A client brought in a system that's been very unstable and troublesome
since she had it built by a local shop a year ago. It was built with a
strong eye toward the budget, but now she wants to trade cost for
improved stability.

The current system includes a PC-Chips M571 Motherboard with the TX Pro
II chipset, AMD 233 CPU, 64 MB SDRAM, and embedded sound and video. The
case is a generic mid-tower AT case with a 250 Watt power supply.

I'd like to replace the current motherboard with a FIC VA-503+. I've
heard good things about that board from users of this list, and I think
it would fit in her AT case and allow her to continue to use her
existing RAM. I also plan to add a Creative Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card
and a low-cost video card that still offers some measure of 3D gaming
ability. She's strictly a 2D (text and productivity) person, but when
her kids come to visit they'd like to be able to play a game or two. I'm
thinking an ATI Rage 16 MB card would fit the bill. She wants to keep
the AMD 233, the two hard drives, and the CD-ROM drive.

Does anyone have any comments about the components I've picked? Am I
overlooking anything?

Jeff Delzer

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