whatever product it is they are testing, it can take a trained/experienced eye to spot it sometimes, which is why I don't like commenting on "performance numbers or percentages" because it depends and can often change quickly.

In terms of overclocking, if you have the hardware that will support it, you can easily overclock any C2D cpu up to 10-25% on stock cooling, provided the rest of your system components will bear the load. There are a large number of sites and forums that outline how to do this so one just need google. Even if you aren't comfortable with this, a stock speed C2D such as the one I suggested will last you a very long time and provide good performance.

Lastly, in terms of running cooler, not only do the C2D's run significantly cooler than their AMD counterparts, but they also suck a good deal less power both idle and under load. As I said it's not that AMD is an inferior product, they've just fallen behind this round. Look at the last gen, P4's vs the XP/64's, AMD had Intel blown away by a long shot.

[ULC]

Thanks for the intel (sorry for the pun, couldn't help it )! I've decided on that, but can the board I have selected now also support Intel? If not, then I'll just look for another one. Cheers!

[Whacker]

You're channeling Gregoshi here, be careful!

No, motherboards only support one or the other, Intel or AMD, because they use different physical socket types. For example, the current AMD desktop cpus use the AM2 socket type, while Intel desktops still use LGA775 (Socket T). If you are looking for a decent quality mobo for relatively cheap, check out the Nvidia 650i chipset-based motherboards on Newegg. Here's another one you might want to consider.

[ULC]

Thanks Whacker, it's a tad more expensive, but from what I hear, it should run perfectly. I use Newegg too, mostly becuase it's cheap and thier return policy is a lot better then others. And who's Gregoshi (sorry, joined last year around october, so I don't know all you sages yet)?

[Meldarion]

Motherboard ~ Nice selection, plenty of room for upgrading ram and probably the best AMD chipset available. It has good onboard audio and overall is hard to fault, but will never match the bus speed of an Intel board. I have never seen the point of micro ATX either.

Processors ~ As previously mentioned Intel dominate this market at the moment, the AMD 6000+ is good value for money in a budget build I would recommend it, but in a power build I would go for an Intel. You should certainly check out these benchmarks before making an informed decision. If your an overclocker I would recommend Intels E2160, which is an overclock beast.

GFX cards ~ If you refer to the previous benchmark processor link, there is also a GFX card chart that is up to date, again its worth checking out.

PSU ~ Not much to say here other than don't try to cut costs by buying a budget one, its ill advised.

Ram ~ 2 gig is probably sufficient in particular for those on a budget. If you change your mind and plan to use Vista go for 4 gig and buy the Vista 64 bit edition, last I checked it was the same price as the 32 bit edition, perhaps a strategy by Microsoft to combat the criticisms?

DVD ~ Generally the only factor here for me is noise. Lite on are a very budget make but they do their job just fine.

Case ~ Again I will only mention the noise factor here, its well worth finding out how loud those fans are unless you don't really mind noise.

Monitors ~ I would look for reviews on any monitor I purchase some don't handle games too well. They may look fantastic on paper but lack performance.

XP vs Vista ~ At the moment XP pro is the gamers OS of choice. DX10 looks stunning but at the cost of FPS, you also need an 8 series card to take advantage of it, this in itself is quite a big deal as you will lose the ability to play many older games. Ram I have already covered.