Okay, well I've been putting off doing this so yea...

3.0GHZ Intel Dual Core 2 E8400 Processor
HP DVD/CD burner with Lightscribe
160GB+500GB+500GB SATA hard drives
Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB
1GB + 2GB of DDR2 RAM running @ 800Mhz
Windows Vista 32-bit
APEVIA X-Jupiter Jr. G Type Case-Black
ASUS P5KPL-VM motherboard
ANTEC EA 650w power supply
22" LG monitor

Total was ~$1,000

Well, I went the lazy route and purchased a pre-built Cyberpower PC from Newegg. I originally attempted to build it completely from the ground up but it was a lot to keep track and I'm lazy so... yea.

The original motherboard that came with the pre-built computer didn't work with my GeForce 8800GT card. Apparently the PCI-express slot on the original motherboard was a 1.0a version of PCI-express which is NOT compatible with a 2.0 PCI express card (which the 8800GT was the first of ).

At first I thought it was a power supply problem and bought the Antec power supply thinking it would help. Then I found out about the PCI-express problem and I suddenly had an extra power supply (or so I thought)

So I ended up switching motherboards with my sister's computer. The card worked perfectly and the rest of my computer came together quite nicely.

However, my sister's computer would not boot with the new motherboard. Again I was in despair thinking that I would have to switch it back because I couldn't leave my sister without a computer (that's not nice) but at the last minute I used the power supply from the pre-built Cyberpower PC and voila it worked. So in the end, the Antec power supply was required.  

I pulled the HP DVD drive from my older computer. I bought it as an upgrade for the older computer and it still functions pretty nicely.

I could have gone 4GB but I didn't want to deal with the whole 64-bit scene because I still use pretty ancient hardware so I wasn't sure if they would still work.

I had to argue with myself as to whether or not I should get a dual core or quad core processor. I opted to go dual core because I wouldn't be using alot of CPU intensive programs (at most Xvid4PSP) and alot of programs/games could not even utilize a dual core processor properly so there was no point for me going to a quad core processor. I could also get a faster dual core processor for about the same price as a slower quad core processor.

Vista is awesome. It runs quickly on this computer setup and I haven't seen a single BSoD.

LG monitor was actually bigger than I had intended but it's useful for editing manga and stuff.

The only problem I've experience is the fact that I can't properly wake up my computer from sleep or hibernate.

I've been able to install Mac OS X on this setup as well but it wasn't as snappy as I hoped.

I probably would've gone for 4GB - 2x2GB for dual channel (probably not that much of a speed boost, but it's practically free).
4GB doesn't imply you have to have 64-bit, though there's little reason not to use it (basically 64-bit gives a speed boost at expense of some RAM).  That's not old hardware - I've been using XP64 on my old machine fine (AthlonX2 4200+, nVidia 7800GT card, 1GB RAM).  But meh, 32-bit works, so who cares?

Good build otherwise :P

(This post was last modified: 18/12/2008 12:44 AM by Kuu.)

Blu-ray burner isn't really worth it these days - unless you want to burn PS3 games or something.  Optical media is mainly meant to be cheap, but at around $10-20 per disc, a HDD is a far cheaper option... (and the Blu-ray market is quite stagnant at the moment, as opposed to when DVDs were introduced, and the economic poo poo going on isn't going to help it either)

Kuu Wrote:But they are <$200. Can't hurt to be future ready.

It's a depreciating asset.  Being "future ready" also means you pay exuberant premiums for everything >_>  Smarter to invest your money in something that actually increases its value (hard to do with the current US interest rate).

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:

Kuu Wrote:But they are <$200. Can't hurt to be future ready.

It's a depreciating asset.  Being "future ready" also means you pay exuberant premiums for everything >_>  Smarter to invest your money in something that actually increases its value (hard to do with the current US interest rate).

i know whot you mean but my 8800gts is def still worth the price i payed for it 10 month's ago!!

Vegetano1 Wrote:

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:

Kuu Wrote:But they are <$200. Can't hurt to be future ready.

It's a depreciating asset.  Being "future ready" also means you pay exuberant premiums for everything >_>  Smarter to invest your money in something that actually increases its value (hard to do with the current US interest rate).

i know whot you mean but my 8800gts is def still worth the price i payed for it 10 month's ago!!

wtf means?>> depreciating 

It depends on what you value I guess.  An example is Intel's top of the line i7 965 processor selling at $2000+.  The entry level i7 920 is like $500.  Is the 965 really 4 times faster than the 920?  Hardly - Intel just puts on excessive premiums for the 965 so it skim the most profit off those who don't care about money.  If you ask me, paying $2000+ for a CPU is just ridiculous, but if you just have to have the best...
Optical drives is a little different.  From what I can tell, Kuu appears to be an early adopter - someone who loves having the latest stuff.  Not saying there's anything wrong with that - just note that early adopters tend to make a small proportion of the market - generally, early adopters place value in having the latest stuff (therefore, they're willing to pay premiums), whereas the majority place less value on the newest stuff (less premiums, plus they prefer to see whether the medium becomes widely accepted).
Depreciating means value going down.  Practically everything in the technology department decreases in value over time.  Optical drives typically don't go down as fast as things such as CPUs or graphics cards, but they still go down nonetheless (and most people adopt to the medium once prices become more reasonable).

(This post was last modified: 18/12/2008 06:12 AM by ZiNgA BuRgA.)

Vegetano1 Wrote:

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:

Kuu Wrote:But they are <$200. Can't hurt to be future ready.

It's a depreciating asset.  Being "future ready" also means you pay exuberant premiums for everything >_>  Smarter to invest your money in something that actually increases its value (hard to do with the current US interest rate).

i know whot you mean but my 8800gts is def still worth the price i payed for it 10 month's ago!!

wtf means?>> depreciating 

He means it'll be cheaper to buy in the future than to buy now. Due to both lowering prices, and time value of money (same amount of money is worth less in the future than in the present).

So pretty much he's saying that it'll be more worth it to buy it later on when blu-ray disks are actually affordable, than to buy it now and let it sit there and depreciate.

And I agree with him.

EDIT: Heh, seems like you got the post in before I did.

(This post was last modified: 18/12/2008 06:07 AM by Assassinator.)