what are your exact plans for this machine, and what would your budget be?

I'm not at all impressed by the PSU with that case...that is always a weak point in many builds....doling out the funds for a quality PSU is always worth the money!...

lets skip the queries on my part and I'll simply state that I think ASUS boards are top of the line, though I feel that intel is a great way to go because of various other reasons....

note of course the barebones kit listed does not have a cpu cooler nor has a video or sound card included (though the board is sound enabled, but I try to avoid such things)

Maxtor drives are currently not in the greatest of regard...I've beaten the he!l out of my WD drives and they are all still working (this goes back 6 years...I've still got my original 80GB WD drive)

also the included 1GB of ram is lamer as it doesn't even enable the use of the dual channel memory function of that board (i.e. 2GB should have been offered to really take advantage of modern day use of dual channel)...I notice one review said he added in 2GB more of ram..pffffttt...that also restricts the dual channel function as full pairs of sticks of matching properties need be used to really sing....

in essence, the deal seems fair, but if you are really looking for a custom machine you would probably be better off creating your own from a separate list of parts...

the case also lacks in the ability to cram it chock full of fans if one desires....I find Antec cases to be quite nice for the price....also, their PSUs are highly reliable and fairly rated as far as their Wattage capabilities...

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Hey Thanks for checking that out for me. I had a feeling about it and thats why I haven't made a move yet.
As far as cost goes I would really like to have a great system for less than a Grand. Have a 15 yr. old doing his homework, and other things that these kids do, and me, LW, internet, just basic stuff. Really don't need a Super Computer but would like to have something thats not outdated a few months after I buy it.
Any suggestions would be COOL.
Thanks

I am using one of those "Loaded With BS HP's"

Time to make a change

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I Don't Suffer From Insanity, I Enjoy Every Minute of it

I assume you want a whole new complete set up with drive(s), sound, video card, DVD burner and OS?

WiFi?

I'll also assume you have no interest in RAID...

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Yea, all of the above except the dvd burner and I think RAID is a little overkill for us right now.
No WiFi
Would take some advice on the Operating Systems. Don't really want to go the Vista route until they get the bugs worked out. Have XP now.
My brother is thinking about Linux, your opinion?? XP has been OK for me.
Thanks

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I Don't Suffer From Insanity, I Enjoy Every Minute of it

lets face it...you're a gnutella network user, and being real that means to use the stuff you have downloaded you pretty much need a windoze machine...run from Vista...get an OEM version of XP pro, and while 64bit would be grand a heck of a lot of programs need 32bit to work properly AFAIK...the only disadvantage of OEM is that it is locked to a certain BIOS code on your MoBO upon first registration so you can't transfer the OS to a new machine...UNLESS that machine has the same MoBo or close to it...as an example, this machine I'm using right now (MoBo, CPU, and OS HDD's) originally resided in another physical MoBo...and the MoBo's are exactly the same...the old one was an ASUS P4C800e-deluxe but I found that it had a faulty fourth DIMM slot when I finally added in another 2X512 set of matched sticks to use a full 2GB of memory...so I had to RMA it...if you have paid attention THIS machine is my internet machine so obviously I would just up and DIE if I didn't have internet access...so I took the MoBo from one of my DAW's and put all of the other parts (cpu, ram, video, HDDs, etc) and put them in an ASUS P4C800 deluxe (notice the subtle difference, the-e deluxe has an ICH5R (RAID) southbridge, and other is just an ICH5 (non RAID)...I'll skip the whole long story of the subtle differences, but The_Point is that the machine started right up (woops...except for the MoBo detecting the different (NEW in the MoBo's eye) and having to forceably enter the BIOS and changing some settings..oh yeah, then I had to fix a missing NTDLR file...it was after this was resolved that the machine started right up) and didn't even hiccup over the change in the MoBo's...they are exactly the same (hence no change as far as XP OEM was concerned) so window's doesn't even realize that this is the case...in fact you could probably make a set of machines using the same MoBo's and install just one OS of them, use the same serial...and Micro$oft update probably wouldn't hiccup either!...

OEM saves you quite a few bucks compared to the 'retail' version...I ended up using XP MCE on this machine just because it was $10 cheaper than just XP Pro...Pro has a few other networking capabilities than MCE does but this can be 'hacked' so no problemo...you can even spend a few more bucks and get the IR receiver and remote and go the full MCE package...that costs about $40 bucks more...anywho I do heartily advise you BUY an OS and be confident that the only hair up your a§§ will be those created/allowed by M$...

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So Long and Thanks for All the Files
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Beware of the big 3 insurance companies in Texas! Read your policies carefully (maybe you'll need a lawyer) Allstate, Farmers & State Farm are overextended and their 'coverage' is worthless...a true waste of your money Read This

Peerless' "dream machine" for the above situation (budget)(sans DVD burner???) would be:
MoBo:

Stability: Intel BLKD975XBX2KR 975X P4/P4EE/Pentium D/Pentium XE 1066 at ZipZoomfly
Performance: ASUS P35 P5K Deluxe Wifi Motherboard Retail at ZipZoomfly

CPU:Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad Core Processor 2.4GHz 1066 MHz LGA775 8MB cache Retail at ZipZoomfly CPU Core 2 Duo E6420 2.13GHz FSB 1066MHz 4M LGA775 Retail at ZipZoomfly[/url]
Ram:OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Platinum SLI-Ready Edition OCZ2N10662GK Memory Retail at ZipZoomfly
Case:Enermax ECA3052-B Chakra Mid Tower Case (Black) at ZipZoomfly
PSU:Antec TruePower TRIO 650 650W Power Supply at ZipZoomfly
HDD's: 2 of Western Digital WD1600YS 160GB 3.0 Gb/s 16 MB Cache 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive at ZipZoomfly
Video:ASUS GeForce 8500 GT PCIE 512MB DDR2 Extreme Silent EN8500GT SILENT/HTD/512M Video Card Retail at ZipZoomfly
Sound: Onboard...
OS:Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 w/SP2B - OEM
remote:Microsoft A90-00007 Remote Control and Receiver for Media Center PC wi at ZipZoomfly

that's around a grand right there....

still need a monitor, burner, keyboard & mouse, and maybe a couple of extra fans (preferrably one blowing over all 3 HDDs)....

the above MoBo/CPU/RAM combo could be very nicely OC'd by an easy 10% (pushing the cpu to ~2.65GHz)...the cpu is retail so a stock cooler should be included.....

I guess I failed to meet your budget, but your desire to not have something be past technology in 6 months requirs using some of the most cutting edge technology which costs a few bucks more!

I guess a comparable analysis between bare bone would be that my dream machine cost $915-$955 according to the chosen MoBo..for OC'ing I'd choose ASUS...

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So Long and Thanks for All the Files
_____________________________________________

Beware of the big 3 insurance companies in Texas! Read your policies carefully (maybe you'll need a lawyer) Allstate, Farmers & State Farm are overextended and their 'coverage' is worthless...a true waste of your money Read This

Peerless, WOW Thanks for your time and effort. The above rig is exactly along the lines I'm thinking. I really like the ASUS MoBo.

It may be a few months before I can do anything, but I will let you know and probably ask for more advice.

I just recently crashed my 06 Dodge Charger, so I'm a little set back by this STUPID ACT of carelessness, but I guess thats why they are called accidents. I really appreciate your advice.
Thanks, Remoc

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I Don't Suffer From Insanity, I Enjoy Every Minute of it

Whoah I din't know dat! *sigh* and IF I tell that 2 my MOM sh'e gonna be but how its new! and shes gonna its impossible! >-< Let's just say that she thinks she knows a lot of PCs when she doesn't it makes me mad. Like for example my pc is infected(well it is) I told that Norton Anti-virus isn't enough that it needs the whole thing she gonna be like "How can that be its from a CD" I'm like that doesn't have to anything with being a CD! I need the secirity thingy cuz that alone won't get the deep malwares and such but she won't listen so see why I told ya that.
Anyway I'm thinking of getting a laptop so I'll forget what she said she thinks she's know-it-all in that stuff!! grr


BUt thanksss ALLL!!!

GamerCyGirl

You are so funny, or is it that New Jersey version of English that you write in, either way you make me laugh.


UK Bob

PS. What does "Bunny" mean?

I just read a study on the quad cores which indicates that for current software they are slower than duo cores....sooooo....I would take the above dream machine and go to a core-duo and possibly downgrade the MoBo (no, I haven't taken the time to research if this is needed) to save funds....

__________________


So Long and Thanks for All the Files
_____________________________________________

Beware of the big 3 insurance companies in Texas! Read your policies carefully (maybe you'll need a lawyer) Allstate, Farmers & State Farm are overextended and their 'coverage' is worthless...a true waste of your money Read This