The Sweet Spot pairing of an E8400 with an Abit IP35 Pro is not a good choice. I should know--that's what I have in my month-old system. Abit does not list the E8400 on their official supported CPU list http://www2.abit.com.tw/cpu-support-list/mb/intel_p35_ip35-pro.htm With the latest official BIOS (V1.4) it does not report the correct CPU core temperature and possibly not the correct voltage (mine reports an obviously wrong 1 degree C temperature, and a probably wrong 1.35 volts). Google '"ip35 pro" e8400 temperature' for plenty of discussion of this issue. Some people have reported success using V1.6 Beta 09 BIOS (I haven't tried it yet, but probably will soon). Also, I have had to reset my CMOS way too many times, most recently because the JMicron IDE controller disappeared and I couldn't access my DVD drive.

Thanks for the system guide, I just based a purchase largely on it.

However, I would like to suggest 4 changes:

1) Athlon X2 4400+ (2.3Ghz), $70 -> Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (2.6GHz) Black Edition (unlocked multiplier), $90.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103194

As you can see from the chart at the bottom of this link,
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64-brisbane_4.html

Only Athlon 64's with frequencies that are a multiple of 400MHz will run 800MHz DDR2 at full speed! So 2.4 is much better than 2.3. Therefore, get the unlocked version, and clock it at 2.4 or 2.8 (or 3.2, if you can), for full 800MHz memory... or you could keep it at 2.6 if you want, I suppose. It is still rated at 65W at stock speed.

2) Western Digital has a brand new Caviar SE16, same series as the recommended 500GB one, that seems to have come out a few days after the guide. But I understand that the 500GB drive is 4x125GB platters, while the new 640GB drive is 2*320GB! Should be quieter, cooler, faster, and more reliable. Anyway, that's what I got, for $129 instead of $99.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

Subjectively speaking, it is very quiet and very fast - I got about 28 MB/s in 7-zip TARing 300 MB of little JPGs. But I don't have any benchmark tools :) Remember, that 28 MB/s means 28 MB/s read and 28 MB/s write on the same disk at the same time.

3) The EVGA 9600gt is horribly loud when the fan is on high. It is your only recommendation that I thought was just bad, because it really is a piece of garbage. There are alternatives - for example, Palit's are supposed to be quiet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261001

It is too late for me - I have to rip their shoddy cooler off and burn it, then buy one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186017
...and just never buy EVGA again.

4) *cough* XP Pro *cough*

You'll have to update the OS page a bit when Vista SP1 and XP SP3 finally roll out properly.
I love linking to the OS page when people start blathering about how vista sucks and is worse then XP... defuses a few misconceptions quite well.

The solution to any activation/authorization issues with OEM Microsoft OS's is simple. If you re-activate by phone after you upgrade your motherboard, for instance... tell them you replaced the board because it failed (not because you wanted to upgrade). Works every time. I have no problem doing this, because Microsoft's nose shouldn't be in my system anyway.

A raptor-150 is STILL 170 bucks?

This is getting ridiculous. The i-RAM was a failure because they didn't go far enough. Try this idea for a ramdisk to blow away other OS/boot disks:

1) 5.25 form factor
2) support 8 banks of RAM, in dual channel banks of 4 slots so you can:
3) have dual SATA plugs so it can be a ludicrously fast RAID-0
4) ECC options
5) good battery
6) disk imaging/autobackup at system shutdown.

Seriously, if DDR2 is under $20/GB, would you rather have a raptor or an 8GB RAID-0 ramdisk?

At $20/GB, the industry needs to start thinking of alternative ways to use RAM effectively.

Isn't it time to recommend a motherboard for the Grand Experiment that will actually run a 45nm quad? I'm sure the P5N-E SLI is a nice board and given its features it's quite reasonably priced. But people shopping in that price range shouldn't be considering SLI and 45nm quad compatibility seems a bit more important at this point.

Releasing stripped-down, low-quality cards under the same brand as high-end models seems to be common practice for Creative, so we suggest you pay the extra for the proper model.
NVidia's Evil Marketing Geniuses invented this practice years ago. GeForce2 MX being so much less than GeForce2 GTS was egregious enough. When they renamed the GeForce2 MX as the GeForce4 MX, associating the old DX7 budget part with the second-generation DX8 GeForce4Ti, the evil laughter must have echoed down the halls in Santa Clara. Shall we talk about Radeon 8500 = 9100, while we're at it?

I'd just like to say that this motherboard:

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L

is a very nice recommendation. I just bought this mobo based on TR's build article, and I paired it with an E2160 (instead of the 2180). 3 BIOS settings later, and I'm at 3GHz on the stock cooler at 37C. Absolutely no issues. I'm not really pushing too hard, I don't see the need (my videocard is the bottleneck now).

I used 2GB of some kind of Kingston DDR2 800 ram (it was only a couple of bucks more expensive than the 667) and an Antec EarthWatts 500W psu, shoehorned the whole thing into some HP tower case, and I'm happy as a pig in mud.

An entire OS page, not one mention of Linux. At least Ars gives it a nod in its guides.

The "low cost" Samsung 750GB F1 drive should be REMOVED from the recommended systems until Samsung can either fix the drives or fix Samsung's own HUTIL low level diagnostic to not provide ERRORS.

It is very important, now and in the future, as far as RMA's, to have a working manufacturer's disk diagnostic.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41140&postdays...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102
http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=26454&hl=samsun...

Why does the econo-alt get a sound card?

Looking at the prices for Vista OEM vs retail, even if Microsoft locked you out of upgrading you could just buy another oem copy. With the two copies being the same price as the retail version. And you're deferring the cost as well. Retail makes no sense then, if you're not concerned about having official support from Microsoft.

I never would have thought I'd like an orange card like this one .. now you have me seriously pondering one. Sorry, splashy colors excite me lately.

That is a sweet looking SLI picture :)
Orange Video cards.
OMGWTFBBQ!
FP FTW!

Thanks for the link to purchase Model M guys, you rock :)

Am I the only one shocked at just what 580 bucks buys PC wise nowdays?

Throw in a decent 20" panel and your still under 850 for a very respectable gaming machine...

When will we see an HTPC recommendation?
They are becoming more popular...

wouldn't a 3850 512 be a better choice for the econobox alternative?
and why not the m2a-vm hdmi for m/b?

Tried those SB beta drivers and it won't allow you to install them, says they have timed out/expired.

MX Revolution and G5 have the same design? I think not!

It's good to see the P5N-E still in the list.

I've had mine for over a year now :-)

"AMD currently has no direct competition for the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB"

orly? So what is the HD3870X2?

Does the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (posted on the Econobox alternatives) suffer from the same firmware bait-n-switch that the 500GB drive does?
http://www.fluffles.net/articles/seagate-AAK-firmware

I'm one of the victims of the AAK firmware lack of performance.

the 5000+ Black Edition doesn't come with a HSF, I think suggesting one would be a good idea.

No mention of hackintosh for a possible OS? Swap out a mobo (with one that has EFI) and you're in hackintosh fun.

Nice writeup guys.

FYI though the XFX video card linked on page 4 redirects to a 'deactivated item' page at newegg.

We'd be happier if Gigabyte had included RAID support with an ICH9R south bridge rather than the vanilla ICH9, but that's an omission we're inclined to forgive considering the board's price tag.

So get the P35-DS3R, which is the DS3L with the ICH9, and little else extra. I'm perplexed by your complaint.

You guys made a mistake.
The basic Vista is 30 bucks cheaper than Home Premium - not 70.

Yeah. Couldn't resist to point it out. ;)

I like to see some pasive cooling recommendations, for CPU, and GPU.
Antec Sonata III is a good choice, it have an air filter, and HDD vibration absorber, but only 500W PSU with an 80mm fan.