Buying a new PC, help needed.

[Toad]

My current PC is really outdated (I bought it in 1999 and haven't upgraded it since then), and I'm planning to buy a new one. So far I have a Athlon 1Ghz400, a Leadtek GeForce2 MX400, 512Mo DDR PC2100 and my motherboard is a MSI one. I just need a new motherboard, a processor, a video card and memory bars because my sound card and my cd / dvd reader/burner still work fine.

I thought about the Athlon XP3200+, which looks really cool (I've never bought Intel stuff and I don't want to start doing it), but I'm sooooooooo unaware of the good stuff that are currently available on the market. My company is giving me credit for that new computer, so considering you have unlimited amount of money (OK, not really, but you got the idea), what would you buy? Processor, motherboard, video card (TV output needed) and memory (amount+kind).

Thanks for your help

PS: does PC2100 memory bars work with PC2700 or higher ones?

[bebe]

Apple PowerMac G5

[st00mie]

If I were building myself a computer without much concern for money, I would buy the following:

MSI K7N2 Delta-ILSR Motherboard
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Barton Processor
2x Mushkin PC3200 512MB Memory Modules
GeForce FX5900XT Video Card
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive

This would set you up nicely for some time, providing lots of room for upgrading in the future, while being a nice enough setup to run Doom 3 comfortably.

But that's just me, what do I know.

[Jebus]

Well, if you went AMD and money was no object, I'd go with the newer Athalon 64s.

does PC2100 memory bars work with PC2700 or higher ones?

You can mix PC2100 with memory that is clocked higher.  However, all of your memory will clock down to match the slower DIMM, so you'll be as strong as your weakest link here.

Tech Not so Fun Fact!:  They're called DIMM's not bars.  DIMM stands for Dual Inline Memory Module.