Hello,

I am a newbie in building a PC (I was recently laid off and am going back to school for my Cisco Certified Network Associate certificate (just started CCNA 3 at Oakland CC’s Cisco Academy) and for a CIS associates degree (thanks to Michigan Works)! Therefore, I don’t have much more money to spend on my system (actually I wouldn’t have any if all my schooling wasn’t covered by a Pell Grant). I apologies for going into my personal life here, I am just venting I guess.

Any way here is my configuration so far; Antec Nine Hundred case w/ Ultra XVS Modular 500W ATX Power Supply, Asus P5B-E Motherboard, Intel 2 Dual Core 2 6300 processor, PNY 8800GTS, WD 160 GB SATA Hard Drive (8GB & 150MB/sec DTR), and a whopping 256 MB of PNY DDR2 memory.

I will be purchasing a 2 GB kit of hopefully Micron D9GMH or D9GKX this week if I can find a good deal. I missed this one; Crucial Ballistix DDR2 1000 - BL2KIT12864AL1005 for $271.00 at Newegg (all sold out).

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEema [...] ATT=Memory

I may also pick up a WD Raptor 150 GB Hard drive ($180.00 after a $70.00 rebate at Micro Center) and use my current drive for storage.

The PC will be used for homwork and games (my 5 year old son loves to play Battlefield 2 - it actually works with only 256 MB of RAM, but not well, while 2142 is not playable due to it freezing up). I will be going with Windows Vista Ultimate or Home Premium. Should I buy one of the following from Newegg or buy the Vista upgrade (I have a full version of Windows 2000 retail):
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM $109.99

Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM $139.99


Any advice would be helpful?

By the way my B5B-e is revision 1.01 so I will only be able to over clock my memory with 2.2 volts versus 2.4 (I believe that this is the case any way).


Paul