Here's the tally of the parts list: MoBo: Asus Maximus Formula $274 CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 $287 2x2GB Patriot dual channel 800MHz low latency memory $91 nVidia Galaxy video card 8800GT OC $215 Seagate 320gb harddisk $88 LG DVD RW drive $30 Microsoft Vista home premium 64 bit $132 Antec 500w power supply $63 Computer Case Cooler Master Elite 330 $42 Total $1,222
I went with Vista Business on my new build.........it has a few Vista bugs but nothing to worry about. Service Pack 1 will be out soon, i suspect this operating system will be CLOSE to being as solid a performer as XP PRO is now in a year or so.. But indeed the so called issues about being SLOW etc are way overblown. Driver issues are the main problems. Even Nvidia latest drivers flatly state many items such as some multiple screen setups are NOT supported in Vista that ARE included with XP. All and all i would still purchase Vista rather than buy an old Operating system.......but, would pass on the home versions. PS.......you can still do multiple screens in vista but Nview was down pat a few years ago..............leave it to Microsoft to set back the software development for 3rd party suppliers.. :eek:
Various Vista versions share the same engines. The difference is in the bundled features. The Home version has photos and entertainment features, HD movie capabilities, while the Business version has Fax and Scan, remote access, backup & restore, etc. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx The 64 bit version is actually two O/S in one -- the 32 bit version is built-in. You get both versions of everything (where available): 2 Internet Explorers, 2 media players, 2 calendars, etc.
My guess is that the RAM for the lower versions is a deliberate throttling of the maximum RAM capacity for product positioning purposes.
Tums I thought you were bulding a "performance" system... Where is the WD Raptor HDD? (or Mtron SSD) Once you've got a raptor in your system you'll never go back... - mnx
I used to very much be in the tech scene. Built my fair share of machines going back to the 80286! But the BS with the little details that would take up HOURS of my time to get the machine running, I felt it wasn't worth it in the end. You don't really save any money and most time it will definitely cost much more in time and effort.
The Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM drives are excellent storage devices. 10,000 RPM drives are useful for intensive I/O situations. e.g. media streaming, database server, etc. For my purpose, especially with VISTA caching and file indexing, 10K drive do not offer any disk access advantages.