New computer specs for best performance?

[nathanaa]

Good, I was hoping that was the case. Thanks for the software tips, I'll check those out.

I'm having a problem finding the right mobo. If I got an Intel P4 3.0Ghz (w/800Mhz FSB, socket 478) and two Crucial 800MHz PC6400 512MB sticks, I need a mobo that matches them, preferably with both USB and Firewire. Tiger doesn’t have anything unfortunately, that I can find at least (from ASUS or Intel). All the boards I find seem to only take DDR RAM up to, at most, 667mhz, usually less.

I am assuming if a board says it takes DDR that DDR2 will work too. What I can't find is one that can take the RAM that matches the CPU FSB speed/power. I would appreciate any recommendations. I'm trying to follow the advice above about using RAM that matches the CPU, but maybe I won't be able to, in my budget range ($800 max)?

[lordsmurf]

Onboard audio is usually AC97, which sounds perfectly fine. I've got it on one of my Intel boards, and there is not problem whatsoever with it. It sounds every bit as good as my Turtle Beach and SoundBlaster cards (good cards). The ONLY issue with onboard audio is video capturing, it can cause sync errors.

If you plan to use this for playing media, watching DVDs, you can try onboard video, but you may want to grab yourself a decent ATI or nVidia card (again, used ones are fine, it DOES NOT have to be brand new $200-500 "latest and greatest", it just needs to be an AGP with decent RAM of 64MB or more).

[Jester700]

Onboard audio is usually AC97, which sounds perfectly fine. I've got it on one of my Intel boards, and there is not problem whatsoever with it. It sounds every bit as good as my Turtle Beach and SoundBlaster cards (good cards).

This is true. "Not great" means different things to different people (and for different uses), and the extra 10dB of noise (over, say, an Echo MIA) that might matter in a studio recording environment will not in home use.

[nathanaa]

I haven't had any luck, so I'll repost this part in case anyone can assist me with this -

I'm having a problem finding the right mobo. If I got an Intel P4 3.0Ghz (w/800Mhz FSB, socket 478) and two Crucial 800MHz PC6400 512MB sticks, I need a mobo that matches them, preferably with both USB and Firewire. Tiger doesn’t have anything unfortunately, that I can find at least (from ASUS or Intel). All the boards I find seem to only take DDR RAM up to, at most, 667mhz, usually less.

I am assuming if a board says it takes DDR that DDR2 will work too. What I can't find is one that can take the RAM that matches the CPU FSB speed/power. I would appreciate any recommendations. I'm trying to follow the advice above about using RAM that matches the CPU, but maybe I won't be able to, in my budget range ($800 max)?

Anyone able to tell me about that DDR/DDR2 thing? Thanks for any help or direction.