Vincent,

Oooookayyy.  Let's take a stab at this.  Comments are in-line.

Second, I have 2 constraints.  I am in Asia, specifically in Singapore
and I have a limited budget of USD$1,375/-.

*Singapore is better than some other parts of Asia, with the exception of
Hong Kong when it comes to computer components.  A walk around Sim Lim
Square (computer mall in Singapore for the uninitiated) will show that they
have pretty much everything.  You just have to poke around a bit more and
haggle shamelessly.  Also US$1,375 sound reasonable for what you are looking
to get.

*Before you settle on your hardware, decide if you'll be running Windows 9X
only or maybe a combination Linux and NT or Win2000.  Because if you do, you
may want to get a dual processor board of which Linux and Win2000 will take
advantage of.

Here's what I would get and why:

- Celeron
*Decide on PPGA or Slot 1.  This would determine what motherboard you buy.
Slot 1 will give you an onward upgrade path to PII and PIII.  PPGA means you
are stuck with the Celeron only.  However you can get PPGA Celerons, stick
them on some Slot 1 riser cards and get a Slot 1 board.  Best bang for the
buck still is the Slot 1 Celeron 300A which in 80% of cases can be
overclocked to 464 or 504.  PPGA 300A are known to be OK as far as
overclockability although there have been reports recently that the new CPUs
coming out the last 7 or 8 weeks don't OC very well.

- M/B to support Celeron
*Generally get a brand name.  Check the hardware sites for reviews.  If you
are going dual processor, Abit has a new board, the BP6 that supports 2 PPGA
CPUs and ATA66.  If single CPU, the Abit BX6 R2.0 and BH6 are highly
regarded for their stability, ease of use, overall quality and range of OC
speeds.  You want a board manufacturer that updates BIOS regularly and have
these updates available on its website.  If a board manufacturer doesn't
have a web site, avoid it.

- 128 Mb PC100 SDRAM
*128 MB is just enough, more if you can afford it.  Go for quality stuff.
Be prepared to pay a slight premium for good ram as cheap stuff will cause
strange BSODs, reboots, and plenty of grief.  Not worth the marginal
savings.  Micron and LGS spring to mind as makers of good stuff.

- CD-ROM drive
*Its pretty much a parity product although you want one with low CPU usage
and proven reliability.  I just put an Asus 40x in my box and been very
happy with it.  I've had both LG and Creative drives die on me before so
YMMV.

- Mode5 10 Gb Harddisk
*Speed and space.  Get a drive that's at least 7200 rpm.  Any faster and it
a bit too expensive right now.  IBM Deskstar drives are worth every cent you
pay for them.

- 17 " 0.26mm Monitor
*ADI makes good monitors at a reasonable price.  I've got one and I'm very
happy.  Also, think about getting one with a Trinitron tube.  You'll pay
more but likely you'll be very delighted with it.  Sony monitors are
fantastic but some Mitsubishi monitors use the Trinitron tube also, so read
the specs.  Smaller dot pitch the better.

- 8Mb Graphic Card
*The graphic cards war!!.  The Voodoo3 for raw speed, less memory (16MB) and
because of less features doesn't handle some visual textures as well as some
other cards.  The TNT2 has 32MB, about as fast as the V3 and has a slightly
prettier picture.  The Savage4 is also a contender.  The dark horse is the
Matrox G400 Max, which from early previews is the one to look for.  It's due
for release later this year.  For now, you can either get a cheap AGP
graphics card now to tide you over till the Matrox G400 ships and you can
then do a more valid comparison of all the cards or go for the TNT2 now.
The V3 3000 and the TNT2 are both in the same price range in Singapore,
while the Savage4 is cheaper.

- Creative Soundcard
*Get the Creative SB Live!!  Low CPU usage, great positional 3D audio,
constantly updated drivers and reasonable price.  The other contender is the
Diamond MX300 which uses the Vortex2 chip.  Just as good as the Live!  Also,
Taiwanese OEM cards with the Vortex2 chip is just appearing on the market.
Should be cheaper but don't know about support so you may have to use
reference drivers.  I went for the SoundBlaster Live and with the recent
driver update, it's an even more powerful card now.  No regrets.

- ATX 4-bays casing
*Get one with at least a 250W power supply and plenty of places for fans.
You can never get enough cooling in a case, especially when overclocking
with hard disks and video cards that run hot in a tropical climate.  I've
got 4 additional fans in my main box apart from the power supply fan and
motherboard temp reports 33C/34C.  Look for how the case opens, whether the
sides come off, whether the MB tray is detachable, whether the internal
edges are sharp or beveled.  All this will give you an indication of
quality.

- K/B + mouse
*Microsoft Natural keyboard and either the Microsoft Intellimouse (with
wheel) or the Logitech MouseMan.  Excellent stuff.

1.    Should I get a Celeron or a AMD in the timeframe that I have
allocated myself?  If so, which clock speed should I get to?
*Intel's prices are steady since the last cut and they haven't announced any
further price cuts for end of the month so you should be safe for a month or
two <vbg>.  AMD is expected to announce new prices in the next week or so
here in Malaysia, so I would assume in Singapore too.

2.    Which M/B chipset should I get?  There's so many variants, BX, LX,
ZX, 370, 810, SIS, VIA?  What are the differences?  Which chipset will
ensure longevity?
*BX for now.  Won't know when Camino arrives.

3.    Which M/B manafacturer should I get from and why?
*See above.

4.    Am I buying too much SDRAM?  Which SDRAM should I buy?  What's the
differences between 1st party, 3rd party RAM?  How should RAMBUS affect
my buying decisions?
*As I understand it, 1st party RAM is when the memory chips and the board
they are on are made and assembled by the same manufacturer.  3rd party RAM
are chips sold by the manufacturer to another company who will assemble the
chips on to their own boards.  Believe it or not, the board the chips are on
makes a difference to the quality and stability of the RAM you buy.  RAMBUS
seems to be sputtering right now but there are great expectations for this
type of memory.  By the time RAMBUS gets going and is widely available,
perhaps in the next 12 to 18 months, and motherboards come out to support
it, it's time to get a new computer!!  So I wouldn't sweat it.

5.    Which Graphics Card should I buy?  Do I have enough onboard RAM,
too little or too much?  What are the reasons for for the graphic
chipset?
*See above

6.    Should I buy DMA-66 harddisk instead?  What's the actual
performance differences?
*ATA66 hard disks are just coming out now.  Basically, the throughput is
higher than ATA33 drives but a common misconception is that it's faster.  It
just more efficient.  Again, check the hardware sites for a mind-numbing
explanation on the differences and advantages.

7.    What brand of monitor do you recommend?  Is 0.26mm pitch too
grainy or just enough?
*0.25 or less is better.  See above for more.

Generally, understand that 6 months is the most that you new machine will be
on the cutting edge, before some or most of your parts will be superceded by
newer, better, faster components.  Also you seem to have done some research
as to what you want but a large part of the enthusiasm and fun is derived
from actually knowing more about the parts that go in to your own box, how
they interact with other hardware and the OS, and putting it together
yourself.

Let us know the actual brands and models you decide on and the collective
will be able to share our experiences.

HTH,
Richard

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