I keep saying it, I know, but I'm in dire need of an upgrade and while shopping around, I chanced upon some new revelations leading me, ultimately, to a large dilemma.
My initial plan still remains. I intend to replace my current 939 single core athlon 64 and replace it with a 939 X2 64 bit. I also intend to up the RAM to max capacity. I intend to install Windows on a dual boot system where one configuration will be for gaming and interwebz and the other will be for audio. Again, two computers under one hood. I bought two 500gig hard drives to Raid 1 together to store audio, and a 120 gig SATA for each install of windows which will serve as an applications drive as well (duh). I already have an 80gig SATA which will be used for general data. I have two IDE drives, but odds are I'll be getting rid of the smallest one and setting it aside for now.
Because I'm so chic. I made a wish-list at NewEgg for you to see, so it's easier to read than copypasta.
[url]https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5617848&WishListTitle=Vista%2DReady[/url]
TOTAL PRICE: $1488.80
HOWEVER!!!
While browsing around NewEgg, I happened upon THIS little gem:
[IMG]http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/11-133-035-02.JPG[/IMG]
MicroATX. IT HAS A FNUCKIN HANDLE!
So I designed a Socket AM2 X2 system, 4gigs of ram, two 500gig HD's in RAID 1 and a 160gig system drive sitting in the floppy drive bay, since I won't be using a floppy drive...because I'm not a Neanderthal and I can admit when something is dead.
Pretty much an equivalent system. I even went through the trouble of including a KVM switch in the wishlist
[url]https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=5551828&WishListTitle=Portable+Audio+Machine[/url]
TOTAL PRICE: $1707.89
Also in both is a copy of Vista Ultimate. There is very little software I ever want to pay for, but I've learned the hard way that having a real version of Windows is usually a much more sound idea.
PRICE DIFFERENCE: $219.09
If the price of these machines were under a certain price range, I would say the extra $200 would be a bigger difference, but once I'm spending that much money, the difference is less considerable.
I'm a bit torn on what to do. I can see the benefits of both configurations. What would you guys suggest as the best route to pursue?
