1. What's the fastest speed available right now for Dual Core processesors?
Don't go Dual Core, go Quad. Windows 7 manages the cores quite well, and more and more applications (especially games and video rendering) benefit from them. It's becoming hard to find dual cores anyway.
2. Which brand of processor do you prefer for processor? Intel? AMD? Something else? If you can, {"Plz" bitch-slap me.} state why?
At the moment, Intel is performance leader with their core i (codename Sandy Bridge) series. AMD is budget leader. As stated before, there isn't that much of a difference if you stick in the same price segment, although Intel is leading a bit.
Pick i5 for best price/performance. i7 offers little benefit in speed if you don't tax a processor (video rendering, server, number crunching, ...).
3. What is the max RAM and ROM Space available for hard drives, SIMM's, DIMM's, etc? Again, any brand prefernces and why?
In DDR3 land, memory bandwidth specifics have become irrelevant. Any brand will do. I'd advise you to take a laptop with 1 stick of 4GB, you can add another 4GB stick yourself - RAM is dirt cheap these days.
I've got 8GB in my desktop PC, just because I like to game with a video playing on a 2nd screen, with Outlook and some browser windows open, alt-tabbing merrily along.
4. Can you put more than one cooling fan in a pc?
In a desktop pc: preferable. The bigger, the less noise.
In a laptop: you have cooling desktop pads (they blow air onto the bottom of the laptop), but imo, if your laptop needs that, it's a sign of bad engineering. That, or you live in the Sahara.
Place a laptop on a flat surface for best cooling. Or on some kind of tray if you really want to use it on your lap (and don't want a heat exhaust blowing on your crotch).
5. What sound and graphic cards do you prefer for comps? Nvidia? GEForce? What? Again, give reasons for your preferences.
I prefer Nvidia, but that's rather because of habit. I know their tiers of GPU. This all comes down to your preference. Often some cards have some bits of FPS advantage in certain games, but it's nitpickery.
Audio cards are motherboard embedded, both for laptops and desktops. If you're an audiphile who notices the difference between 256kbps mp3 and PCM WAV: buy an external, good card.
6. Is there a drive available that can use both BluRay and DVD-Rom?
I think Blu Ray drives are backwards compatible. Check the specifics if you're unsure.
7. What programs do you suggest for screen captures
See other comments(fraps?)
8. Any suggestion for a wireless card?
Not a clue. I don't trust wireless for home use, living in apartment building. Don't want some hacker creep downloading kiddie pron over my wifi.
Realize that you'll never get the same speed as wired, if you have premium broadband.
9. What other programs should I get other than Windows 7? I heard it does really well w/ older games, but I don't know if anyone has tried them on the pre-Fallout 3 games or not. X-/
Just try it out. If you really want to be compatible, search the manufacturer's site / google for XP drivers: you can always go Dual Boot then. Imo better Dual then Virtual, the latter slows down the virtualized OS. Really old: Dosbox, as mentioned.
10. My fps skil isn't the greatest in the world, but at least w/ a decent controller instead of a mouse, I might have a fighting chance. X_x\
Try a FPS with a mouse for a bit (decent mouse, not a trackpad). After a day or 2 you wonder why people mess with controllers. With a bit more training, you can shoot a limb off a cazador without zooming in and without aim assist. I don't like controllers. As Ausdoerrt mentioned, I also think X360 (and playstation) controllers are compatible. Google will answer you this simple question, as cRPG board members are more likely to emulate SNES controllers then Xbox on their PC.
11. What would you suggest for PC software protection/firewall/repair? Unfortunately, I've heard getting multiple progames can be counterproductive as they'll think the other programs are malware and will "attack" each other instead of doing the proper debugging/repairs against viruses. X(
I use some free antivir (avira or AVG, whatever). If you want spyware protection, Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware are a good combination. I use neither, on my half yearly scan I rarely encounter anything. Been working in IT for quite some time though. Whatever you choose, I disadvise you to go for a full blown expensive suite. In my experience, they just slow down your PC.
I know I'll be paying my friend an arm and a leg, but I do want an upper-end laptop from him, plus if need be, he can do upgrades on it later
Don't count on upgrading a laptop. Besides putting in extra RAM, there's no use in changing anything. If your CPU becomes outdated, then your motherboard and VGA probably are too.
I mostly stick to upper midrange hardware for a laptop; go for $800 in stead of $1000. This way I can upgrade after 2.5y in stead of 3.5y.
