Video: I dig the newest stuff from ATi, and it's just getting better. They finally got it together, and their drivers have been wonderful with their hardware.
 
Chipset: If going AMD, I would pick nForce or SiS, as I have never had good luck with Via (and neither have my friends). If going Intel, then I would use an Intel chipset (although SiS has had some creative stuff).
 
HDD: I always get WD, but that's just me.
 
DVD Burner: I dig my Sony, but I haven't really paid that much attention to other vendors.
 
Sound: Most onboard sound setups are really quite good now (especially the nForce stuff, if going that route). Unless you are looking for other features (like remote control and breakout box with the Audigy Series, 24bit sound, etc.), I wouldn't bother with anything else.
 
Case: I have a Chieftec case, which is like most of the cases you see these days. It's been great.
 
PSU: While this wasn't mentioned, it should be addressed. My favs have been PC Power and Cooling and Enermax, although I use another one that I can't think of right now.

ATI 9600 pro or 9800 pro (don't get the SE it's a "slower ediditon")
 
Mobo I'd recommend an abit or asus mobo based on intel 865 or 875 chipset.
 
Intel P4C (speed depends on the money you're willing to spend). 2x512 ram running in dual channel mode.
 
HDD Maxtor or WD 7200 8MB. You might consider a sata solution
 
I use onboard sound on my mobo.
 
 
If money is a problem get a barton XP 2500 and a nForce2 mobo.

The nForce 2 seems to be kinda picky about the RAM you use...so unless you want A64, I can't see a real reason to say you must go AMD at all costs.
I've got the Abit IS7-E and it's a nice board. If you want their Canterwood board, look at the IC7 series.
 
Definitely go with a dual-channel memory setup. I've got some plain Kingston ValueRAM in my IS7-E and it works fine.
 
PSU: Antec or Sparkle

Intel CHipset
Intel CPU
DVD Burner: Pioneer. THey make the best
ATI Video Cards

CPU: AMD AthlonXP 2500 or above (P4 feels more sluggish then the Mhz suggested below 2.8C), Perferred choice would be Athlon64 3000+
 
Motherboard: If AMD AthlonXP VIA KT600 (If SATA drive is used) or Nforce2 (Nforce2 is a bit faster, but both is at the same level), A64 would be K8T800. If P4 865/875 (SIS's newest chipset performance is actually pretty good too)
 
Video: ATI, 9600/9800 Pro/XT
 
HD: Hitachi 7K250 SATA 8MB, if not available get Maxtor DiamondMax 9 SATA 8MB
 
Writer: Pioneer
 
Sound: Audigy2 ZS or Turtle Beach stuff., To be honest altough Nforce2 have a pretty good DSP (MCP-T), but it's quality is often limited by the CODEC it uses. If the MB uses a inferior codec (Realtek), the sound quality will only be acceptable. Analog Devices, or Cmedia codec will do a bit better job
 
CASE: Very personal, but perfer a case with good air flow design
 
PSU: SPI (or FSP), Enermax

I really like my Aopen AX4C Max II board, but it's a high-end 875P chipset mobo, not for the frugal that's for sure
 
I'd also recommend the Aopen AX4SPE-UN as it's a fine 865PE chipset board with onboard LAN if you need it. Also the Asus P4P800 series boards are just great.
 
The sweet spot for CPU's is the P4c-2.8 however you may find the 3 not much more and of course if you ask Mr. Gov he can clue you into all the fun overclocking tricks and solutions for getting the P4c-2.4 up to 3 and beyond
 
Memory, don't skimp cause the price is great for RAM right now, even the high-end stuff. Get either Kingston HyperX matched pairs or the Corsair TwinX matched pairs and if you can get the 1GB package, that will be 2 x 512MB sticks.
 
Graphics cards run the entire spectrum now, I'm getting by with just an Abit Siluro FX5600 however if you have the extra funds then of course the big boys from nVidia, the FX5950 Ultra or ATi, the 5800 XT do kick some butt.
 
If you want to really give your storage some kick in the pants then go with a pair of WD Raptor 36 or 72 GB drives in RAID 0 mode. These are basically 10k SCSI mechanism's fitted with SATA interfaces and of course what WD calls near-line performance and reliability, i.e., they are warranted for 5 years 8)
 
As for a DVD burner, I can't say enought of the Plextor 708A, this baby kicks ass and comes in black if you want to get a matching chassis too
 
Speaking of cases, I recommend the Antec Performance II series or the Performance Plus series. Very nice configurations and their power supplies are great too. If you want to go with some other chassis you can with some no-name power supply I'd recommend getting an Antec or Enermax unit instead.

Do not get a FX. They do not run Farcry in PS 2.0 mode, while R3x's do. Could mean problems with other future DX9 games.
 
I also recommend a PC&Power PSU. 5 year warranty, and the best rails in the buis.

I would stay away from AMD Athlon since there it has not much advantage over price, performence, and most importanly reliability. If you are a technician yourself, then it is ok to get AMD.
 
Intel makes the BEST chipsets for P4 (i think everyone agrees with this one). Intel Also makes motherboard that are very reliable, no breakdown, or anything like that (I have been dealing with Intoel mobo's for past 3 years or so). Others make fancier motherboard at better prices compare to Intel, but you must be careful with them. I personally trust most boards that are made by intel, most of them because i have not tried few of the low end ones yet!
 
If you use Intel, power supply will not be the big issue of the day, you can use any p4 certified 350W+ and it will work just fine. for AMD, you MUST buy high end power supply or you may end up dealing with wired problems.
 
Most intel boards work with High Quality memory only (at least work better with high quality memory). high quality means at least Kingston Value ram or Crucial. stay away from "Generic" brans since it will give you few crashing/freezing problems once in a while.
 
I personally DO NOT like low end Wester Digital HDD's, the SCSI and Workstation ones are OK, but not the destop ones. I get WAY TOO MANY WD RMAs Compare to Maxtor and SEAGATE. therfore i suggest Maxtor or Seegate as well. Samsung drives are generally lack in perforemence a little bit, but they may be cheaper (i wouldn's buy that myself thou).
 
For case: Walk into the store and buy whatever matcher your ferniture!!!! Usually i look at the built of the case, how many drives i could fit in, how strong the structure is, and LOOKS too. I like lights and windows, and you just name it.
 
I am personnaly an ATI Fan, i have used ATI cards and they are comparatively better than their Nvidia counter cards. You may have problems with LINUX operating systems thou. nVidia makes easire to use drivers for Linux, and ATI doesn't. but i still prefer ATI cards forsome technical reasons, some related to heat.
 
Use only GOOD POWER SURGE protectors, don't pay too much, but don't be cheap.

^^ i can disagree with almost everything of the Above
 
 
AMD are generally MUCH cheaper for the power and we all know AMD do more work per cycle.
 
Canadian prices
 
AMD
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Barton @ 400Mhz FSB - $299.99
 
Intel
Intel Pentium 4 - 3.2C-GHz @ 800Mhz w/ 512k -$399.99
 
 
$100 more - now - it does depend on what you are using this system for...
 
AMD is now more of a gamers / everyday user chips in terms of performance
 
Intel - if you do video encoding and other GFX intense items - then Intel is often ontop of the game against AMD.
 
Motherboards
 
Asus
Abit
intel
 
I prefer Abit - if you are overclocking as someone above point out - Abit is the way to go - dont even consider Intel. - Asus tends to forget key items if you want to overclock but they have nice features. If you just want a dekstop system to plug everything in and go - Intel is know for it's more stable motherboards - but often for a higher price.
 
 
Video - STAY AWAY FROM THE FX'S cards - if you want to future proof your system - wait a month and see what new cards ATI and NVIDIA come out with - and even then watch the price of current high end cards drop nicely.
 
if you can wait for everything - PCI-Express / DDRII /BTX are all coming out in the upcoming month so prices on current items will all drop.
 
 
AMD is just as stable as Intel and is not as picky as you say above - for many many people - some people have bad experiences. This is aslong as you go with an Nforce2 chipset or SiS - via + AMD or via+intel = crap / troubles most of the times with some exceptions.
 
As for harddrive - i am the opposite as above - i have had Maxtors and IVBM's die on me - i do how ever currently have 6 WD 120g / 40 WD and a 160g WD - the 6 120g WD have been running 24/7 for almost 2 years now as a file server and not one has died - how is that for quality!
 

 
Samsung i also fele safe with - have a 80g Samsung that has traveld with me from toronto to antigua and now to costa rica and still works great.
 
 
Pending on what mobo you get - many come with 6 channel audio so you wont need a sound card.

I'm going to step in and say how I'm eating those words about the nForce 2. While you've always got the chance of getting a bum board, the memory issues have been dealt with as I'm running Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe with no problems.

Quote:
Canadian prices
AMD
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ Barton @ 400Mhz FSB - $299.99
Intel
Intel Pentium 4 - 3.2C-GHz @ 800Mhz w/ 512k -$399.99
$100 more - now - it does depend on what you are using this system for...
AMD is now more of a gamers / everyday user chips in terms of performance
Intel - if you do video encoding and other GFX intense items - then Intel is often ontop of the game against AMD.


Let's do a little math here: so I save $100 on the CPU, i'll have to buy a good heatsink and fan fot the AMD CPU, cause the stock fan sux. and i'll have to buy an Enermax for at least ~ $60-$70, and there pretty much goes a big deal of my savings.

i could buy the intel CPU, that coms with a "good" CPU fan and heatsink (specially the 3.0Ghz and above), and i could deal with a cheaper N-Spire Powersupply for about $30.

then I install the Intel CPU on an Intel board and it works great. depending on what Mobo i get i may need to constantly monitor heat and deal with the noisy fans, etc. i agree that in some terms people may prefer AMD, but for my best systems, i have rather not to go close to them.

I have been using intel motherboards, and i KNOW for fact that you MUST use better memory brands for 865 and 875 chipsets. on different motherboards with intel chipsets, generic prands may work just fine (not that they don't work on intel) but if you are using an 865, 875 chipset mobo that is built by intel, USE GOOD MEMORY to avoid any problems (I have personally tested this ).