download of windows xp for free/ I'm in an an interesting situation here...
Fall '06, I decide my P4 2.53 ghz Dell 4600 w/1 Gb ram and 256 vram is a little weak. Initially, I planned to do my first build, but with the holidays rolling around, i comprimised and went with Cyberpower PC (which is like leting someone else build a custom, for you). .
Core 2 DUO E6600 2.40 GHz
2x 250 GB SATA II 3gb 7200rpm /8mb (RAID-0 striping)
2x 1 gb Corsair DDR2 6400 XMS2 xtreme
Pioneer PI-111 16x DVDRW drive
C2D ASUS P5N32SLI-SE-DLX 775 2x16mb
EVGA nVidia 7950GT 512mb PCI-E
680w PSU
SB X-Fi sound card which I found out later sucks with my mobo (Disabled list) - running on-board sound atm.
MS Media center 2005
G-bit ethernet...
Coolermaster LQ cooling basic kit (currently, system stays 30-40 degrees Celcius w/ minor OCing using some basic nVidia tools)
Free space...from what I can see (can provide pics if necessary)
2 more upper drive bays (CD/DVD type)
1 more 1.44 bay
At least 2 more HD bays
At least 1 more PCI-E slot
2 more empty Ram slots (first 2x1 gb sticks running in dual channel)
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So here's the funny part - not more than 1 week after I received this, nVidia announced their first DX10 Mobo's <- yeah...Probably should have returned it and rebuilt, but I didn't...
So here is the situation as I see it...and please by all means correct me if I am wrong.
1. Can't ever run DX10 with current Mobo
2. Most DX9 games run superbly on what I have now, so I have little need to upgrade current DX9 v-cards/ram/etc
3. HD's are in RAID-0...bleh
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Upgrade possibilities - this is definitely where I need the help. Here are some scenarios I've run through in my head - please do feel free to modify them or make your own when posting replies...
1. Upgrade mobo...may or may not fit case (its a midtower, not full) - would kill RAID-0 in switch, so would need to buy another external HD to backup 2 primary HD's before the switch. All other components could be installed into new board? (ram,v-card, psu, dvd player, etc).
2. Simply buy a whole new PC...either self built or from a company and have to deal with transfering everything over.
3. Wait for some wild and crazy new tech to come out and then pounce on some good upgrade deals.
[Insert other ideas here]
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The only reason Im loathe to ditch my current PC is that its not 100% paid off, and other than the DVD drive coughing and not wanting to play my CD-ROM's, its 100% ok (besides being 95% full on the HD space hehe).
As far as budget for upgrading, I wouldn't want to spend more than 2k (could go as high as 3k if necessary) total, and figure into that that I really want to try and use as much of my current system's parts as possible IF I go to a new one (I figured at least the HD's, cooling system, and PSU could be cannibalized).
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) - running on-board sound atm.
<- yeah...Probably should have returned it and rebuilt, but I didn't...