I got everything already - bought from Newegg. I checked out Zipzoomfly for the cpu. It was about $5 cheaper. If Newegg starts to charge a significant premium I'll definitely do my shopping elsewhere, but so far their prices seem to be near the low end of the spectrum. Also, I really like their web site - especially the customer reviews. Plus, they have such a huge selection, I can almost always get all of the parts or electronics I want in a single order. For example, this last time I also ordered a Siig SATA PCIx card, a Sony memory stick and a microSD card. These aren't uncommon items, but they had exactly the items and brands that I wanted. They're also really good about letting you know if something is in stock and they have a very good RMA service.

I also checked out the wattage chart. I had to extrapolate in couple cases, but I think my peak load should be under 250watts. If the p/s can't handle it, then I'll have to upgrade that part too I guess.

I'm running win xp on all machines - even an old AMD K6. I jumped on the XP bandwagon pretty early on just because Win 98 and ME where so freakin' squirrelly. XP has its flaws, but running the same o/s on all 7 machines has it's advantages. I'm not going to tackle Vista until AT LEAST after the first service pack.

I do want to try out Ubuntu but I won't have the time or energy for that for a while. I was really out of it for most of the Fall and Winter and it's just in the past few months that I've managed to dig myself at least part ways out of my hole.

Thanks for the recommendations and info. Additional comments are also welcome since I'm starting to gear up for the AMD Barcelona release - hopefully in 3 or 4 months.

For example, has anyone heard if Barcelona will REALLY be compatible with AM2 motherboards? I read somewhere that there will have to be some changes to fully support the chip but that if you pop it into an AM2 m/b it should still work - even if not at peak capacity.

That reminds me of the C2D, it worked on the same socket 775 mobos along with the Pemtium D's, but if I remember right, there was specific bios versions needed to be there, and also I vaguely remember something about it had to be a certain chipset or newer, which some mobos didn't have at the time. The AM2 socket is still fairly new, but coming out with a completely new chip might require a new socket. But if it brings out the true performance of the processor then we will have to smile and hand over the money for new boards. I am still using a couple of socket 754's and they work great. It's been a couple years since I have had enough dough to put together a nice new system. You might also want to look around for more RAM. Another 1GB will perk up that system quite a bit sometimes you can find great deals on memory. Tigerdirect has occasional deals, as does newegg. You can also try places like pricewatch.com, but watch out for the memory. Some of that stuff is pretty generic. I like to stick to something that I know like Corsair or Crucial brands.

That was pretty good. Very true. Intel is still a standard name out there, but AMD definitely has a little more of the market, and even better, people are a little more educated about them and know they are comparable to the mighty Intel Processor. Each chip maker has benefits and drawbacks, but in the end it's all good because competition means better deals for all of us! I like the Seagates, they have been good to me so far (knock on wood). The 7200.10 series (perpendicular recording) seems to get a little warmer than the 7200.9 series, but as long as you have adequate cooling it should be good.
Sounds like with all those processor intensive apps running, you'll need the quad-core. Me, I'd spend the money and let it sit and do nothing but crunch wu's all day with the occasional email checking.

Well, starting putting the parts together for my new machine and it looks like I won't be able to use my existing power supply. I forgot that the newer m/b's require a 12volt ATX connector in addition to the standard connector and the old grey mare ain't got one.

Looks like I'll be going out to CompUSA to see what they have on offer. They've got some good p/s's at decent prices at their web site so we'll see what kind of inventory my local store has.

I'm glad I got the Gigabyte AM2 m/b. My other AM2 based machine has been acting flaky and I'm not sure why. I did just recently install the latest XP patch from MicroStiffy so that's always a possibility. Now at least I'll be able to compare system stability with a similar dual core system and see if the problem is hardware or software. Granted, it's not a definitive test, but if the gigabyte m/b doesn't flake out when attempting the same types of operations, I'll have to look more closely at the bios version on the Asus AM2 machine. Maybe go back to the previous version.

Another possibility is that the Asus machine is overtaxed. It's got a 500watt p/s but it also has 6 7200 rpm drives and 2gig of memory. Plus the CPU fan/heatsink is huge - only slightly smaller than a bread box. And then there are the 4 120mm case fans. So if it looks like a hardware problem, I'll swap out one or 2 of the lower capacity drives. I'd like to have 3 terabytes on one machine, but I'd also like my own private island in the South Pacific - and we know that's not going to happen either.

Moi? Adventurous? No thank you. I've shot myself in the foot so many times I'm getting a bullseye tattooed on it. If you're going to be a masochist, you may as well take some pride in your avocation.

And I'm not talking about keeping up with the latest tech - just trying to avoid falling too far behind.

You were dead on about comp usa. I drove out to the store - or rather the structure where the store used to be - and was greeted by security gates. No lights, no signs, nada. I hadn't been there in several months - looks like that was true for a lot of other folks too.

Fortunately there are a few private PC stores around. I got a no-name power supply (520watt) for $70. That's probably $20-30 more than what I would have paid online, but not outrageous. I just hope it doesn't squeal like pig at a BBQ. As long as it's reasonably quiet I'll be happy.

If I've got the mojo, I'll try to get everything hooked up this evening.