al wrote:

Intel or AMD - don't mind, but no more than one down from current fastest
CPU
At least 2GB of *FAST* RAM (not cheap no-brand crap ... really Corsair are
my favourite here)
2 HDDs - one about 60GB, the other about 160GB - both SATA, min 7200rpm
Optical - one reader (all formats), one writer (all formats - including both
DVD!)
ATi Radeon 9800XT 256 graphics card
Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS sound card
Decent speakers - at least 5.1 sound

However, banging the bits together in a warehouse does not make a good PC
necessarily! High end manufacturers spend a lot of time testing and working
with the OEMs to produce stuff that works really well together. VoodooPC
win tonnes of awards in the US - I'm trying to find a UK equivalent to
compare with.


While I'm in full agreement with you re. the spec, I don't agree with
the "manufacturers spend a lot of time" bit.

You've listed your components. All you need to add to that is a really
good motherboard, and you can't go wrong. There is very little tweaking
to be done.

The things that high end manufacturers have normally won out on is using
well designed cases with proper airflow around *all* the components,
including the drives, and using good quality PSUs.

Good cooling and good PSUs are easy off the shelf items these days.

--
Grunff