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Lenny

Lenny said: [Goto]

You must have been incredibly tired - 9950 is the Phenom's model number, not it's speed. The Phenom 9950 runs at 2.6ghz.

I know that now. I wasn't exactly "awake," when I was writing this.

Lenny said: [Goto]

Change the fan. It only shifts about 40CFM (cubic feet per minutes - the volume of air it will move), and is a 90mm fan. A good fan will shift over 100CFM. Assuming the case is wide enough to take one, get a heatsink that has a 120mm fan and replace it with a Panaflo. The heatsink you choose is all down to preference, but the bigger the fan and the bigger the volume of air it shifts makes for a cooler CPU (one of the reasons to go for a 120mm over a 90mm is that the bigger fan rotates slower and quieter, yet still shifts more air. It follows that a 140mm fan on a heatsink is better than a 120mm, and so on). Obviously, if you get a heatsink and replace the fan, you'll need to make sure you put it in the right way - no point having a heatsink with a horizontal fan on top which is blowing air down at the CPU, or a vertical heatsink with air being blown towards the front of the case.

Alright, I'll look around.

Lenny said: [Goto]

Which is going to be your main OS? I imagine it'll be Vista 64-bit, in which case, why do you need two versions of XP? Unless you use XP a lot, then you might as well go for the 32-bit version. What does it matter if you only get 3.12gb of your 4gb of RAM if you only use XP once a month? The same applies if your main OS is XP - with 4gb of RAM, go for XP 64-bit and forget about XP 32-bit. I really don't see the need for two versions of XP.

Windows XP is my main. I am going to have both 32-bit and 64-bit in case I run into programs (games really) that won't run in the 64-bit version. I have Vista for Direct X 10 games. Also, the max ram for a 32-bit is 3.4GB, not 3.12.

Lenny said: [Goto]

Personal preference also comes into play with DVD drives, but I'd advise getting a SATA one, simply because then you don't have to piss about with IDE cables, instead you've got a single, thin, flexible cable going to the drive which is a dream to plug in.

Believe me, I'm getting a SATA one.

Lenny said: [Goto]

Floppy drive... how often do you actually use a floppy drive? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? If it's anything less than monthly, then ignore it and get an external USB Floppy drive... or just use USB pens. Every BIOS these days comes with the option to boot from "Other Device" - USB pen. If you're getting a floppy drive simply to allow you to use boot floppies, then, well, in my mind it's a watse of money.

I have to transfer files from a computer that only has USB1.0 ports. So, my only method was to use Floppy.

Lenny said: [Goto]

I don't know where you got your Mobo details from, but it's only got four DIMM slots, not eight: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...k9a2_platinum/

Ha, man, I was freakin' tired. In my head ran the word DIMM instead of SIMM. For a SIMM it would have been 8.

Lenny said: [Goto]

If you want a mobo that allows multiple CPUs, then think about the Intel Xeon line - the higher specs ones can take two Core 2 Quad Extremes, and up to 32gb of DDR2 RAM.

Good advice, I'm gonna look into that.

Lenny said: [Goto]

And no, it's not overboard. I'm a great believer of spending money in incredible amounts when you're young. If you've got a few thousand to spare, then don't let it gather virtual dust in a bank account, spend it - you don't need to worry about tax, or bills when you're young, so spend when you can. I'm coming to the end of my care-free, tax-free and bill-free youth, and I'm starting to regret not spending things when I could. Yes, I've learnt how to save and how to be incredibly tight with my money, but it's only over the past couple of years that I've experienced the joy of expensive tech.

Yay! That's what I wanted to hear the most. Still, I haven't found a sound card. Maybe I'll just find a cheap one. Not like I have 5.1 surround sound speakers. I have good ole' stereo speakers.