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| Over the past few years I have built repaired upgraded trouble-shot and reconfigured numerous PC’s. Wherever possible I’ve used parts and software from companies whose products have given me good results before. Gradually I’ve found what hardware/software configurations work well together This is probably the most important factor in the construction of a PC. | ||
| The following hardware information is here so that potential customers can get an idea of the sort of hardware I would be likely to recommend if asked to do an upgrade or a custom-build. For information on recommended software solutions please visit the software page. | ||
| The hardware configuration below is typical of machines that I have built in the past. The hardware on the market currently is a grade or two above that listed below. I am presently testing out the newer hardware using mostly the same vendors. I'll be publishing my conclusions here as soon as I've reached some. | ||
| Chip: |
AMD K6 II-3D 450/500 | K7 (Athlon) 600/800 (socket A) |
| Motherboard: | FIC VA503+ babyAT MB (VIA MVP3 Chipset) | Athlon chipset KT133x |
| System RAM: |
128Mb SD RAM PC100 (never enough) |
| Graphics card: |
Creative RIVA
TNT II 32Mb AGP |
| Sound Card |
Creative
Ensoniq AudioPCI (many recent MB's have built-in sound) |
| Hard Disk: |
Seagate/
IBM/Quantum 13-20Gb |
| Optical Disk: |
Asus CD ROM 44x Both DVD Rom and CD-R/RW (recordable/rewritable CD Rom) drives have become easily affordable lately. |
| Modem: |
USRobotics 56k Message
Modem (external) The only answer to faxing to and from a PC that I have found. |
The above configuration is actually getting a bit long in
the tooth by todays whiz-bang standards but unless you are
a mad keen gamer or into video graphics in a big way it's
more than adequate for common office and internet tasks.
After all you wouldn't use a jumbo jet to get to the corner
shop, would you? This configuration makes an excellent and economical
upgrade for most existing machines more than 3 years
old.
(I am starting to develop a machine using AMD's
Athlon chip (K7) and another FIC motherboard soon - more
below.)
Motherboard
The FIC motherboard is
no longer available in Hong Kong and I have been testing a
similar class board that uses the same chipset made by To-the-Max
(Taiwan). The motherboard is the heart of the computer and
the last bit you will want to replace or upgrade. It
should be able to provide many future upgrade possibilities
and should be the highest possible quality for the class of
the machine.
U.S. Robotics modem
I have found U.S. Robotics modems to be fast and reliable
and I can recommend my current modem the 56k
Message Modem which can hold fax and voice messages
internally allowing you to receive them when the computer
is switched off. It also comes with excellent bundled
software.
Graphics Blaster Riva TNT II
This card
has a rep for being a good all-rounder but serious gamers
might be better off with a Voodoo III.
nondog K7
I have started work on a new configuration using
the new AMD Athlon chip (600-1000Mhz). There is new board from
FIC that supports this chip that looks promising. More
on this coming up.