> I now use NewEgg most of the time. > I like to build my own dev machines because I like to pick the > top-of-the-line components.
Same here(2x). > Asus motherboards are bulletproof. (my current system has been running > since early 2003 without ANY problems whatsoever) Eh. I wouldn't say bulletproof. ASUS makes a nice motherboard, but I did just have a P4P-800SE crap out on me with no warning. It's just totally dead. I ended up building a new machine to replace it and recently put the CPU and memory from this old motherboard into a newer one, proving it was the motherboard that was bad... > I stay away from built in components on the MB like video, NIC etc... > although the built in audio serves me well. I agree, but remember you can usually disable these things if they're on your motherboard, so I don't not buy a motherboard because of them. > NVidia video cards. Yes-- a dualhead one, of course. Get a motherboard and video card with PCI-Express16 and not the older AGP... > SATA/SATA II for hard drives, try to stay away from the one size for > everything 500-750 gig drives as these are slower than their smaller > counterparts for the main drive. Definitely SATA drives, and I agree that multiple drives is best-- I find 2 to be ideal. > At least 2 gig of RAM Yes, but don't go crazy. I had 3GB in my old system and it was rarely used and confused some apps. 2GB is the ideal amount(definitely not less) if you're staying in a 32-bit environment. > Dual Monitors are a must have minimum (IMNSHO) Dual, triple, quad. Whatever your budget and physical desktop will allow. > I would definitely stay with XP if at all possible - the stuff I have > been reading about Vista especially with respect to DRM scares the > bajeezus out of me. ;) Yes. I'd choose WinXP and use VM's to use anything else if you have a need-- a decent new dual-core 2GB system with plenty of HD space will run multiple VM's quite nicely... -- Derek _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
