Vista/Gaming Box Parts -- All Ordered

The remaining parts for the Vista/Gaming box were ordered today from three different companies.

Newegg got the order for RAM and the DVD burner. Performance PCs had a decent deal on the micro-ATX case. Zipzoomfly will be shipping us a motherboard.

The two parts that took the most time deciding on were the RAM and case.

DDR2 RAM prices are skyrocketing, apparently because of the upcoming Vista computers and manufacturing facilities that aren't fully ramped up. If you can wait until next year to buy DDR2 RAM, you should be able to get it a lot cheaper in the first quarter, or at least by second quarter. There are a lot more RAM choices out there than I had realized. For the ASUS motherboard and the Athlon processor being used in this system, there was a choice of 533/667/800 MHz RAM. And within those RAM speeds, there are a multitude of choices to make in terms of timing, heat spreaders, etc. Because this computer is sort of a budget box, a medium price point was chosen, and the favorite RAM of myDigitechnician, Crucial, was purchased. The odd thing was, the RAM cost $230 from Newegg, while the exact same RAM from Crucial costs $309. Newegg's must be priced from before the prices skyrocketed in the past month.

Good luck if you try to figure out what DDR2 RAM to buy in the next three months...

The case was the other parts choice which took a bit of research and discussion. Because the box will be used to demo Vista to customers, and to take places for gaming, a small box was preferred. Since myDigitechnician hadn't built a micro-ATX computer, that form factor was the top choice. There are a lot less choices for a quality micro-ATX box than there are for a standard ATX mid-tower. The Ultra MicroFly was stumbled upon while Googling and poking around on the web and appears to be a decent choice.

Luke's eager to put the box together. He'll be listening closely at the end of the week -- waiting to hear UPS and FedEx ring the doorbell for a delivery!

*****