If your budget is $1000-1500 then you can get yourself a hell of a nice configuration. As for the processor, a good price performance pick is the i7 2600k. I just built a new rig a few months ago and used this processor and love it. The i7 processors come with a dreadfully inadequate cooler so I would highly recommend and aftermarket one. What you get will depend on your case and how much clearance you have. I have the Cooler Master 212 Evo. Cools very well, but is gigantic.

The motherboard you will have very many options depending on what features you are looking for(USB 3, RAM limit, slot configurations, etc). I have always been partial to ASUS boards but there are many good brands out there.

Since budget allows, definitely get a solid state drive as the main drive. If you don't need a ton of capacity, they are reasonably priced. I picked up a 120GB for about $125. They have no moving parts so are less prone to damage and the read/write speeds are extremely fast on the newer models(you will see very fast boot times and program load speeds).

You will definitely need to upgrade to Windows 7. I would recommend Win 7 Pro 64-Bit OEM. The 64 Bit is very important as it will allow for more than 4GB of RAM. Some caveats with the OEM version though. You are only allowed to install it on one machine and the license is not transferable to new hardware. With a retail version you could transfer the license to a new build with a call to Microsoft or if you significantly change the hardware you could reactivate it. To most people it does not matter but I figured I'd throw it out there. OEM is about 1/2 the price.

Check your current power supply to be sure it can handle the new build(wattage and necessary connections).

RAM will depend on the motherboard you go with. Different motherboards support different configurations(dual or triple channel) and speeds. Budget about $100 give or take for somewhere between 8-12GB RAM depending on type and configuration needed.

Rick, once again you have proved yourself utterly invaluable to neophytes like myself. I am truly in your debt. Mahalo nui loa!

Always glad to help. If you have any more questions or need help picking out the exactly what you want just ask.

Trust me, I will!

Rick what do you think of this ASUS motherboard? I like that it has two eSATA external connections for my two LaCie 1-TB external hard drives, and it can handle up to 32-gigs of RAM.

Also, do you know anything one way or another about Corsair RAM? It looks like this 16-gigs would work with that mobo, but it seems awfully inexpensive, and that gets my spidey sense to tingling. (Edit: Has RAM really gotten that inexpensive? Wow....)

Thanks in advance for your advice!

ASUS makes kick ass motherboards. That board may be overkill but definitely a solid choice. Check to make sure it has enough of the right connections you need(enough USB ports, enough internal SATA connections, etc). Though it looks like it has plenty of connections for the typical build so it should not be an issue. It should pair well with an i7. It has the new uEFI BIOS which is fantastic. My board has it and it makes like so much easier to change settings.

As for the RAM, Corsair makes excellent RAM (I even have 2 sticks of it in my own build). And yes, RAM has gotten that cheap (the DDR3 RAM anyway. Other types are expensive since they are less common.)
That RAM should work fine in the board with one exception: Depending on the heatsink you end up using, the size of the RAM may get in the way. I would go more with a low profile RAM such as this.

I'd much rather go with overkill than have to upgrade again anytime soon, so I think I'll go with that board. It seems to have all the connections I need, too. Thanks for the scoop on the RAM. When you refer to the heatsink, I take it that refers to the cooler you recommended, as it looks like a heatsink and fan combo to me, but what do I know?

And I'm definitely going to go with at least one solid-state drive internally (probably two). Both my Maxtor and Seagate 120-gig internal drives are getting up there in age, so I'd rather replace them while they're still working (knock on wood).

You can't go wrong with that board so that is a good choice. Has 6Gb SATA connectors which you will want for the solid state drive(s). Depending on the capacity needed they aren't too expensive. I have this one which is 120GB. The more capacity you need, the more its going to cost. Check the specs before buying one to make sure it is a SATA 6Gb capable drive and not an older one. OCZ and Samsung are also good name brand choices to look at. You will also likely need a 2.5inch to 3.5inch adapter bracket in order to mount the drive as they are smaller than normal hard drives. Some drives come with them and others it needs to be purchased separately. They are only a few $.

You probably do not need 2 SSD drives though as a second one will not give you much benefit(unless you RAID them). My suggestion is to have a SSD as your Windows installation. Then get a nice 2TB traditional hard drive as a secondary storage drive. Whatever you choose, one thing of importance with SSD drives is to always update the firmware when you get it, it typically makes huge differences with stability and speeds.

Yes, the heatsink I refer to is the cooler. There are many options out there dependent on your needs.

Always glad to help Giac! Any questions that come along just ask.

I am having problems with Goggle Chrome on a Windows 7 desk top. I cannot get the window to be the proper size. There are the 3 boxes in the top right corner--the minimize box, the max/min box, and the close box. Currently, the middle box has one square in it. When you click on it, the window is maximized--too big. You can barely see those three boxes in the top right corner, and there is no status bar on the bottom of the screen. When I put my cursor on the middle of the top right three boxes, the pop-up says "restore down". If I click on it, the window gets smaller, but if I resize the window smaller, and then click on max, the window again is too big. One of the problems this is causing is that I can't see the tabs along the top of the screen. I'm out of ideas and was wondering if anyone has another one. Thanks in advance.

It sounds like the picture is stretched outside the border of the monitor. Try the settings on your monitor to decrease the height and width of the picture. If your monitor has an auto configure option, that's even better.

I don't know much about Chrome because I am a FF user, but since everything seems to work similarly I have an idea. Restore it down and then look for a draggable arrow in the bottom corner of your window. Most graphical interfaces have them; if you drag it, it should proportionally increase the size of your window. Adjust to whatever you want.

Also, to add on to what Eric said, are you having this problem with any programs other than Chrome? Since every Windows computer has IE installed by default, did you try IE and see if it has similar issues?

As stated, auto adjust on the monitor is likely to fix it. Also right click on your desktop and go to Screen Resolution, and make sure it is set to the recommended resolution for your monitor.

Here's one for you Rick. I can't seem to get any sound in Chrome anymore. Sound works in both IE, Firefox, and every other application I have, it's just Chrome that's suddenly having this issue. I googled some possible solutions, including checking the registry, but none of them have worked. Chrome doesn't even show up in the Sound Mixer. Any ideas?

From what I can tell it is a known bug in Chrome and they are actively working to fix it. In the mean time if you go to chrome://plugins/ and expand details disable all versions of flash except 11.3.300.268 that should fix it.

Over the last few days I've noticed the wireless internet in my house has slowed to a crawl. It seems to only happen when connected to the bridge we have set up on the side of the house opposite the fios modem/router. The router we set up as a bridge is a linksys e2500. It's a dual band router and I had both the 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz bands set up with the same name and password. I just did some troubleshooting and changed the ssid of the 5ghz band. When I connected to that new network the speed returned to normal. Should I not have the two bands named the same?

I would prefer to have both routers using the same ssid and password so i can walk from one end of the house to the other without the internet dropping out.

Is that ok to do or should they have different ssids? Same thing with the two different bands. Should those have separate ssids or no?

Does the slow speeds on the 2.4 ghz band mean that the router is shot?

There may just be some interference on the 2.4GHz band. In the router settings you should see an option to use a different channel.

As far as the dual bands on the same SSID, that generally is not a good idea as you will not know what band you are connected to. Chances are you have been connecting to the 2.4GHz the whole time and something came up causing interference which is when you noticed the slowdown. You only connected to 5GHz when changing the SSID and telling it to connect to that.

As far as the fios and linksys having the same ssid/wep that is fine. Though some brands of devices don't play well with others and have trouble communicating, but in general it is perfectly acceptable to do.

Both routers were set to auto for channel selection. I set the fios router to channel 1 and the bridge to channel 6. The speed shot back up from 1 mbps/0.5 mbps to 40 mbps/35 mbps.

I also changed the SSID for the 5GHz band. I read that the 5GHz is intended more for streaming and gaming. Is that correct?

Thanks for the advice!

It's not completely correct. Really the only difference between the 2 bands is the number of devices that use it. 2.4GHz is used by many different devices (cordless phones, microwaves, other appliances, etc). 5GHz is lesser used and thus less devices to interfere. Some people recommend using that spectrum for videos because of the lesser chance of interference. Realistically, it probably doesn't make much difference.

Anyone have any input on the Dell XPS 12 (ultrabook/laptop/tablet)? Thinking of purchasing it as holiday gift.

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Looks like it could help me reach the top shelf if I stand on it...

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It's a good but not great convertible. Arguably none are great yet, though, meaning that the XPS 12 is at the top of the pack. Good build quality, great resolution, somewhat below average battery life, lack of hdmi-out or an SD slot, crappy trackpad (as every Windows laptop has), a little heavy as a tablet but quite light as a laptop.

Not a bad purchase if something is needed now, but there will probably be better refined stuff in 6 months.

Thanks. I think the draw for him is to be able to just carry the tablet for work (when needed) that has full laptop capability instead of lugging the entire laptop.

Yeah, that's why I'm waiting for the Microsoft Surface Pro, which ditches all the weight of the keyboard altogether when need be, but at this point I think that it'll likely be vaporware.

I'd consider the XPS 12, or the Yoga 13, because I hate my netbook, hate my TouchPad and my work laptop weighs as much as the moon.

Oh, and it seems like you can only purchase from Dell. Is that because it's new? Looks like even if I buy today it won't ship until December 12. High demand?

Rick,
I was wondering what your opinion of this lap top is. It's not everything I want (I really wanted a dedicated GPU, but the only other choice was the Dell 17RSE...and that just didn't feel right when I was typing.

I really like the screen on this model (I've seen it in person) and the keyboard/touchpad is really nice.

I"m really happy with the money:feature ratio. What do you think? Am I missing something? Do you see any alternatives? I'd really like to stay around this price point.

Oh, the link...lol..right...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenovo+-+IdeaP...96#tab=overview

Looks like good specs at a good price. It will be hard to find something comparable that is also as thin and light as that.

I wouldn't worry much about a dedicated GPU. Gaming on a laptop is never a pleasant experience anyway.

A few things to make note of: Lenovo installs a ton of shit onto most of their laptops so be prepared to uninstall all the useless software. Best buy will try and push their optimization on you, don't let them. You want a box that is sealed and never touched by them. They will probably also push geek squad services on you as well so be prepared to turn that down. If they push an extended warranty as well, that part is sometimes worth it depending on the price. One final note is if you really hate Windows 8, most of the time you can get a free downgrade to Win 7 from Microsoft.

Thanks, Rick! I've always valued your opinion.

Re: Windows 8...I have no opinion as I've never used it. Is it really bad?

It's very different lets put it that way. It's setup more for touchscreen devices rather than a traditional computer. There are third party programs you can install to make it more like Win7.

Rick,have you used Windows Home Server? I know MS discontinued support but I really don't feel like paying $400 for WS2012 Essentials.

Have not used it no.

No kidding... I got a new laptop a few months back with an i7 ivy bridge (can't remember what specific model it was, but it's a 2.3 ghz that boosts to 3.2 ghz), but holy shit man. With its built-in overclock, whenever I run a game it eventually gets up to between 80-90 degress Celsius-- to put that in perspective 80 degrees C is 176 degrees F which is way more than enough to cause third degree burns if applied directly to the skin. That can't be good for computer components. It also makes the left-hand side of the keyboard uncomfortable after a while too because it gets so hot. I am not really sure what I can do to mitigate this because it's a laptop.

That said, it's an amazing processor, but damn does it suck at heat control.

So, that Dell XPS12 is like $1500. Would an iPad do? He will need internet, email to send digital pictures, etc.

This really isn't true anymore, as mobile GPUs have really improved by leaps and bounds the past year or so. My MSI laptop with a GTX 675M will play any game out there with ease. Unless you meant something else by that other than performance. Of course it's bulky and heavy for a 2012 laptop, but I think anyone in the market for a gaming laptop is resigned to this fact.

I have an iPad through work, and I love it. It's no substitute for a laptop, but for communication and such it's terrific.

That's what I mean, though. I hope it will be enough.

The downside to a laptop is that they have limited room for upgrades and performing upgrades is usually far more cumbersome than with a PC. Keeping them cool can also be an issue.

Like Pete's, my laptop can handle anything out there on the highest graphical settings. And I far prefer the laptop style keyboard to a PC keyboard, though I refuse to use the touchpad. Also, my laptop keyboard has a toggleable backlight. I have never seen that on a PC keyboard.

I was mostly referring to the small screen and cramped keyboards unless you get on of the gigantic ones but at that point you might as well just get a desktop.

Try to disable the auto-overclock in the BIOS. Should keep the heat lower.

Sadly, that option isn't available in the BIOS. However, some researching about it uncovered that setting the Processor Power Usage in Advanced Power Options to something other than 100% will disable the function because Intel Boost is programmed to only kick in when the full power of your processor is requested.

Hopefully I'll still be able to run my games efficiently with it getting less power.

OK good to know that it works that way if i ever run into the problem. I'm not used to OEM BIOS and their limits. I typically build my own rigs.

Probably not. Just order yourself a cooling pad and resign yourself to a shorter life span for your laptop.

Fuck it, I got the iPad 4 and a case/keyboard combo. FUCK IT!

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Samsung SSD drives, any good? Newegg has a deal on 250GB SSD drives for 150$.

Samsung is definitely good for SSD. That's a good price too. I spent $125 for a 120GB only a few months ago.

Frak. My desktop and my laptop don't support sata3. Maybe I buy them for a future build.

EDIT: yeah I know, backwards compatible but still. It's gonna annoy me and force me to upgrade everything, which I can't afford right now. Actually I can't afford the three hundred I'd need to buy two of these. Ugh. Stupid adult responsibilities.

You could always buy a controller card if you have an extra PCI-E slot.

I need some help with excel. We are creating a worksheet with locations on it, like you might have if you have a lot of parts to keep track of. The columns are labeled 'carts' and the rows are labeled the 'shelves'. Right now, we use the find function to find the part. We put in a part number, and then look to the column to see what cart the part is on, and then look at the row to see what shelf to find it.

What we are looking for is for when you do the find, the answer comes up as the cart and shelf (maybe in a popup window type of display), so we don't have to look at the column and row headings. Anybody have any ideas on how this can be accomplished?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions in advance!

When I opened up iTunes today all of my playlists were gone. Not the songs in the library, just the playlists themselves. The space of the sidebar where they were / should be is completely vacant. Any way to remedy this, short of exporting from my iPod or just creating a new playlist?