Many people seem to ask for suggestions for hardware. I get a few from friends and family and about a month or so ago I started to put together a personal picks list. I decided to post it here if any of you are interested. I have picked these due to reviews or features provided. If people show enough interest, I may keep updating it with locations for lowest prices and maybe even links to reviews. Question Marks means I need to do some more research and I'm sure the rest is pretty self explanitory.
GetInMyFatBelly?s suggested picks for Electronic & Computer Hardware.
*=preferred (when there?s multiple choices)
CPU
AMD:
Athlon XP 2800+ 2.083GHz = 166.6MHz x 12.5 (retail/boxed)
(Athlon XP 3200+ 200MHz FSB Barton?s out April/May 2003)
Athlon XP 2500+ 1.833GHz = 166.6MHz x 11 (retail/boxed)
Budget:
Athlon XP / MP 2000+ (thoroughbred B) 1.67GHz = 133MHz x 12.5 (retail/boxed)
MP (x2):
Athlon MP 2400+ 266MHz (thoroughbred)(15 x 133MHz = 2.0GHz (for use with 760MPX motherboards) (512k cache 266MHz Barton 1H03)
(Athlon MP 266MHz 512k cache Barton core (April 2003)
Intel:
Pentium 4 2.6 GHz D-1 800MHz ? w/HT (HyperThreading) (11 May 2003) $218
(or)
Pentium 4 2.8 GHz D-1 800MHz ? w/HT (HyperThreading) (11 May 2003) $278
(Pentium 4 3.2GHz (800MHz/HT) D-1 (27 June 2003)
3.4GHz (1MB L2 cache)(90nm) Prescott 4Q03
CPU Heatsink/Fan Cooler
(w/ seperate non-conductive Copper Shim)
Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040
Performance/Overclocking:
Thermaltake Volcano 11 w/DuctingMod
(or)
CoolerMaster XDream SE (HSC-V83)
Budget:
GlacialTech Igloo 2500 Pro
Low Profile (server):
Bitspower NP18MCS (w/ OCZ 60mm Whisper Quiet Fan?)
Fan
80mm x 25mm:
case fan:
(Power to Noise to Price)
Antec Trilight LED Fan
CPU fan:
(Performance)
Thermaltake Smart Fan II ?coolmod?
70mm x 15mm:
Vantec AeroFlow TMD Fan
60mm x 10mm:
OCZ Whisper Quiet Blue (or Green?) Fan
Memory (x2)
OCZ PC 3500 EL (Enhanced Latency) dual channel kit 512MB (256MB x 2) CAS2/CL2 2-2-5-2 T1 at 400MHz .13 4.5ns (at 2.6V?) (.13)
(www.ramstore.ca)
800MHz FSB (Quad):
OCZ QBM-800 (6.4Gb/s single channel - 12.8Gb/s dual channel)
(Mid 2003) ECC for Canterwood 875?
Budget:
PC3500512CL2 (512MB DDR RAM .13 Winbond)
(www.hardcorecooling.us $108.95)
Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4:
Gigabyte GA-SINXP1394 (B0 stepping ? 655 NB / B2 stepping - SB)
(SIS 655FX w/ 800MHz FSB support early May 2003)
(the Intel Canterwood (i875P) chipset should be out around April 2003 [Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Ultra (w/ Ultra SCSI 320)], VIA PT800 chipset w/ VT8237 SB out 1H03)
Xeon Server:
Intel SE7505VB2
AMD Athlon XP:
nForce2+MCP-T (MCP-S out 3Q2003):
Without IGP (onboard video):
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Gold (nForce2)
With IGP:
* MSI K7N2G-ILSR (nForce2)
Budget (w/ IGP):
Leadtek WinFast K7NCR18G-Pro2 (revision) (nForce2)
mATX:
* Aopen MK79G-1394
(or)
Leadtek WinFast K7NCR18GM
VIA:
* MSI KT4A Ultra-BFISR (KT400A)(w/ 8237 SB or KT600 ? April 2003?)
(or)
Soyo KT400A Dragon Ultra (Platinum Edition)
(KT600 w/ 8237 April/May w/ official 400MHz FSB support)
MP:
* Chaintech K7DD (AMD 760MPX) (USB 2.0 & RAID)
(or)
Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW+P
mini ATX MP:
Ipox M762U / VN (out soon?)
Low budget mini ATX w/ IGP SDRAM/DDR RAM (KM266):
Biostar M7VIG Pro (rev. 1.4)
(or)
MSI KM2M Combo-L (red)
Video Card
ATI:
AGP:
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro
(Radeon A-I-W 9800 Pro 256MB R350 out May 2003?)
Budget:
Radeon 9200 Pro VIVO (Giga Cube)
Budget (w/ TV tuner):
Radeon 9200 Pro All-In-Wonder (out April 2003?)
Performance:
Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB VIVO (Giga Cube(Gigabyte) out end April 2003)
PCI (w/ TV Tuner):
ATI All-In-Wonder VE (7500)
PCI (performance):
VisionTek Xtasy Radeon 9100 PCI 128MB
nVidia:
Asus V9280 VideoSuite (dual DVI)
(V9560 VideoSuite out March/April 2003)
(or)
Gainward GeForce4 PowerPack! Ti 4800SE Ultra/750-8x XP 128MB Golden Sample Firewire (3.3ns)
(Gainward Ultra/780 XP Golden Sample ? FX 5600 Ultra dual DVI 2.5ns 256MB out March 2003)
Power Supply
* Antec TrueBlue 480
(or)
Thermaltake Xaser Silent Purepower 480W (W0010)
(or)
Enermax Active EG465AX-VE PFC (433Watt)
(newer?)
Extreme:
Enermax True Control 550
Budget:
Super-Flower Silent TT-450SS
(www.directron.com $79)
Case
Antec PlusView 1080AMG
(www.techsavings.com) - $76.00 (free s/h)
Hard Drive (x2)
ATA 133:
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 Ultra 80GB (8MB cache / UATA133 / 7200RPM)
(Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB UATA133 & SATA ? March 2003?)
Budget:
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 40GB (7200RPM / 17.5mm / UATA133)
Serial ATA:
* Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA 150 (WD360GD)
(end of March 2003) $165 (www.goroyalpc.com)
(or)
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 Ultra 160GB?
Small Form Factor (SFF) PC
Shuttle SN41G2
Sound Card (for non-nForce2 boards)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX
Budget:
AudioTrak Prodigy 7.1 (192) (VIA Envy24HT)
(same as TerraTec Aureon 7.1 Space?)
Monitor
CRT:
LG 915FT+
LCD:
Planar PX171M (Silver or Black)
(www.dell.com)
Video Processor:
ViewSonic NextVision N6
TV Tuner Card
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 (w/ FM stereo)
Budget
* Asus TV FM card
(or)
MSI TV @nywhere (w/ MPEG 4, but mono)
(or)
Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP Deluxe (w/ FM stereo)
Scanner
Epson Perfection 3200 PRO (Firewire/USB 2.0)
Router
D-Link DI-714P+
w/ D-Link DWL-G650
Optical Drives
Combo:
Internal:
Samsung SM-352 (March 2003)
External:
Asus SCB-1608-D
DVD:
Lite-ON LTD-166S
DVD R/W:
Internal:
Sanyo CRD-BPDV2 (out end March 2003?)
(external version?)
External:
Sony DRX500ULX
(DRX510ULX? At Cebit 2003?)
CD R/W:
Internal:
Lite-ON LTR-52237S
(or)
* Yamaha CRW-F1
External:
Yamaha CRW-F1dx
Laptop Combo:
Samsung SU-408 (8x24x8x8x)
PCI to PCMCIA card
Synchrotech PCM-CR-PC2IFR
Keyboard
Logitech Cordless Comfort Duo
(or)
Logitech Cordless Elite Duo
Speakers
Logitech Z-680 (505 Watts)
(www.buy.com) - $279
(looking for Logitech 6.1 system?)
Mouse
Logitech MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse
Trackball
Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan
Headphones/Headset
Logitech Internet Chat Headset
Webcam
Philips ToUcam Pro (PCVC740K) or Webcam Pro 3D (PCVC750K)?
Laptop
Intel ?Banius? Pentium-M 1.4GHz (12 March 2003) Centrino w/ 855GM Calexico
(1.8GHz ?Dothon? out 4Q03)
Video:
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
DVD Player
Philips DVD 963SA
Budget:
Nintaus PDVD-N9868
Media Reader/Writer
Internal:
Apacer Embedded Card Reader (USB) 2.0 (6-in-1)
(w/ Olympus xD to Compact Flash Adapter MA-CF10)
(or)
Y-E Data 7-in-1 Digital Media Reader/Writer
(www.newegg.com)
External:
Belkin 8-in-1 Media Reader/Writer
Media
Sony Memory Stick DUO 128MB (April 2003)
Bluetooth
USB:
Belkin Bluetooth USB Adapter (F8T001)
Digital Camera
Fujifilm FinePix F700 (xD-Picture Card) (April 2003)
(www.pcconnection.com $572.62)
(Olympus Panarama 128MB xD Card)
Portable CD MP3 Player
Sony MPDAP20U
Cellular Phone
* Sony Ericcson P800 (Memory Stick Duo) w/ HPR-20 (FM Stereo)
(or)
Samsung SGH-D700 (3Q03)
Budget:
Samsung SGH-S300
GetInMyFatBelly?s suggested picks for Electronic & Computer Hardware.
*=preferred (when there?s multiple choices)
CPU
AMD:
Athlon XP 2800+ 2.083GHz = 166.6MHz x 12.5 (retail/boxed)
(Athlon XP 3200+ 200MHz FSB Barton?s out April/May 2003)
Athlon XP 2500+ 1.833GHz = 166.6MHz x 11 (retail/boxed)
Budget:
Athlon XP / MP 2000+ (thoroughbred B) 1.67GHz = 133MHz x 12.5 (retail/boxed)
MP (x2):
Athlon MP 2400+ 266MHz (thoroughbred)(15 x 133MHz = 2.0GHz (for use with 760MPX motherboards) (512k cache 266MHz Barton 1H03)
(Athlon MP 266MHz 512k cache Barton core (April 2003)
Intel:
Pentium 4 2.6 GHz D-1 800MHz ? w/HT (HyperThreading) (11 May 2003) $218
(or)
Pentium 4 2.8 GHz D-1 800MHz ? w/HT (HyperThreading) (11 May 2003) $278
(Pentium 4 3.2GHz (800MHz/HT) D-1 (27 June 2003)
3.4GHz (1MB L2 cache)(90nm) Prescott 4Q03
CPU Heatsink/Fan Cooler
(w/ seperate non-conductive Copper Shim)
Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040
Performance/Overclocking:
Thermaltake Volcano 11 w/DuctingMod
(or)
CoolerMaster XDream SE (HSC-V83)
Budget:
GlacialTech Igloo 2500 Pro
Low Profile (server):
Bitspower NP18MCS (w/ OCZ 60mm Whisper Quiet Fan?)
Fan
80mm x 25mm:
case fan:
(Power to Noise to Price)
Antec Trilight LED Fan
CPU fan:
(Performance)
Thermaltake Smart Fan II ?coolmod?
70mm x 15mm:
Vantec AeroFlow TMD Fan
60mm x 10mm:
OCZ Whisper Quiet Blue (or Green?) Fan
Memory (x2)
OCZ PC 3500 EL (Enhanced Latency) dual channel kit 512MB (256MB x 2) CAS2/CL2 2-2-5-2 T1 at 400MHz .13 4.5ns (at 2.6V?) (.13)
(www.ramstore.ca)
800MHz FSB (Quad):
OCZ QBM-800 (6.4Gb/s single channel - 12.8Gb/s dual channel)
(Mid 2003) ECC for Canterwood 875?
Budget:
PC3500512CL2 (512MB DDR RAM .13 Winbond)
(www.hardcorecooling.us $108.95)
Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4:
Gigabyte GA-SINXP1394 (B0 stepping ? 655 NB / B2 stepping - SB)
(SIS 655FX w/ 800MHz FSB support early May 2003)
(the Intel Canterwood (i875P) chipset should be out around April 2003 [Gigabyte GA-8KNXP Ultra (w/ Ultra SCSI 320)], VIA PT800 chipset w/ VT8237 SB out 1H03)
Xeon Server:
Intel SE7505VB2
AMD Athlon XP:
nForce2+MCP-T (MCP-S out 3Q2003):
Without IGP (onboard video):
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Gold (nForce2)
With IGP:
* MSI K7N2G-ILSR (nForce2)
Budget (w/ IGP):
Leadtek WinFast K7NCR18G-Pro2 (revision) (nForce2)
mATX:
* Aopen MK79G-1394
(or)
Leadtek WinFast K7NCR18GM
VIA:
* MSI KT4A Ultra-BFISR (KT400A)(w/ 8237 SB or KT600 ? April 2003?)
(or)
Soyo KT400A Dragon Ultra (Platinum Edition)
(KT600 w/ 8237 April/May w/ official 400MHz FSB support)
MP:
* Chaintech K7DD (AMD 760MPX) (USB 2.0 & RAID)
(or)
Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW+P
mini ATX MP:
Ipox M762U / VN (out soon?)
Low budget mini ATX w/ IGP SDRAM/DDR RAM (KM266):
Biostar M7VIG Pro (rev. 1.4)
(or)
MSI KM2M Combo-L (red)
Video Card
ATI:
AGP:
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro
(Radeon A-I-W 9800 Pro 256MB R350 out May 2003?)
Budget:
Radeon 9200 Pro VIVO (Giga Cube)
Budget (w/ TV tuner):
Radeon 9200 Pro All-In-Wonder (out April 2003?)
Performance:
Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB VIVO (Giga Cube(Gigabyte) out end April 2003)
PCI (w/ TV Tuner):
ATI All-In-Wonder VE (7500)
PCI (performance):
VisionTek Xtasy Radeon 9100 PCI 128MB
nVidia:
Asus V9280 VideoSuite (dual DVI)
(V9560 VideoSuite out March/April 2003)
(or)
Gainward GeForce4 PowerPack! Ti 4800SE Ultra/750-8x XP 128MB Golden Sample Firewire (3.3ns)
(Gainward Ultra/780 XP Golden Sample ? FX 5600 Ultra dual DVI 2.5ns 256MB out March 2003)
Power Supply
* Antec TrueBlue 480
(or)
Thermaltake Xaser Silent Purepower 480W (W0010)
(or)
Enermax Active EG465AX-VE PFC (433Watt)
(newer?)
Extreme:
Enermax True Control 550
Budget:
Super-Flower Silent TT-450SS
(www.directron.com $79)
Case
Antec PlusView 1080AMG
(www.techsavings.com) - $76.00 (free s/h)
Hard Drive (x2)
ATA 133:
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 Ultra 80GB (8MB cache / UATA133 / 7200RPM)
(Maxtor MaXLine Plus II 250GB UATA133 & SATA ? March 2003?)
Budget:
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 8 40GB (7200RPM / 17.5mm / UATA133)
Serial ATA:
* Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA 150 (WD360GD)
(end of March 2003) $165 (www.goroyalpc.com)
(or)
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 Ultra 160GB?
Small Form Factor (SFF) PC
Shuttle SN41G2
Sound Card (for non-nForce2 boards)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum eX
Budget:
AudioTrak Prodigy 7.1 (192) (VIA Envy24HT)
(same as TerraTec Aureon 7.1 Space?)
Monitor
CRT:
LG 915FT+
LCD:
Planar PX171M (Silver or Black)
(www.dell.com)
Video Processor:
ViewSonic NextVision N6
TV Tuner Card
Hauppauge WinTV PVR-350 (w/ FM stereo)
Budget
* Asus TV FM card
(or)
MSI TV @nywhere (w/ MPEG 4, but mono)
(or)
Leadtek WinFast TV2000XP Deluxe (w/ FM stereo)
Scanner
Epson Perfection 3200 PRO (Firewire/USB 2.0)
Router
D-Link DI-714P+
w/ D-Link DWL-G650
Optical Drives
Combo:
Internal:
Samsung SM-352 (March 2003)
External:
Asus SCB-1608-D
DVD:
Lite-ON LTD-166S
DVD R/W:
Internal:
Sanyo CRD-BPDV2 (out end March 2003?)
(external version?)
External:
Sony DRX500ULX
(DRX510ULX? At Cebit 2003?)
CD R/W:
Internal:
Lite-ON LTR-52237S
(or)
* Yamaha CRW-F1
External:
Yamaha CRW-F1dx
Laptop Combo:
Samsung SU-408 (8x24x8x8x)
PCI to PCMCIA card
Synchrotech PCM-CR-PC2IFR
Keyboard
Logitech Cordless Comfort Duo
(or)
Logitech Cordless Elite Duo
Speakers
Logitech Z-680 (505 Watts)
(www.buy.com) - $279
(looking for Logitech 6.1 system?)
Mouse
Logitech MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse
Trackball
Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan
Headphones/Headset
Logitech Internet Chat Headset
Webcam
Philips ToUcam Pro (PCVC740K) or Webcam Pro 3D (PCVC750K)?
Laptop
Intel ?Banius? Pentium-M 1.4GHz (12 March 2003) Centrino w/ 855GM Calexico
(1.8GHz ?Dothon? out 4Q03)
Video:
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600
DVD Player
Philips DVD 963SA
Budget:
Nintaus PDVD-N9868
Media Reader/Writer
Internal:
Apacer Embedded Card Reader (USB) 2.0 (6-in-1)
(w/ Olympus xD to Compact Flash Adapter MA-CF10)
(or)
Y-E Data 7-in-1 Digital Media Reader/Writer
(www.newegg.com)
External:
Belkin 8-in-1 Media Reader/Writer
Media
Sony Memory Stick DUO 128MB (April 2003)
Bluetooth
USB:
Belkin Bluetooth USB Adapter (F8T001)
Digital Camera
Fujifilm FinePix F700 (xD-Picture Card) (April 2003)
(www.pcconnection.com $572.62)
(Olympus Panarama 128MB xD Card)
Portable CD MP3 Player
Sony MPDAP20U
Cellular Phone
* Sony Ericcson P800 (Memory Stick Duo) w/ HPR-20 (FM Stereo)
(or)
Samsung SGH-D700 (3Q03)
Budget:
Samsung SGH-S300
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