Super Fast Computer!

I just completed a few benchmark testing cycles with the new computer and I am very impressed....even before overclocking! I've been using these programs for testing purposes:
CPUMark 2.1
ViMark Video Encoding Benchmark
Heavyload (for testing the overclock stability)
Nero Recode (for compressing DVD-9 into DVD-5 size)
Handbrake (for converting DVDs to AVI for my PalmTX...gives a frames per second encode speed)

The programs I've been using for monitoring temperature and clock speed:
CPUTrueSpeed
CPU-z
RightMark CPU Clock Utility

RightMark CPU Utility is great for monitoring (CPU Clock speed, temerature, performance monitor, etc). It looks like it does everything. When running, it sits in the little clock bar and just lets you know what's going on....without getting in the way! I love it.....and it's free! I've tried the provided EasyTune5 for overclocking the processor and it seems to to a great job. It's super easy and the best thing about it, is it resets your settings back to default every time you restart your computer (unless you tell it to do otherwise). I like that in case I mess something up, I can reboot and all is well again.

Even though I haven't done a LOT of speed testing due to some unforseen issues which wasted a lot of my time, I'm very impressed with the dual 2.66GHz processor. I'll see if I can post some screen shots of my testing results for comparison, but it's fast!

I've installed some new games and they look awesome! Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six Vegas run very smoothly and look great!

New Computer

I'm putting together a new computer. I'll be using most of my old computer parts and upgrading to a new motherboard, processor, video card, and RAM. Hopefully it all works, but I'm a bit nervous putting it all together since I've never really done that before. I've taken pre-built bare bones systems and added to it, but never started from the motherboard and processor.

Here is my new parts list (all purchased from newegg.com for less than $500):
Motherboard- GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
Processor- Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775
Video Card- ASUS EN8500GT TOP/HTP/256M GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
RAM- G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory
CPU Cooler- ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler (in case I decide to vernture into overclocking)

The only thing I'm not 100% sure about it working is the RAM. I went to Gigabyte's website (manufacturer of the motherboard) and found the 'approved memory' section and G.SKILL was not on the list. I figured DDR2 800 RAM is all the same so I found the best deal and went with it....hopefully it wasn't a mistake. If it doesn't work, I suppose I'll return it to Newegg.com and see if I can get a different kind. I wanted to get one stick of 2GB RAM instead of two sticks of 1GB RAM, it makes for easier upgrades in the future if I ever decide to switch over to Windows Vista which supports over 2GB RAM.

I'll take the parts from my current computer and put them together with the new. Case with 400watt power supply, three internal IDE hard drives (7200rpm), a firewire PCI card, SONY DVD-ROM drive, Pioneer DVD+-RW drive, and a PCI IDE controller. The new motherboard only supports one IDE channel so I'll need to use the IDE controller card to run the DVD Drives and the other two hard drives. Eventually I'll switch over to SATA drives, but not yet. I'm doing only what I can afford at the moment.

All the parts should arrive on Friday. I'll let you know how it all went!

GoodSync

GoodSync (www.goodsync.com) is a great free little program that allows you to keep specific folders of computers on your network synchronized. I'd been looking for a program that would keep the 'My Pictures' folder up to date on our two home computers. That way when pictures are added on either computer, the other computer will have the same pictures automatically. I tried a few different programs but this was by far the best one. It is free, but you are pretty limited in the amount of data you synchronize. After only a few weeks of use, I was over the limit and needed to upgrade to the Pro version ($20), but totally worth it. I've also found it a very good way to back up files on your computer in case the hard drive ever dies. I just tell it to back up my 'Documents and Settings' folder anytime the computer is idle for more than 2 hours. Saves everything I need to a separate hard drive. This seems to work better than the NERO Back It Up program I've been using for a long time (version 6). NERO tends to hang for some reason, then you don't have an updated backup.

The nice thing about Goodsync versus NERO is that the files in Goodsync are always available. Basically you are making an identical copy of your folders to another location. With NERO, you need to use NERO to restore the files.