I've built myself a new main PC based on a Core 2 Duo E8400 and an Abit IP35 Pro XE. Here's the full article on the components and the build. I built my previous machine back in 2004 and was still running a P4 2.8 Northwood so I figured it was about time for an upgrade.
I've also made the move to Microsoft Vista Ultimate now that Service Pack 1 is out. The Windows Experience Index rates the overall hardware at 5.7. Everything is 5.9 except the E8400 which is 5.7. Complete rubbish! It should be 5.9 across the board.
Looking forward to overclocking it...
I'm back in the UK and have been upgrading my home computing infrastructure. My first step was to upgrade my broadband connection so I switched from Plus.Net to O2 Broadband Premium after doing a bit of research on various UK plans.
O2 Broadband bought out Be Unlimited and offers an ADSL2+ network with download speeds of up to 20 mbps.
I've managed to get a connection of 13,272 kbps (down) and 1325 kbps (up) after getting the noise margin tweaked. It's awesome. Ping times playing online is down around 20ms! Downloads are unlimited. I'm about 1.5 km away from exchange.
The caveat is that to get...