New PC. Suggestions Please

[hata]

I am considering buying a new PC these days.Basically it will be used to do some programming and surf the internet.
The following is what I come up so far.

AMD Athlong XP 2500+, Bartion, Retail
Asus A7N8X-VM
256M DDR 333 Major Brand Name
A-Open QF50C Mid Tower 300W
Maxtor 40GB 7200RPM
LG 52x/32x/52x CDRW
Logitech Optical Mouse
LiteOn Keyboard
View Sonic VE500

My major concern is the motherboard,is Asus A7N8X-VM a good choice? Will it have problems if I consider to upgrade CPU and Main memory?

Thanks a lot!

[Whyzman]

Hello hata,

Welcome tohttp://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif Forums!

ASUS boards are renowned for their stability and reliability...

'They are not necessarily user friendly,' as told to me by ASUS techs. Their primary use are in uniform typical builds by companies that have all the bugs worked out...

That's not to say that they are beyond the average user.

The only suggestion I would throw out is regarding the Maxtor Harddrive...I just had to replace another one today...I've had a number of them belly up within the past year... :(

I would suggest perhaps a Western Digital...

[Budfred]

I would agree about trying a different drive, but mainly because a 40 gig is small by today's standards and you can get a much bigger drive for less money per gig. Some people say really good things about Maxtor, so it may just be bad luck on Whyzman's part.... I use Maxtor, IBM, WD, and Samsung... all seem to work well....

[Whyzman]

Originally posted by Budfred
it may just be bad luck on Whyzman's part

I think it's 6 now...retail and the refurb warranty replacements...:(

I too was sold on them...'Once upon a time'....

[hata]

Thanks for the advice!
Actually the maxtor drive in my parents' computer works badly too. They have already exchanged twice! But I bought one years ago, and it worked well.Sometimes I think maybe it is the luck that you need most when buying a comptuer.:P.

[pentachris]

I'm not a big fan of the micro-ATX form factor. I have recently built a system using a micro-ATX motherboard, but it was a budget system and I got a really good deal on it.

The MSI K7N2 Delta-L is a full ATX motherboard, is based on the same chipset, and has earned great reviews at Tom's Hardware Guide and in Maximum PC magazine. The Asus board you mentioned is $100 at newegg; the MSI is $79 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=K7N2%2CDelta%2DL), or $97 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=K7N2G%2DL) for the version with onboard video.