With my desktop ZXCalibur out of action for an indeterminate amount of time, my laptop Andromeda on the last legs of its life, and my netbook insufficient in terms of college computing, I bought a new desktop.

"Gehirn" is a PowerSpec B707. Some specs:
- Intel Core i5 655K CPU (Dual Core Hyperthreaded)
- 4GB DDR3-1333 RAM (2 2GB Modules); Expandable to 16GB
- 1TB Serial ATA HDD
- 802.11a/b/g/n wireless
- SuperMulti 8x Double Layer DVD+RW drive


More info: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0338038

That's great, Keith! Why were you saying that you were unhappy with the CPU, did you want to get an i7? I still think that the i5 is a very respectable CPU, especially given the fairly impressive remainder of the specs. Wireless seems like an interesting choice for a desktop; excellent that you got DDR3. Did it set you back $700 as that link you posted indicates?

I was more or less wanting a Core 2 Quad or Core i7, but the Core i5 655K is indeed a respectable CPU.

I prefer wireless simply because it means one less cable to hassle with or worry about.

Yeah it did cost $700 (plus ~$50 tax) but it's pretty worth it. PowerSpec is probably one of the best brands to go for.

Intel H55 chipset with Intel video? Bwahahaha! Needs a real video card.

Also, PowerSpec is a no-name brand. If it works, great, but to call it "one of the best brands" is ridiculous.

For what? If I need a better video card I'll buy one.



PowerSpec is Micro Center's own brand. PowerSpec computers are designed to be somewhat cost-efficient and don't have bloatware. In terms of someone with little computer experience, I'd say PowerSpec is probably one of the best choices.

It's brand-name components in a decent case. How bad can that be?

Your desktop has it, doesn't it, Kerm?

But on that topic, wireless is great to have if for some reason you need to set up in a friend's basement for a night or 2, but do yourself a favor and just plug it in when you can. It's just wasteful not to.

Wasteful of energy, wasteful of bandwidth of other devices on the wireless router, but most importantly of all, wasteful of your time when you're getting a max of 56Mbps (7MBps) when you could be getting up to 100MBps or more on a gigabit network, for example transferring data between two fast hard drives in machines.

I run wireless on my desktop. It's not worth the effort to attempt to run a patch cable under the floor, so I have a (very strong) wireless link to the router on the other side of the room.

Besides that, when it's not in use, the OS can put the wireless adapter in a low-power mode when it's not in use. Hardly wasteful of power or bandwidth. After all, it's not a waste when it's the only [easy] option and meets one's needs.

Meh, I just feel like that's wasteful, and slows down other machines on the same AP. To each his own though, I suppose.

KeithJohansen, what are your plans as far as OS etc? Windows, Linux, dual-boot?

If one extra wifi device slows down your router, then frankly your router sucks balls.

Also, Wifi N is 300mbit.

Fine, you can try chipping away at all of my points, but in the end I'd hope you'd just plug in an ethernet cable and call it a day.

The computer is preinstalled with Win7 Professional 64-bit so I'm going to keep that (no doubt some of that $700 is for Win7 so I'm not going to just blow it away). I'll probably dual-boot it with either Ubuntu 10.04 or Mint [latest version, whatever it is].

Also, I'm planning on harvesting my 1TB drive out of ZXCalibur and putting it in Gehirn. 2 Terabytes of HDD space is too good to pass up! (I'd harvest the 500GB one out of ZXCalibur too but eh)

Most excellent, that's great to hear about the storage. Good plan about the dual-booting as well; I'll have to be in the camp that tries to convince you to go with Ubuntu.

Yes, but that's because I run gigE, not crappy 100mbit Also, I'm running 5ghz wifi n, so wifi is also crazy fast and with no interference (also have 2.4ghz running for things like my cell phone)

Hey, don't get all high and mighty with me, I run unilateral gigE as well. I can't say I'm running 802.11n as well though, good job on that.