To clarify...
All parts mentioned are stand-alone parts. You
can buy them as "bundles",... but for this discussion, we're talking about single components that you buy separately.
CPU:
Athlon XP is the CPU (central processing unit) It's the component that is basically the "brain" of the computer. I suggested the Athlon XP because it is still much cheaper than a P4. Nowadays, the P4 has taken the crown from Athlon as far as who has the "fastest" CPU,
but in order to get a "faster" P4 you're gonna have to pay 600 some bucks, as opposed to paying only 200 or so for the fastest Athlon XP.
Mobo:
The mobo (or motherboard) is pretty much the "torso" of the computer. You plug pretty much everything in to the mobo. It does not come with a CPU already in it, unless you buy a "bundled" package. Each mobo is built for a specific CPU (it's either an Athlon mobo, or a P4 mobo, or a PIII mobo, or what have you) The newest "speed" or "flavor" of mobos for Athlon XP's is the DDR 333 boards. The "333" stands for the MHz (megahertz) of the RAM (random access memory) that they use. They have a FSB (front side bus) of 166Mhz. The FSB is the speed at which the mobo can transfer data. Also, the FSB and the type of RAM you use are closely related. That's why it's important that you pick the right type of RAM to use with certain mobos. More about RAM will be explained in the next section.
Different mobo's use different "chipsets". The chipset is like the "heart" of the mobo. It directs the flow of data traffic around the mobo. The current fastest "chipset" for Athlon mobo's is the VIA KT333 chipset. So.. when buying a mobo for an Athlon, it is most logical to buy one that uses the VIA KT333 chipset, because you will be getting the best performance. One of the better KT333 chipset mobos out there is the Soyo Dragon Ultra... If you read
this review you will see that the Soyo is a mid-range contender (as far as speed), yet has many features. The hands-down winner of that review (as far as speed) was the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP. But I have heard from multiple other sources that the Gigabyte is having QC (quality control) issues and so I can't recommend them at this time. Another board in the review that I would consider is the Asus A7V333. It did better than the Soyo in most of the benchmarks, but doesn't have as many features. Asus is known for making solid, stable boards so I have no problem recommending them.
RAM:
The memory you use is determined by which motherboard you buy. So, assuming you buy a DDR333
mobo, like the Soyo Dragon Ultra, you will need DDR333 RAM DIMMs (dual inline memory modules). Those are the "sticks" of memory that you plug into the mobo. The "speed" of memory to get for DDR333 mobos is "PC2700". So when you go to buy the RAM it will say something like "256MB of PC2700 RAM". PC2700 is built "fast" enough for DDR333 boards. The reason you need a specific type is because, as mentioned before, the speed of the RAM is closely related to the speed of the FSB of the mobo. Older PC's (personal computers) used PC100 RAM. That meant that the FSB was 100Mhz. But PC100 RAM was "SDRAM", which meant the data could only transfer one way at a time, in or out... therefore the maximum speed of the RAM could only be as fast as the speed of the FSB on the mobo. But DDR (double data rate) memory can run at double the rate of SDRAM (thus the name
double data rate) because it can travel in and out at the same time.
So, with DDR333 RAM, you are running a FSB of 166Mhz, both in
and out at the same time... therefore, you are using 333 Mhz. (166 times 2) The "PC2700" stands for the maximum bandwidth of the RAM (2.7 GB/s) Basically, if you buy slower RAM (like PC2100) you're wasting potential performance. Keep in mind that your computer is only as fast as your slowest component. So if you spend a lot of money on a fast mobo and CPU and RAM, but buy,... say,.. a slow Hard Drive, then the computer can't read/write to and from the drive fast enough to really make use of it's potential performance. And the same goes for most other primary components. As for how much RAM to buy,.. that is up to you. I use 512MB and it is sufficient.
HDD:
The HDD (or Hard disk drive) is where all your data gets stored. These are mounted inside the case, usually where you can't see them from the outside. You can buy a mounting braket that allows you to remove your HD so you can take it from one computer to another, but most HD's are internally mounted. The Maxtor D740X HD's are a particular "flavor" of Maxtor drives. They have very good read/write and seek time and they're fairly inexpensive. (and also fairly quiet.) So when you buy a Maxtor D740X model, you can pick from different sizes, such as 20 or 40 or 60GB (gigabytes), etc. etc. The actual model number for the D740X line changes for each "size" dirve. So the 40GB size model is the 6L040J2 Model, but the 80 GB size is the 6L080J4 model. Yes,.. there are a lot of different "names" to remember, but after a while, you get used to all the different ways you have to refer to HD's and RAM and what not.
O/S:
Windows XP is the best Microsoft (also known as Micro$oft, Micro$cum, Micro$coff, Micro(blowme)soft(ly), Micro$cam, Macho$oft, and a multitude of other derogatory names
) O/S (or Operating System) that has ever been put out, IMNSHO. (which means "In my not so humble opinion", as opposed to IMHO which means "In my humble opinion"
) I would recommend it for anyone who has decided to get a MS OS. Home and Pro are the same exact OS, but Home has certain key features disabled. Basically, it was a way to get more money out of companies, by disabling the feature they knew most companies need. (which is why people call them Micro$cum). But Pro and Home use the same Kernel as each other... and all the lay-outs are the same. The only difference is that Home can't use dual CPU's and has certain networking functions disabled and what not.
DVD/CD:
For the DVD-RW, I can't recommend one.. I don't own one and haven't spent much time researching them... but there's no reason why you can't have a DVD-RW drive in your system. For a regular DVD drive I would recommend the Pioneer 106S (slotload). It's fast and quiet. For CD-RW's I'd recommend either a Plextor or Yamaha drive.
Video Card:
Basically, you have to decide how "fast" or "nice" of a video card you want. To get good performance for relatively low price, I recommend either the GeForce3 Ti 200 or the Radeon 8500LE. Both are similar in performance (though the 8500 is usually faster in most apps) and go for around 99 bucks. If you want a smoking video card, then for 50 bucks more you should get the GeForce 4 Ti 4200. This card goes for a little under 150 and completely smokes both the Ti 200 and the Radeon 8500.
I hope that helps.
WATYF
Instead of P4 go with 