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Here's a fun question for everyone to discuss. Let me preface it with the situation, and then you guys can tell me what you think.
I built a little home system from my best friend a couple of years ago. At the time all he said he needed it for was a little email, web surfing, and MS Office/word processing work. At the time money was a factor, so the component list was comprised mostly of "Hot deals/Fry's specials", and stuff on the cheap from the local compuer flea market. ( For you Dallas'ites - 1st Saturday ). Nothing snappy,snazzy,or extremely fast. Just enough to get the job done. A ECS board, AMD Duron 1.6, 256MB of memory, 80G HDD, CDR/RW, and a 9200SE. Since then the box has happily hummed along, doing the work it was tasked to do.
The other day his house took a huge power spike. (lighting strike) He brought the comp to me yesterday, thinking the PSU was fried. After troubleshooting the problem for a few minutes it became apparent the PSU was fine, but the mobo was toast. I gave him his options: purchase the same mobo, and recover to the same state in a very short time frame, or this would be a perfect opportunity to upgrade to something faster. >
He had mentioned a couple of months ago that he was interested in upgrading the processor and ram, so this time around he said money wasn't such a neccessary factor. Upgrading the CPU, mobo, ram, and HDD were the preferred action. His only need is to have the system ready by this weekend. I told him it shouldn't be a problem to round up the hardware in a relativey short time frame.
I'm still on somewhat of a budget, so I'll be perusing the "Hot deals" thread as well as the local Fry's sales. I'll be throwing in a gig of ram, and moving the HDD(s) over to a SATA solution.
As far as CPU/Mobo choices go I've always been a Intel !!!!!!. I've spent many a hour/day/year building systems, and have always felt that solution ( at least back in the day ) provided a more stable platform. I only used AMD based hardware where cost was more of a factor.
Here's the question:
Considering the current state of hardware which would you recommend?
1. Intel based CPU/Mobo platform.
2. AMD based CPU/Mobo platform.
His needs are still roughly the same, with some newer requirements. The new machine will not be used as a gaming rig. He's not much of a player, and it's only his younger brother in-law that plays games on the box. Nothing graphics intensive (no FPS games), only stuff like Command & Conquer, Baldaur's Gate, and Diablo II. He will, however, being using it for more multimedia purposes than previous. Listening to music, digital photography work/storage, and graphic design work for the restaurant he manages.
Overclockability is not needed. Stability is the requirement.
Thoughts?
I built a little home system from my best friend a couple of years ago. At the time all he said he needed it for was a little email, web surfing, and MS Office/word processing work. At the time money was a factor, so the component list was comprised mostly of "Hot deals/Fry's specials", and stuff on the cheap from the local compuer flea market. ( For you Dallas'ites - 1st Saturday ). Nothing snappy,snazzy,or extremely fast. Just enough to get the job done. A ECS board, AMD Duron 1.6, 256MB of memory, 80G HDD, CDR/RW, and a 9200SE. Since then the box has happily hummed along, doing the work it was tasked to do.
The other day his house took a huge power spike. (lighting strike) He brought the comp to me yesterday, thinking the PSU was fried. After troubleshooting the problem for a few minutes it became apparent the PSU was fine, but the mobo was toast. I gave him his options: purchase the same mobo, and recover to the same state in a very short time frame, or this would be a perfect opportunity to upgrade to something faster. >
He had mentioned a couple of months ago that he was interested in upgrading the processor and ram, so this time around he said money wasn't such a neccessary factor. Upgrading the CPU, mobo, ram, and HDD were the preferred action. His only need is to have the system ready by this weekend. I told him it shouldn't be a problem to round up the hardware in a relativey short time frame.
I'm still on somewhat of a budget, so I'll be perusing the "Hot deals" thread as well as the local Fry's sales. I'll be throwing in a gig of ram, and moving the HDD(s) over to a SATA solution.
As far as CPU/Mobo choices go I've always been a Intel !!!!!!. I've spent many a hour/day/year building systems, and have always felt that solution ( at least back in the day ) provided a more stable platform. I only used AMD based hardware where cost was more of a factor.
Here's the question:
Considering the current state of hardware which would you recommend?
1. Intel based CPU/Mobo platform.
2. AMD based CPU/Mobo platform.
His needs are still roughly the same, with some newer requirements. The new machine will not be used as a gaming rig. He's not much of a player, and it's only his younger brother in-law that plays games on the box. Nothing graphics intensive (no FPS games), only stuff like Command & Conquer, Baldaur's Gate, and Diablo II. He will, however, being using it for more multimedia purposes than previous. Listening to music, digital photography work/storage, and graphic design work for the restaurant he manages.
Overclockability is not needed. Stability is the requirement.
Thoughts?