Keen to build my new computer

Now that I have my monitors sorted out, I'm really keen to get my new computer built. The last time I had upgraded my computer was in 2006, and I've pretty much used the same specs (apart from adding 16 gigs of additional ram and the usual harddrive upgrade), and the PSU upgrade.

However, it just shows that unless there's a dying need to a dual core CPU with adequate amount of ram can still hold it's own after 6 years. In the early 2000, computers were slow a day after you bought the latest one. There was fierce competition between AMD and Intel and in each release they would edge a little ahead from one another.

I think the specs that I have can still carry me through for a another couple of years. I haven't felt that the system is running slow - I even run Virtual Machines with Photoshop etc... and I still feel that this configuration can hold its own. But my dillema, like my previous posts is that I'm upgrading due to the need to build a HTPC.

I can quite easily build a HTPC by itself, but essentially my current computers specs would be quite nice for a HTPC. So, instead of purchasing similar components I thought why not upgrade my current computer and move the current components to the HTPC.

So, as I said above now that the monitors have been purchased I can start acquiring the parts for the computer.

Case
I'm thinking of keeping my current case, which is a thermaltake for the time being. Although it is a thermaltake case, it is one of the heaviest and the most annoying cases. The first annoying thing about the case is that it has a door to access the power button, optical drives etc... often when I need to either start the computer, reset the computer, to turn off the computer, or just to access the optical drives I need to first check if there is anything in front of the door and if there is I need to move it - I often have to move things out of the way.

The second thing that is very annoying with the case is that outside or front usb ports are on top of the case, smack bang in the middle. This essentially renders the case being used as a shelf.

The third annoying thing about the case is that where the front usb is, i.e at the top, also has a case. It was quite flimsy and had broken off the hinge within the first year. Essentially all the inputs pointing up have been slowly collecting dust.

But the case is large, it can accomodate any or most beastly motherboard component configuration. So for this reason, and because I don't really want to chuck out this case on the street reason I'm going to hold on to this case... for the time being.

Motherboard
I've searched long and hard for motherboards between AsRock, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI they all seem to be carrying similar specs to each other. Sometimes each one will bring out some proprietry software to control xyz component on their board - but I run linux and their bundled software is windows only.

So right now, with the thought that this computer is going to essentially carry me through for at least 6 years (considering the last one carried me for 6 years), I need to make sure that whatever motherboard that I choose contains the latest specs of everything - for example USB 3 is now out and over time USB 2 will become a legacy protocol. So over the next 6 years or so, it would be beneficial for me to have as many USB 3 ports as possible.

In the end, I chose the AsRock's Z77 - Extreme 9 for the Intel Chipset. The motherboard looks impressive with:

• 12 USB 3.0 ports (4 at the front, and 8 at the back)
• 6 SATA 3 ports
• Onboard WIFI 802.11 a/b/g/n 
• Onboard Blutooth v4.0
• WI-SB Box (it's essentially two usb front ports and a rack for the SSD, I've also heard that this is where the WIFI/blutooth antenna's are located)

CPU

I was looking to get something that might be a monster of a CPU like a 6 core or an 8 core CPU, but the problem that I ran into was that Intel had only 6 cores and it was trumping AMD with their 8 Cores. 

Regardless, the six core CPU from intel was quite pricey but the overall issue was that the number of motherboards that supported the CPU was very limited in their specs. So I thought I'd stick with an Intel i7 3770 3.4GHz. 

This is a real step up from my dual core, however, I don't think the additional cores will really give me that much advantage since my dual core still feels quite snappy. 

More to Come...