my personal points (that sounds awful, i know):
processor:
i always go for AMD - much cheaper than intel and offers same or better performance in most areas. (also, in most cases, the diference in chip performance is measured in nanoseconds, so there’s no justification in paying amost double for a processor)
i also normally get a processor that’s ‘not quite new’. entry level chips are always expensive, whereas a slightly slower chip loses it’s price significantly as soon as the level entry is raised! (again, performance is not that different)
hdd:
“Western Digital Caviar WD1200BB 120GB ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive”
fine choice - in my job i get to try several makes, and i like western dig drives
ram:
instead of buying 1 gb of kingston ram, i’d get 2 gb of a lesser known brand. it’s much cheaper and makes no difference whatsoever. like suntan oil, the ‘ingredients’ are the same - you’re paying for the brand
- ddr is noticeably faster as it operates on both up and down clock revs (so in theory it’s twice as fast as dimm)
vga: most top level cards (if not all) do the same ‘ish’ (except maybe in games - some render graphics much better). i always ask a gamer’s advice - they know best
motherboard:
i tend to avoid all-on-board motherboards (having had some). although you don’t have to use the graphics or sound from them. because my first concern is the processor (amd) the motherboard is always related to my choice of processor (amd approved. i normally get ASUS)
nic:
3com first choice. netgear - close second. (netgear is very well supported, cheap and works very well (at least in windows based systems)
everything else you mention is fine - a good sound card is a good soundcard (same goes for speakers, etc)
my home machine is - of course - nothing like the above. it’s a frankenstainian box with bits i’ve managed to buy and salvage from other machines. it has an all-on-board motherboard (with everything disabled, of course) with a 1.2 gb amd.
