Ok, so I finally put all of the pieces together and now have a system 
that is slightly more updated and faster than my old one.

For those who might find it interesting...


When I started this adventure I was way in the dark about what was 
available, past, current, and future.  When we buy a PC at the office - 
it is a dell - just the options that they present to us.  So I don't get 
to get into the nitty gritty.

I think I now have a descent grasp on things.

Intel has a interesting thing going with their 2-step processor design.
	Use current size to make processor (ie 65nm)
	User current processor to make smaller size (ie 45nm)
	Repeat
If they stick with it it is predictable.
The thing I don't like is their pricing - not that they cost more than 
AMD, but that they don't drop in price at the end of their life - tho 
they do typically have significant drops after initial release.

AMD was very appealing - especially with the compatibility for future 
processors with their sockets - AM3 CPU can run in AM2+ socket, etc...

In the end Intel won out with me because of the chipsets - the new AMD 
SB750 looked very appealing, but I read enough about the bugs with 
previous ones and that many were still in the new one that I didn't want 
to deal with it.



Those were the hard decisions for me because they are what make up most 
of the system.


Graphics were easier - just find an up to date card with dual DVI out 
and the possibility to do TV out of some sort.  I am not a heavy gamer - 
while I enjoy a game here and there I don't have the time.  It should 
last and be able to handle just about anything that I am going to throw 
at it for the next 5 years.

RAM was easy, then turned a bit harder.  As I read a few reviews I ran 
into problems with motherboard compatibility.  I didn't want to chase 
this so I would up going with something on the qualified vendor's list 
for the motherboard.  While this wasn't necessary, I am out of touch 
enough that I didn't want to deal with the issues.

HD - western digital has always been good for me - tho I have not had 
any problems with any others that I have used.

I wanted a case that wasn't to big, yet had a good bit of room to add 
HD's for expansion.  The power supply needed to be good build with some 
watts to spare as I upgrade this thing through the years.  I wound up 
with a pair of 500GB drives that with the 'Intel Matrix Storage' could 
RAID 1 a *portion* and RAID 0 another *portion*.  So a good one went on 
sale and I snatched it up.




So in the end, final specs...

Motherboard:		ASUS P5Q Pro
CPU:			Intel E8400 Core2 Duo 3.0 GHz
HD:			(2) WD 500GB
				350GB mirrored RAID 1
				~100GB striped RAID 0
RAM:			4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC 8500)
				came with clip on fans
				not used at the moment
Video:			Sapphire Radeon HD 3850
CASE:			Antec Sonata III 500 - with 500w power supply.


So far the system is very fast and slick - much better than the PIII 750 
I had been using.

Now to edit some video......

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