Chipset and Mobo

Hi Jagman- the 875 is faster than the 865 when DDR400 is used- that's pretty much the main difference. I do recommend that you look at something like the Dell SC400 which has the 875 motherboard- I have one. It's marketed as a "server" but you can use it as a normal desktop. As far as the video card goes- the Radeon 9600XT is a terrific choice for the price (less than $200). You can get faster performance but you'll have to pay like $150 to $250 more, and I'm not sure if that's worth it. Also you might want to look at the Athlon 64 3000+. It's very fast- faster in fact than the P4 3 GHz in most benchmarks.

Hey Guys, I'm a newby and I'm here to pick your brain a bit. I've been doing some reading and comparing and I've somewhat decided on what I want. I am looking at a P4 2.8ghz, with an Asus P4c800 or a P4P800 mobo, 1gig of RAM. However here are a couple of questions:

• What are the real differences between the 875 and 865 chipsets for the P4 mobo's? I like my racing games, will I see a difference and is the 875 better setup for future upgrades.

• Do you guys have a suggestion on a video card? Of course when I see a 256MB card for $100 from Chaintech I get excited. But what else should I really be looking at besides the memory. I don't necessarily need TVout and all that jazz but when I see 128MB cards selling for $400 from ATI I begin to scratch my head. Any suggestions.

Feel free to try and talk me out of getting a P4 if you want. I am just more familar with P4's and the chipsets even though I don't dabble in overclocking. However, BIOS and overclocking, I will save for after I get my unit going.