> I would like to ask everyone if they could help me with what they would recommend for parts for building a new PC.  I'm on a tight budget, but would like recommendations of quality products

> If anyone could recommend a good motherboard & processor speed/brand to compliment these components, I would appreciate it.  I would like everyone's thoughts

G'day Eugene,

I've never built a computer before, but I started down this path 3 or 4 months ago.
I'm buying components as I can afford them.

Like you, I'm on a budget, and I'm looking for the biggest bang for my bucks.
I figured that building a computer from scratch was relatively easy, (I'm a petrol-head from way back, so I figured that building a computer basically only requires a screwdriver, - whereas, building a Chevy V8 requires a screwdriver and four spanners)

My first consideration was to evaluate my needs. In my case, storage and memory are more important than sheer clock-speed because my main interest is Genealogy, - therefore, lots of data files, - and an intended move into graphics in order to scan old
family photos' etc.
My other consideration was to build a system with a clearly defined upgrade pathway.
This automatically ruled out Intel, who seem to change the Slot / Socket configuration with each new CPU/speed.
The only other real alternative is AMD,  - wether Athlon, Duron or Thunderbird.
I chose Duron 750, because it was cheap and is upgradeable to whatever warp-speed Thunderbird may reach, but the key is in the chip-set. More on that later.

Next problem was to decide on the the most vital part, - the motherboard.
I surfed the Net and read all the info.I could find about the most stable and reliable Socket A mobo's. Based on this, I reckoned that it was worthwhile buying the best (or most expensive) and trying to save money with downstream (existing) components
which can be upgraded later.
I chose an 'Asus' A7V133a. There are other contenders, but it all really depends on local price, availability and support. The main point here is that any mobo. has the 'VIA Tech' KT133a. chipset, a 'must have' to support the Duron / Thunderbird CPU.

Another consideration was the box to put it all in, although this is a no-brainer, - ATX form factor is the standard, - the essential point is to ensure at least a 300W power supply;   I'm told,  " You're gonna need it ! "

My next intention is to save my pennies and buy 128MB PC133 SDRAM, I did think about 256MB. - but why bother at this stage ?

The drives come next, and here I admit that I haven't the foggiest idea.
This is the point where I'm educating myself ; IDE and EIDE sort of sound familiar, - but
Ultra DMA / ATA / RAID  is way over my head at the moment.

Anyway, Eugene,
I'll copy this to  PCBUILD, - perhaps somebody else is in the same position as us ?.
Hopefully we can  put our heads together to our mutual advantage.

Kevin,
Auckland,
New Zealand.

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