I am a My Super PC Graduate

[mattd73]

First name: Matt
Location: Georgia
Completed 3/8/07
OS: Windows XP Pro
ATX Case: Antec Sonata Lifestyle II
Motherboard brand: MSI K9N Platinum
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake Big Typhoon
Video card: ATI Radeon X1300
System memory: 2048MB
Hard drive: WD 320GB SATA

Awesome website. Not only do I have a great computer, but you made it possible for me to enjoy building it as well. Thank you very much.

[Joelmuz]

Joelmuz = Joel
Scottsdale, AZ
March 2007 completed building PC.
For now I am dual booting WIN 2000 & Vista Ultimate RC1 = beta copy. I will probably install (unless I get better suggestions) Vista Home Premium on the new SATA drive configured for Raid 1 and install WIN 2000 on an old PATA drive with only software and drivers loaded that will not run on Vista. The WIN 2000 "MY Documents" will be directed to the SATA Raid drive.
Components: $1,084 after $105 in rebates
- Antec Sonata II computer case with 450 watt Antec Smart Power.
- MSI K9N SLI Platinum mainboard (got it for price of non-SLI = amazon error!)
- AMD Athlon 64 5200+ X2 (AM2 socket) dual-core (least $ with 2MB L2 cache)
- Thermaltake Big Typhoon VX cpu cooler (Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound)
- Crucial Ballistix DDR2 PC2-6400 memory (1GBx2)
- ATI Radeon X1300 Pro (256MB DDR2 memory) DVI-I & analog VGA connectors. This is the weak link per some on-line tests for Vista gaming (could add second card because of SLI board but acceptable for my digital photos with Adobe Lightroom and PhotoShop CS2).
- Western Digital SE16 320GB SATA 300 MB/s. Two hard drives for Raid 1.
- Plextor PX-760A DVD RW / CD RW dual layer ATAPI drive
- Last but not least a Sony MPF 920 3.5" floppy drive to run Raid configuration software, etc.

Thanks Rob for steering me in the right direction & setting up this forum!!

Well it's been several months since building this PC. Because of possible incompatibility with Vista I have installed XP Pro and WIN 2000 on separate drives and then placed Vista Home Premium on a third drive since I am transitioning from 2000 to Vista in the long run. All my files ie. Documents, Pictures (40,000), etc. are on a separate partition and accessed from all three operating systems as well as my old PC and laptop on our wireless home network. I have found that for now I am using the Windows NTBackup (find "backup" under accessories). The "Enhanced Windows Backup" from SoftSwift.com integrates well with NTBackup, corrects problems with XP Home and has scheduled backups. Norton Ghost was used on my old PC but I have decided to stop using all Norton products (including AV) because they are so invasive. I think the key is to maintain regular updates to Windows OS and Office then watch out for unknowns in e-mail. I find that without Norton AV products the systems run much faster. The OS and data partitions will be backed up to an external drive. I had originally planned on a Raid configuration but am not sure which would be best or if it is worth setting up (future project).

[BruceS]

First name: Bruce
Location: Northern California
Completed 3/22/07
OS: Windows XP Home
ATX Case: Antec Sonata Lifestyle II
Motherboard brand: MSI K9A Platinum
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
Video card: ATI Radeon X1950
System memory: 2048MB
Hard drive: 2 X WD 500GB SATA

Rob, thanks for the virtual handholding!

[DemonicDerek]

LOL virtual handholding, even though that is what he really does it just sounds kinda funny considering i never would think of naming it that. lol

[Rob]

Yeah, clever. And everyone should feel free to make their own individual post rather than replying to this one. You'll get a little more notice maybe as an individual post.