All,

I am building my first computer from scratch (with assistance from some
friends that have already done so, of course). I have had ASUS boards in
the past and have had very good luck with them, so I am a little biased
towards them.

I am trying to build as good a system as possible without sending my wife
through the roof (I am sure some of you know what I am talking about).

My goals for this computer are 1) future home video editing -- finally
burning DV home videos to DVD, 2) a good gaming machine to get me through
another 24-30 months. I am planning on actually spending a fair amount of
money on a good video card this time around instead of 'getting by.'

Any advice on which mobo to go with?

Thanks everyone and I am sure I will have more questions!

JohnH

You really need to make the AMD vs INTEL decision first. I have both and
believe the Intel systems gives me the best performance but at a high price.
The AMD system is fast and cheap. If you go the Intel route, stick with an
Intel Chipset on the motherboard. If you go AMD, stick with an nVidia
chipset. I believe that these are the combinations that lead to the least
headaches and the best overall system stability. Current Intel contenders
are the P4P800 and the P4C800 series of MB's. For AMD (assuming not a 64
bit CPU) the A7N8X series is very good. One word of caution - my P4C800-E
Dlx onboard firewire is basically useless (as most others have found out as
well.) If you go that route, you're going to need an add-in firewire card,
or use the firewire port on an Audigy sound card.

As for video cards, the ATI 9800 Pro seems to be coming way down in price to
make room for the newer 9800XT card.

Don't skimp on the ram. Get some decent Mushkin, Corsair, etc... You'll
want a minimum of 512MB in a dual channel configuration (2x256) of
PC3200/DDR400. If you intend to overclock, get some PC3500/PC3700/PC4000 to
give you some headroom, although the latency of the higher speed ram isn't
usually all that great when run at lower (PC3200) speeds. Do some research
and choose wisely.

Good Luck!

"tuta" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bsum38$1hd86$(E-Mail Removed)...
> All,
>
> I am building my first computer from scratch (with assistance from some
> friends that have already done so, of course). I have had ASUS boards in
> the past and have had very good luck with them, so I am a little biased
> towards them.
>
> I am trying to build as good a system as possible without sending my wife
> through the roof (I am sure some of you know what I am talking about).
>
> My goals for this computer are 1) future home video editing -- finally
> burning DV home videos to DVD, 2) a good gaming machine to get me through
> another 24-30 months. I am planning on actually spending a fair amount of
> money on a good video card this time around instead of 'getting by.'
>
> Any advice on which mobo to go with?
>
> Thanks everyone and I am sure I will have more questions!
>
> JohnH
>
>

I use my machine for the same purposes you intend (Firewire transfer from
the ZR65MC MiniDV then burning DVD-R's
I also game a fair bit.

I bought a P4c 3.0 and the ASUS P4C800-E motherboard, and a 1G kit of PC3200
Kingston.
Put in an audigy, a dvd-r (lg4040b) cdrw (asus crw5224a) SATA 120G HD, and
Ati 9700 Pro AIW
19" NEC FE990SB monitor.

Probably spent close to 3k canadian on the whole whack, but i bought a good
case (Antec Sonata) and
a bunch of usb crap I rarely use, but nice to have (scanner, printer, usb
cam, joystick)
"tuta" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bsum38$1hd86$(E-Mail Removed)...
> All,
>
> I am building my first computer from scratch (with assistance from some
> friends that have already done so, of course). I have had ASUS boards in
> the past and have had very good luck with them, so I am a little biased
> towards them.
>
> I am trying to build as good a system as possible without sending my wife
> through the roof (I am sure some of you know what I am talking about).
>
> My goals for this computer are 1) future home video editing -- finally
> burning DV home videos to DVD, 2) a good gaming machine to get me through
> another 24-30 months. I am planning on actually spending a fair amount of
> money on a good video card this time around instead of 'getting by.'
>
> Any advice on which mobo to go with?
>
> Thanks everyone and I am sure I will have more questions!
>
> JohnH
>
>

Hve you considered the Asus PC-DL (dual Xeon) and grab a pair of matched
CPU's off e-bay?







"tuta" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bsum38$1hd86$(E-Mail Removed)...
> All,
>
> I am building my first computer from scratch (with assistance from some
> friends that have already done so, of course). I have had ASUS boards in
> the past and have had very good luck with them, so I am a little biased
> towards them.
>
> I am trying to build as good a system as possible without sending my wife
> through the roof (I am sure some of you know what I am talking about).
>
> My goals for this computer are 1) future home video editing -- finally
> burning DV home videos to DVD, 2) a good gaming machine to get me through
> another 24-30 months. I am planning on actually spending a fair amount of
> money on a good video card this time around instead of 'getting by.'
>
> Any advice on which mobo to go with?
>
> Thanks everyone and I am sure I will have more questions!
>
> JohnH
>
>

Asus P4C800E- Deluxe. Best, and most stable, P4 motherboard on the market.
And VERY versatile.

--
DaveW



"tuta" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bsum38$1hd86$(E-Mail Removed)...
> All,
>
> I am building my first computer from scratch (with assistance from some
> friends that have already done so, of course). I have had ASUS boards in
> the past and have had very good luck with them, so I am a little biased
> towards them.
>
> I am trying to build as good a system as possible without sending my wife
> through the roof (I am sure some of you know what I am talking about).
>
> My goals for this computer are 1) future home video editing -- finally
> burning DV home videos to DVD, 2) a good gaming machine to get me through
> another 24-30 months. I am planning on actually spending a fair amount of
> money on a good video card this time around instead of 'getting by.'
>
> Any advice on which mobo to go with?
>
> Thanks everyone and I am sure I will have more questions!
>
> JohnH
>
>