Re: New PC for a buddy

I agree with LED. AMD X2 is the choice of performance (Opteron). Overclock? get a good heatsink, such as Thermaltake 120mm aluminum heatsink, Ninja scythe (use Nexus fans for quiet cooling. Panaflo are also OK but not as good as the Nexus fans)

SLi is not much of anything, other than a benchmarking tool (other words, to show off). I think that BF2 is going to use SLi, but I don't remember. NVidia 7800GT still has the advantage with video overall (price/performance). SLi with the 7800GT is one of the top performers.

Memory? I think that MS will be best for this catagory. I believe that OCZ has put out the newest PC4000, low latency, 2GB memory pack. I think that Ballistix (Crucial) has a low latency 2GB memory pack.

The DFI motherboard is a very good choice, if you want to overclock (don't know if you want to). Gigabyte, ASUS, and Shuttle are generally good choices.

NEC or Pioneer for the DVD-writer.

Power supply 450W minimum - any choice from the following Coolermaster (pure power); Antec (true power); Enermax; Forton.

Case - depends on taste, most of the newer cases are loaded with lights and a clear side panel. (I don't really care for it) On average - Antec, Chenbro, Lian Li, and Coolermaster have good models. I would generally pick 120mm fans front and back.

Soundcard - Gamer or Music lover. If both then the SB X-Fi would be best (7.1 sound). Music lover (mainly) - EMU 0404 (2.1 sound only, but excellent sound record quality, very low distortion) Speakers - Klipsch.

I will let anyone else add to the list or add their own comments. Price range varies for many of these items, but it really depends how much your friend likes games (fragg'n quake) or music (ripp'n audio).