Doc Overclock · 09-24-2000 · Category: Tech-planations

When considering the purchase of a new computer many questions will arise, but the type of user you are is the most important. There really are only about four different categories in the mainstream computer market. Let me break them down for you by type.

Type A: The home-business, Internet-surfer type.

Includes those who might play some games, but would mostly use their computer for home business, online investment and finance, or email and family Internet communication. Moms, dads, soon-to-be grads and light users fall into this category.

AMD-K62-500 with 3DNow!™(100MHz FSB.
Cost about $70.00

Pine VA7-AV, VIA Apollo MVP4, 512KB PB Cache, 3x168-pin DIMM, 0/768MB SDRAM, ECC Support, 5x32 PCI, 2x16 ISA, 2 x USB, Integrated Trident Blade 66MHz 2D/3D Video and DVD, AC' 97 audio, ACPI and UltraDMA/66, ATX. Cost about $100.00

8Mx64 100Mhz 3.3V SDRAM 168-pin DIMM PC100 (64MByte Total/DIMM). Cost about $80.00

Western Digital WD102AA - 10.2GB 9.5ms 5400rpm EIDE Ultra ATA/66 2048KB Buffer 500Khrs MTBF. Cost about $80.00

3Com/US Robotics Sportster PCI Winmodem™ V.90 56K, internal. Cost about $50.00

Any. Cost about $15.00

Acer CD-650P Internal 50X-Max CD-ROM 7.5MB/s 85ms 128KB Buffer ATAPI UltraDMA IDE. Cost about $50.00

Any Mini tower case with a 250 watt power supply will be sufficient. Cost about $50.00

Type B: The intense gamer type.

The person who wants a cutting edge, overclockable monster machine for home multimedia entertainment. The latest audio and video. A ready to rock-and-roll machine for online/LAN multiplayer gaming. (Doc's category).

ABIT KA7-100, Slot A for AMD Athlon, VIA Apollo KX133 AGPset, 200MHz FSB, 0/2048MB 4x168-pin DIMM, SDRAM, ECC Support, 1xAGP (4X), 6x32 PCI, 1x16 ISA, UltraATA/100, CPU SOFT MENU III (100-183MHz FSB in increments of 1), ATX. Cost about $200.00

AMD Athlon 1000MHz Processor, 200MHz Alpha EV6 Bus, with 3DNow! Processor w/128KB L1 Cache & 512KB L2 Cache. Cost About $950.00

Corsair CM734S128-133 16Mx72 3.3V ECC 133Mhz SDRAM 168-pin DIMM PC133 (128MByte Total/DIMM. Cost about $200.00

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 53073U6 - 30.0GB 9ms 7200rpm EIDE UltraDMA/66 2048KB Buffer. Cost about $200.00

Any. Cost about $15.00

Any. Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! MP3+ PCI, PnP, 1024-voice Environmental Audio, Quad Speaker Support, LAVA! (Live Audio Visual Animation) support, 320k encoder and up to 5X acceleration for generating MP3 files. Cost about $90.00

3Dfx Voodoo5 5500, AGP 4X OEM/Bulk, 350Mhz RAMDAC, 64MB SDRAM, 2048x1536 Max Res., MPEG2, 667-733 Megatexels/sec, Real-Time Full-Scene HW Anti-Aliasing, w/ T-Buffer Digital Cinematic Effects engine. Cost about $350.00

3Com Fast EtherLink XL TX 10/100 PCI (3C905C-MTX) Bulk OEM 10/100 Base-TX Cat 5 UTP, Parallel Tasking II Technology, w/ Remote Wake Up. Cost about $50.00

Acer CD-650P Internal 50X-Max CD-ROM 7.5MB/s 85ms 128KB Buffer ATAPI UltraDMA IDE. Cost about $50.00

Super Micro SC750-A (ATX) Tower 6x5 1/4" 300W PS, air exhaust fan, two fan-mounting racks, 2 back-up cooling fans. Cost about $150.00

Type C: The high-end business server type.

Wants to create the awesome business muscle machine that can handle today's current hardware needs. Running your business and having multi-platform multi-user interfacing. Network-ready Web servers, mail servers and game servers all fall into this category.

SuperServer 8050 - Super S2QR6 with SC850-W chassis Quad Pentium® III/II Xeon ready, ServerWorks HE chipset, Up to 16 GB SDRAM, Ten SCA Ultra160 hot-swap SCSI drives, Triple redundant hot-swap power supply, 48 hours intensive test and verification. Cost about $5000.00

2 Intel® Pentium® III Xeon™ Processors 700MHz w/2048KB On-Die L2, 100MHz FSB. Cost about $5000.00

512 MEGS total memory, Corsair CM764S256-BX2 32Mx72 3.3V 100Mhz SDRAM 168-pin DIMM ECC PC100 CAS Latency 2 (256MByte Total/DIMM) - Registered (128Mbit RAM). Cost $1000.00

5 total, Quantum Atlas V QM318200XC-LW - 18.3GB 6.3ms 7200rpm 160MB/Sec Data Transfer, Ultra160 SCSI (LVD) 4096KB Buffer, AV-ready. Cost about $3000.00

Any. Cost about $15.00

Matrox Millennium G400 OEM, AGP4X Graphics Accelerator, MGA-G400 256-bit DualBus, 32MB SGRAM, 300Mhz RAMDAC, DualHead display. Cost about $150.00

Acer CD-650P Internal 50X-Max CD-ROM 7.5MB/s 85ms 128KB Buffer ATAPI UltraDMA IDE. Cost about $50.00

Super Micro SC750-A (ATX) Tower 6x5 1/4" 300W PS, air exhaust fan, two fan-mounting racks, 2 back-up cooling fans. Cost about $150.00

Type D: The business workstation type.

A simple, network-ready machine for those poor underpaid people who spend their days working with software programs. Must be network reliable. Sales, data entry, marketing, inventory and accounting workstations all fall into this category.

Super 370SWD, (Single) Socket 370 for PPGA/FCPGA, 0/512MB SDRAM, 66 or 100Mhz Bus, 2x168-pin DIMM,4MB Flash BIOS, Intel 810, 3x32 PCI, 1xAMR (Audio/Modem Riser), Intel 810 Integrated 2D/3D 4MB video, UltraDMA/66, USB, Super I/O, DMI, ACPI, MicroATX. Cost about $150.00

Intel Celeron Processor 500MHz PPGA w/128KB L2 cache on package. Cost about $100.00

Corsair CM654S64-BX 8Mx64 3.3V 100Mhz SDRAM 168-pin DIMM PC100 (64MByte Total/DIMM). Cost about $90.00

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 51024U2 - 10.2GB 9.0ms 7200rpm EIDE Ultra ATA/66 2048KB Buffer 500Khrs MTBF, ShockBlock head disk assembly, DualWave multi-processor controller. Cost about $100.00

Any. Cost about $15.00

Intel EtherExpress PRO/100+ TX PCI Adapter, Intel 82559 controller, OEM (PILA8460-B) 10/100Base-TX (RJ-45) Autosensing, w/ Remote Wake-Up & Boot ROM. Cost about $40.00

Acer CD-650P Internal 50X-Max CD-ROM 7.5MB/s 85ms 128KB Buffer ATAPI UltraDMA IDE. Cost about $50.00

Any Mini tower case with a 250 watt power supply will be sufficient. Cost about $50.00

The above are sample configurations of reliable, low-cost computers. There are many other manufacturers with the same basic specs and in the same price range for all items listed above. Please consult our vendor listings for information about parts and availability.

Good luck!

Doc out.