PC System Recommendations

2004 Version This document is in flux; for the first time since 2004 I have a set of components that appear worth recommending. Am still nailing down the details at this point. Core Duo desktop systems aren't actually shipping until August 2006, this document is derived from benchmarks and similar reading.

Mid-priced Computer System

For this system level, the goal is to build something that is likely to be a good performer for at least 3 years in a typical business or home setting. The components included are selected primarily for expected longevity, which starts by using the best quality brand name components available in the sweet spot of the buying curve--this is normally around $200 for the CPU, $125 for the motherboard, $100 for memory, and $75 for most other components. The other important thing is to select the coolest running component whenever possible, because more heat directly translates into shorter PC lifetime. Most of the parts that fail relatively quickly, including hard drives, fans, and motherboard capacitors/regulators, are all things that wear out considerably faster the hotter it is.

I have put some shopping notes on preferred vendors at the bottom of this document, you may want to check that before proceeding.

Special thanks to the team at Ars Technica, I regularly index my own ideas against their suggestions. The system outlined here is similar to that given in the http://arstechnica.com/guides.ars systems guides for the system labeled "The Hot Rod". The main difference is this system has dramatically less powerful video and sound. If game playing is a high priority, their suggestions in this area are very, uh, sound and you should be following that recommendation set instead of this one. You'll end up with a more expensive and hotter running system in the process, but it will play games much better.

Main Components

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300: ~$185

While you can argue that AMD's processors might be better at this point, there are no really great AMD motherboards on the market yet which is what keeps pushing me back to Intel. See The tech Report for a good comments showing why the more expensive Core processors aren't that attractive. All of the desktop Core Duo unit run at the same speedy memory frequency, which removes one of the reasons why it used to make sense to get the fastest Intel CPU you could find.

Motherboard: Asus P5B Deluxe WiFi-AP Edition: $220 (also consider P5W DH Deluxe)

This Asus board is a solid unit that bundles every type of port you're likely to need, including sound, dual-port gigabit networking, and 802.11g wireless. Reviews of various Intel chipsets for Core Duo, interesing pages: http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/core2-chipsets/index.x?pg=18 http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/core2-chipsets/index.x?pg=20 http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q3/core2-chipsets/index.x?pg=21

Memory: 1GB DDR2-800 $100

Kingston makes consistently good RAM and nowadays doesn't charge much more than the generic models cost. Make sure you're getting a single 1GB module and not 2x512MB. If you really want to improve the odds this system will not need an upgrade within 3 years, buy the system with two 1GB modules for a total of 2GB of RAM.

Buying the above set at ?

Other Components

Case: Antec SLK3800B; plus extra fan?

The power supply is good and the case is quiet. You get 400W of power, plenty for normal system with a hard drive or two and a couple of CD/DVD units. In addition to the fan on the power supply, this case supports two additional fans, and I recomend filling those both up. The usual setup that works well is to have the front mounted fan blowing air in and the rear one blowing air out; this gives a clear airflow path through the case and takes advantage of the fact that heat rises.

Only downside of this particular case for some people is that it's black, which can make matching the rest of the components a pain. I would like to have a recommendation for a beige case that's equivalently good, but I haven't found one that's currently available. If you don't mind having a large tower case, I personally use the ANTEC PLUS1080AM case.

Video Card: EVGA 256-P2-N549TX GEFORCE 7600GS 256MB PCI-E DDR3 W/HDTV & DVI PASSIVE HEATSINK $119

All the video card any non-gamer is going to need in the near future. It's important to make sure whatever card you get has a DVI output, as that's the only way to make a flat-screen LCD monitor look really good. This card is more expensive than is necessary, but having it greatly increases the odds you'll be able to run Windows Vista properly in the future. Just as importantly, I've found the fans on video cards to be a very unreliable part in the past; this passive unit can make for a quieter overall system, and it eliminates the GPU fans as a failure point.

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 80GB (see below)

This Seagate line is as reliable as any on the market right now, is super quiet, and really does a good job dissipating heat rather than letting it build up internally. These drives feel like they run hotter than most, but if you check the internal temperature it's actually the same as the competition. It's often possible to get these drives at a retail store on sale for less than the mail-order price, especially after rebate. Best Buy and CompUSA have Seagate drives on sale almost every week. There are two different types of interface you can purchase this drive with:

Hard drive, newer choice: SEAGATE SERIAL ATA150 80GB ST380013AS $68 plus $5.50 power cord

This drive uses the newest type of hard drive interface. It's slightly more expensive, but it's faster, uses smaller cables for improved drive cooling, and avoids all the master/slave settings that can make regular IDE drives a pain to setup.

Old School choice (compatible with almost any PC you may already have): SEAGATE BARRACUDA 80.0GB ST380011A $60

This version of the drive has the older IDE connector, now referred to as parallel ATA. If it's important to you to be able to pop the drive into other PCs for disaster recovery purposes, or if you're really trying to hold costs down, this version of the drive might be the better choice. It uses the ATA 100 standard, meaning it's not as fast as it could be, but all the drives that do better are louder and have worse reliability. As the motherboard here has limited ability to plug PATA drives in the serial ATA version of the drive is very much preferred.

CD/DVD: NEC ND-3550A, Black $XX.

This will burn CDs and even the new dual-layer DVDs. Only drive most people will ever need and super cheap given the speed and capabilities.

I personally also use a Plextor Premium drive, $85, in my system because it writes better quality audio CDs than a DVD writer produces.

Floppy: TEAC 1.44MB FLOPPY DRIVE (Black) $14.90

Boot from and copying files using the floppy drive has saved my butt in disaster situations far too many times to ever buy a system without one.

Total for the above: $XXX as described

Keyboard: IBM Model M PS/2--Around $10 on ebay.com

OK, I don't really have a keyboard recommendation for you. The above is what I personally use. IBM's Model M keyboard is out of production for years now, and it's big, heavy, and very loud to type on. It also has the best keyboard feel for typing ever and is almost indestructible; that's why I have a half dozen of them despite the drawbacks.

Mitsumi makes an OK keyboard to type on for $11.

Mouse: MICROSOFT WHEEL MOUSE OPTICAL USB/PS/2 (OEM) $10

A decent cheap mouse, no ball to clean, plugs into anything with the adapters they include. I personally use the Mitsumi 2-button PS/2 Scroll Mouse because it uses an finger tip scroll interface similar to IBM's TrackPoint for scrolling up and down, which I find infinitely preferable to a wheel interface. Unfortunately, longevity and availability on the Mitsumi aren't so good.

Common PC assembly problems:

System powers, beeps three times: usually means no video card or the video card is loose in the socket

System powers, beeps very frequently or continuously: RAM isn't compatible or is installed incorrectly

System powers, motherboard light comes on, but no beeps, no video: Can happen because of a incorrectly setup hard drive. If problem persists after unplugging all drives, it's probably a loose CPU. On the newer boards like this one, you have to pull the heatsink all the way off in order to reseat the CPU. The socket 478 used here seems very prone to getting loose when the system is moved.

Shopping Notes

If you're not familiar with mail-order for electronics, I wrote a guide to buying mail- order stereo equipment that is largely relevant to this topic at http://www.goodsound.com/howto/2003_01_15.htm

There are two main sites I use for computer gear to find out what the current lowest prices on a given item are. pricewatch.com and froogle.com are both good to check. Once you've found a vendor you might want to buy from, be absolutely sure to visit resellerratings.com to see what people think of them before you buy. Reading through some of the feedback left for a vendor can be very instructive on how to deal with them.

There are three main snags that will cause mail-order computer transactions to be more painful than they should be. First, you will likely only be able to ship to an address that your credit card company has on file as being an official one for your card, so call them up first and add your work address or similar alternative if that's where you need to ship to. Second, only deal with vendors that give you solid information about whether the item you want is in stock. Third, make sure you're using the preferred shipping vendor of the store; sometimes, even though a place offers both UPS and FedEx, they may only ship regularly through one of the two and choosing the other will require scheduling a pick-up which can add a day to how long it takes your order to arrive.

My main source for parts used here is usually mwave.com. I like Multiwave for a lot of reasons: their catalog is fast to navigate, prices are near industry lows, inventory stock information is usually correct.

Their main competitor in my mind, newegg.com, annoys me because their site is so graphically intense and poorly organized that it interferes with my shopping. If I want a single part, I can find it there, but the interface is horrible for making decisions like which processor within a given line has the current best bang for the buck.

The main weakness of mwave is that they don't carry too many system building accessories, and the ones they do have aren't always priced competitively. I like directron.com for little parts like cables, fans, and the like.

In my personal systems, I only use power supplies from PC Power & Cooling, the best quality units on the market, usually models from their Silencer line. For most people, the power supply included in a good case is perfectly fine. But as the power supply is often one of the noisiest and less reliable parts in a PC, I find the extra $60-$100 is money well spent in the long run. The best source for purchasing PC Power & Cooling products I've found is bestbyte.net.

Another good vendor I occasionally deal with is http://store.yahoo.com/memorysuppliers/. If I'm buying a very large or somewhat rare piece of memory for a system, the saving buying from them can be enormous.