I\'m getting a new PC for Christmas, and need some help deciding on what kind.

of course you can

swapping a mobo is very, very easy

they will be the exact same size

What if i wanted a gaming PC?  Whats the best one?  I only remember the name of Alienware, so I don\'t know who else to look at.  Customized Computer from Alienware.

The nature of PC gaming requires you to have a decent to high-end graphics card.  Those can get expensive if you buy them pre-installed.  You will get it cheaper if you buy an AMD system vs. Intel.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

I don\'t like AMD cpus.. We don\'t give warrenty\'s on them. Only the manufacture warrenty. Reason why, THEY FRY. Yep u leave the sink off or it comes off. Say BYE BYE to your cpu and the motherboard.

Intel cpus don\'t fry, they just crash your comp or slowdown. Then u can fix the problem. Although Amd cpus are faster then Intels and cheaper.. They have that little problem. Which isn\'t so little.  

But get whatever u can for the cash u have. Get the best of what u can afford. That\'s my rule.

Here\'s a movie that shows what happens to AMD and Intel cpus if the sink was to come off.
http://www.psx2central.com/~soul/THG_CPU_Cooling.zip

I build pc\'s so I will offer some advice.  Don\'t get the Pentium 4.  The new Athlon XP 1.5 GHZ will run the same as the P4 2.0 GHZ.  AMD is better for gaming while the P4 is for audio/video.  Get at leat 384 MD DDR(preferrably) because most new games already require 256MB.  Definitely Geforce 3 or ATI Radeon 8500.  Make sure the hard drive is a 7200 RPM ATA-100.  Make sure the board in the system runs @ >200 MHZ and is RAID ready.  With this combination, you should score a 6000 in the 3D Mark2001 test.    (madonion.com).  If you look around, you can find this system for less than $2200.  If you want a super powerhouse, check out the line of Falcon southwest Mach V.  PM me if you need anymore guidance.

Originally posted by §ôµÏG®ïñD
Intel cpus don\'t fry, they just crash your comp or slowdown.

All CPUs, including Intel\'s, fry when their temp threshhold is exceeded.  It is possible with newer motherboards to monitor your CPU temperature and shut the computer off or reboot when it hits a certain temperature.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

Originally posted by EmperorRob
All CPUs, including Intel\'s, fry when their temp threshhold is exceeded.  It is possible with newer motherboards to monitor your CPU temperature and shut the computer off or reboot when it hits a certain temperature.

who told u this dood. I SELL pcs. Intels cpus that run on mb normaly slow down the computer why? Because there\'s LESS POWER being put though the cpu to STOP the cpu frying.. That\'s what the Thermal Diode is for. It\'s designed to tell the MB that the CPU is getting to hot and to stop putting power into it.. Just enough so u can shut off what your doing and turn the machine off.

I\'ve yet to see a Fryed Intel cpu. I\'ve seen heaps of amd cpus come back fryed.

Maybe intel used to have cpus that fry.. But once they got set up so they don\'t allow power through the cpu.  (P3, P4, etc) It stopped.  Amd mb don\'t have a thermal diode. Why, I do not know. Maybe AMD couldn\'t give a rats arse if the cpu fryed. Off course any cpu can fry if they get too hot.. But INTEL cpus don\'t allow themselfs to get that hot.  

Again.. The vid.
http://www.psx2central.com/~soul/THG_CPU_Cooling.zip

Watch THEM BURNNNNNNN!!!!!!!.

I don\'t know why AMD won\'t use thermal diode.  Probably to keep costs down or something.  I\'ve heard it\'s real easy to crush the core of the Athlon and I was careful putting mine on and had no problem, but if -____- is buying a pre-built system, he won\'t run into this problem.  However, I haven\'t heard of anyone refusing to put a warranty on one of their AMD machines.  Where do you work?

[nO-One]

AMD doesn\'t include an heatspreader like Intel does to keep the cost down.

Also, if the CPU over heats the system crashes, most people don\'t leave their computers on when it crashes so the risk of the core actually melting isn\'t that great. But when it comes to the older Tbirds, if you start with out a heatsink or one that hasn\'t been properly seated the core will melt with in 8 seconds. The AthlonXP (based on the Palomino core) deals with heating a llot better than the Tbird\'s.

There was a video where some guy played a game of Q3A on a Palomino (AMD) based system using passive cooling only. It ran fine. Ofcourse I don\'t reccomend this since it is a fact that Athon\'s get hotter. Due largely to the fact that there is a large transistor count running at a very high clock speed.

EmperorRob, it\'s true that it\'s easly to crush the core of a Tbird, since AMD doesn\'tinclude an heatspreaded, and leaves the core naked.

Puh.. That vid really scared me Soul..

Hmm.. BTW, nO-One: Which motherboard do you think is the best?
I was thinking about a Asus

Abit KT-7 or the new Epox.  Just make sure it iaccepts DDR Ram

[nO-One]

Abit is always a good choice if you know what you\'r doing, and be ready for some defect since they aren\'t known for the best quality control.

I know the Epox board has gotten good reviews, so have msi boards.

I haven\'t kept close taps on the mobo things lately since it\'s all become darned complex, the via kt266 chipset is supposed to be very good, the nForce is nowhere to be seen and hasn\'t been the super king of all benchmarks that it was supposed to have been. And now a new AMD chipset is arriving.

The 266A chipset is great as long as the chip is not the via.  Via has many conflicts with nvidia(hence the reason I have a playstation2 instead of a pc now).

YES YES YES!  NO!  Damn u VIA!

I got an FIC mobo that runs great except for the 686B - ATA100 - Win2k problem.  VIA needs to get off their butts and stop eating that Taiwanese pizza and do some work.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

Originally posted by EmperorRob
I don\'t know why AMD won\'t use thermal diode.  Probably to keep costs down or something.  I\'ve heard it\'s real easy to crush the core of the Athlon and I was careful putting mine on and had no problem, but if -____- is buying a pre-built system, he won\'t run into this problem.  However, I haven\'t heard of anyone refusing to put a warranty on one of their AMD machines.  Where do you work?

I work at CHnC.. Computer Help and Networking Central. It\'s my brothers buiness. We do have a 1 year warrenty for the CPUs.. But it\'s void if the CPUs overheats and frys.. or is overclocked.  If the cpu doesn\'t work or just stops working without being fryed. Then we will replace it. AMD don\'t even allow a warrenty if it frys.