We finally got some good news today. Turns out we earned so little last year that the UK government paid us too little in tax credits. So we got a backdated lump sum today, clearing my overdraft and enabling us to pay of the Luxembourg tax man and get the Luxembourg chapter finally closed! It’s a happy, happy day!

It also meant that I don’t have to wait until my eBay campaign is completed before I can order my new computer parts!

I have been reviewing parts for a couple of weeks now, thinking I’d go for the new Intel i7 chip, currently on sale at my preferred vendor for £210 (it’s actually gone up since last week). I decided that I didn’t need that kind of power, nor indeed did I want that kind of thermal output. I like quiet computers, which means I prefer lower output from the chip so that it’s easier to cool. So I’ve gone for a Core 2 Quad, the Q9450 OEM for £148.99. Here’s the complete order:

• £129.56 x 1 – Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 LGA775 ‘Yorkfield’ 2.66GHz 12MB-cache (1333FSB) Processor – OEM
• £91.30 x 1 – Kingston SSDNow V Series 64GB 2.5″ SATA-II Solid State Hard Drive Kit (SNV125-S2BD64GB)
• £78.25 x 1 – Asus P5Q Pro Turbo Intel P45 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard
• £36.51 x 2 – Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel (KHX8500D2K24G)

I post this mainly for myself to refer back to, as I know I will want to at some time.

Main things to note are:

a) 8 gigs of RAM. The original order was going to be for 4, but since I’m still planning to sell the Digitech Jam Man and possibly the Mama Bear, I’m celebrating the windfall with 8

b) Solid state hard drive. This is another indulgence that I wouldn’t ordinarily have gone for. I’m told that an SSD will really make things snappy, and, if it’s snappy enough that the boot time is increased to what I hope it will be, there is a very good chance that I’ll shut down the computer when I’m not using it, thus reducing our electricity bills and helping to save the planet 🙂

The only thing I neglected was a 1TB or 1.5TB drive. This would allow me to take out the three storage drives that I use and replace them with one. Again, reducing the power bill and making files easier to find (no more ‘oh what drive is that on again?’ ) So I may just order one with free shipping on Amazon. It makes sense.