building a new computer

I am going to get a new computer and want to make sure it is built meeting SL requirements.
Any recommendations?
Windows or Mac?
AMD or Intel?
Should I avoid built-in chipset and any built-ins?
If you could build a new computer, what would you have put on it?
I welcome all suggestions.
Thank you!
Di

Computers are like cars.
Speed costs money; how fast do you want to go?

PC is much more versital than Mac. More off the shelf software including many versions of Linux to choose from if you ever feel like going that way.

Intel or AMD? Intel is actually pulling ahead of AMD on benchmarking test for the first time in for ever, but I personally still like AMD. besides, they are cheaper for the same class of chip and dont have thre heat problems the newer designed Intel sockets can cause. But any difference is magrinal and arguments and justifications can be made either way. whichever you prefer is fine. (go with AMD)
On board video does not matter, you will be adding a vid card and disabeling the onboard in bios anyway so, ... whatever. I have never had a problem with onboard NIC. Your average network card is no where near the slowest point when connecting through the internet. I would get a sound card to replace the onboard sound if you want to listen to music through anything better than a cheap headphone set. It's also better to use a card if you want to do voice chat or voip telephone. I prefer turtle beach cards but sound balsters are OK if you are comfortible with them. Turtle beach are not only cheaper but in my opinion much higher quality of sound.

I usually use Kingston memory. Get AT LEAST 2 gigs. Yes, there are better brands but I have found Kingston to be si0lid and reliable for the money. Do NOT get Muskin. My work place went with them once and I had so many dead out of the box sticks it's not funny. Many more died in service later as well. Maybe it was just a bad batch, but I have heard similar stories from other people as well.

With all that said, I have found that parts are getting more expensive and pre-built systems are getting cheaper.
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======== BOTTOM LINE so you can skip all the above ==========
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At this time, I would spend 300 on an nVidia vid card and spend the rest of your budget an an off the shelf HP, Tobisha or Gateway that will take the card. Avoid e-machines, Acer or any brand you have never heard of. If it's significantly cheaper than the competers, there is a reason for it.

I built mine, and it runs SL perfectly well.

Here're my parts

GIGABYTE GA-P35C-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
2 Gigabytes DDR2 SDRAM (2x Super Talent 1gig sticks)
550 Watt Power Supply (Can't recall brand at the moment)
EVGA 256-P2-N768-A1 GeForce 8600GTS SSC 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Intel Q6600 Quad Core CPU, 2.4 GHz per core


Windows XP Home (I don't like mac, hate vista, and pro only has extra things I don't need, so XP Home was perfect)

The only bit I'm not 100% sure on is the graphics card, as I'm not at home to check, and had to recheck an old list on newegg. It may not be the correct one. I'll post again when I get home.

Now, I run EQ2 at max settings, SL at max settings (Aside from draw distance for faster loading of areas), Obivion at max... basically everything I've played I can run at max settings, and I also do 3d modeling with blender and tings don't take ages to render unless they're huge (That's CPU doing the render not graphics card)

Intel/AMD is really not an easily answered question.. figure out other parts and cater brand to that I'd say.. Figure out motherboard before processor is what I mean, as that will dictate essentially everything you can have,

I would say it depends on what other applications you intend to run as well. If you are going to do a lot of heavy photo and video editing, a lot of people recommend the MAC. I greatly prefer PC's, but that's just me. For a PC, I would have a minimum of 2 gigs RAM, a mid-range dual core processor or better, and at least a single 8600 GT for a video card, although if you are going with one card an 8800 GT or better is recommended. I run two 8600 GT's and it works great. If you are going to do a lot of other gaming, then upgrade from there.

All this talk of SL requiring a bleeding edge gaming system that you hear every once in a while is nonsense. Compared to games like Crysis, SL is child's play. On the other hand, you don't want a bottom-line computer either. My advice is to go as nice as your budget allows. For SL, spend more on the processor if you have to make a choice, then go for better video cards. If you can still get XP, do that instead of Vista.