ET's Info-Stew

Over the next several weeks to several months I'm going to be building a computer from scratch. The good old laptop (Gateway NX860XL) is great for mobile computer and work, but lately I've found it lacking in the online gaming department. So this new computer will be my next big toy. I want to chronicle my progress as I put it together because it might be interesting or useful to others.

It's going to take this long to do it because I'm planning a pretty high performance rig, which means components will be expensive. I'll also need to steer clear of incompatibilities. In the end I hope to have a near top-of-the-line system with ample opportunities to upgrade economically. This should give me a computer that will be good for 3-5 years, with upgrades. Here are the power players on my wish list:

• nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard (socket 775)
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor
• nVidia GeForce GTX 280 video card
• 4GB DDR3 1600 SDRAM
• Windows Vista Ultimate

Of course, you need lots of supporting hardware:

• Gaming case for good airflow
• Power supply
• CPU fan
• Hard drive
• DVD writer

The motherboard is a bit overkill for the components on my wish list, but that is by design. Having this advanced motherboard is what is going to allow me to make upgrades economically over the years. It will allow me to upgrade to:

• more memory
• next gen memory (DDR3 2000 MHz bus)
• the next gen processors (1600 Mhz bus)
• next gen graphics card
• dual graphics cards (SLI)

I'll be posting pictures as I progress.