Re: Choice of cpu and Mboard for new build

I will soon build a lo-end pc for home. Use will be mostly garden-
variety: browser, word processing, Email, etc. A tiny bit of number-
crunching with a programming language. No gaming, video editing or
anything extra-demanding.

I haven't built a pc in about 5 years. Lots of things have changed ...

I've picked up a little Antec case with 350w power supply. Major
components i.e. motherboard and cpu have yet to be chosen. Budget
is very, very tight.

Possibility #1:
 Intel Celeron D 310 Prescott 2.13Ghz/FSB533 Socket 478 Retail $45.50
 Retail means the heatsink/fan is included.
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112208

 MSI PM8M-V Socket 478 VIA P4M800 Micro ATX Retail $44
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130519
 AGP 4X/8X or use built-in graphics. 2 DDR memory slots.
 Realtek 10.100BT LAN chip. The Newegg reviews show only 3% gave it
 a poor or very poor rating.

Possibility #2:
 http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=DTMBMID2C28NOK
 INTEL D865GV S.478 W/CELERON D335 2.8GHZ $125.99

At present, I hope to use existing IDE (PATA) hard drives on the new
system, and
need 2 IDE channels. No SATA for the foreseeable future.

Both cpu's have Prescott core? Any reason to avoid Prescott?

I assume Newegg is a safe vendor. Anyone have experience with
Ascendtech?

Circuit City has Kingston 512MB PC3200/2700/2100 DDR SDRAM Desktop Memory
on sale for $20 (after rebate). I'm thinking 2 of those ...

Anybody evaluated Socket 478 P4 vs. Celeron for price/performance?

Any/all help/ideas/considerations would be much appreciated.

  Cheers,
  Peetie

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