Posted 07/26/2008 at 07:28:56pm

I just finished building my new system 3 weeks ago. I started with a DX48BT2 Intel motherboard and Core 2 Quad 9450. For the hard drives I used 2 of Western Digitals VelociRaptors. I did goof on the memory using Corsairs TW3X4G1600C9DHX G DDR3 (4 gigs). The memory loads at 1066 MHz by default because Intel requires a "spd" chip on the memory to run at 1600 MHz. I am running Vista Ultimate 64 which reports 5.9 on all of its performance tests if that means anything. This is totally my fault and not Corsairs, but I found out the recommeded memory is double the price of the memory I originally purchased. I have been able to reset the memory bus to 1600 MHz using Intels "Desktop Control Center" so that is my compromise for now. I also bought Corsair's TX750W power supply. I like its single rail. For graphics I am running only one BFG GeForce 9800 GTX (BFG98512GTXOCE) that has 512MB GDDR3. Now NVidia has the GeForce GTX 280 out that is supposed to be so much better than what I just bought. All of this ran me approximately $2,200.

I waited for a couple of months for the WD VelociRaptor drives to build this system. I am very happy with this combination, so my question to Intel is "Why in the hell should I have waited for this latest CPU? The system being replaced worked excellently for over 4 years. It was an Intel D850EMV2 motherboard and 3.06 GHz hyperthreaded PCU. One gig of Rambus 1066 memory and 2 Seagate Ultra 320 SCSI drives (0 raid striped). Hopefully I have done my homework (except for the memory goof which I can change later if the price ever becomes interesting) well enough to get 4 years out of this new system.