I got bitten by the bi-anual upgrade bug, so I went to Newegg.com and got the following:AMD 64 4000+ CPU (Retail Box)MSI K8T NEO2-F Motherboard1Meg of G.Skill(Samsung) PC4400 Dual Chanel RAMAcer 19" LCD MonitorNEC 16X Dual Layer DVD /RW driveASPIRE X-Navigator Case with 500W Power supply.I will use out of my present system:BFG GeForce 6800GT OC Video CardAudigy2 Platinum Sound Card/ with Cambridge 5.1 speakers.DVD ROM Ordered Monday evening, and will have FedEx delivery on Thursday (without paying any extra shipping/processing charges) What a great company to do business with!Any ideas as to whether I should install the Windows XP SP2 pack?I seem to remember reading that with the 64 processor there was an issue with "Frame Rates" since all of the MS protections in SP2 kick in with the 64!

Lots of wild rumours floating around especially on FS forums :-lol The enhanced virus protection is a Good Thing. By default it only monitors Windows processes anyway so even if it did cause a performance hit it wouldn't affect FS. Plus you can completely disable it if you want :)

Not to ###### your thread but I will take delivery in a few days on a Big Bad Boy Dell (my nickname, not theirs).P4, 3.6, 2 meg, dual 160 gig Raid 0 at 10k rpmx800 vid22 in. SonyI'm going to do a clean install of FS9 and basically start all over tweaking since I imagine many of the settings on my 1.7 GForce 5600 rig will be different.Any generic MUST DO set up tips would be greatly appreciated.Jim

Well I got all of my components on Friday 12/24 as promised. On Sunday 1/2/2005 I started puting it all together. When unpacking the processor I noticed Green dust coming out of the Retail box, when I opened the box I found the egg-crate packing material all shredded and the Colling fan unit just floating arround loose in the box with the Processor. Since I didn't see any damage to the processor pins I went ahead and installed it, but it refused to boot. The MSI diagnostic connector showed the CPU to be defective. Alas! I had to send the CPU back to Newegg.com for a replacement, at my cost for shipping! I will debate the return shipping cost, since the processor wasn't properly packed in the Retail Box, before they packed it all for shipment to me, and they should have caught that. Pete S.

Best of luck! I will make a note of your NewEgg experience. Please let us know how your new system handles FS when you get it all set up and when you get a chance.RH

Hi Robbie,I have dealt with Egghead before. They are excellent in fast delivery of items ordered. This is the first time I have had any kind of problems with an item bought from them.Looks like communicating with them is a real challenge, since they don't answer their 800 line I tried calling all day yesterday and all I got was a busy signal. Their website FAQ states that all returns are customers' responsability, and makes this stupid analogy: "When you want to return something to WalMart, they don't send a truck to pick it up at your house"! I wrote them an e-mail and stated that when I buy something at WalWart I don't buy it sight unseen and if I see the product is damaged I don't take it, and if I change my mind and return an item they don't charge me a 15% restocking fee!I guess that's the chance we take with buying online, in fairness to them I was always very pleased with their prices and efficient service. I will shop with them again, regardless how this turns out!

I will be interested in how they treat you. Let us know and keep us posted on your results. Once you have your system up and kicking, post your FS results for all to see. I think a lot of folks are getting the upgrade bug. I know I have it but won't deal with NewEgg if they don't make it right with you.RH

Just to stick up for Newegg, I have bought alot of items from them in the past, they are the best in customer service that is out there. I had a PSU that was defective and they took care of it without any problems.

hi pete,just got me a new system, high performance system is what i am told to have, but your will blow just about them all out of the water.That seems like it will be a great system.I have the 17" ACer LCD, only thing is that black doesnt seem as good as it does on a CRT. But i am getting used to it.Let me know how your system turns out, and how your newegg experience goes.. :-Pgood luck with newegg and your new system!

IMHO, any dealer, online or otherwise that doestn't offer a free return for DEFECTIVE merchandise shouldn't stay in business.Sorry you had that problem.

I agree, since we cannot control the shipping and are paying for fully working merchandise in good condition, the customer should not be held responsible for the exchange.I'm enclosing a picture of the package, as received!

Yeah the thing you heard is probably that Service pack 2 enables the inbuilt antivirus protection incorporated within the A64 actually :) So we aren

I hope the system will "fly", but so far I only get to use the Acer LCD. I am really happy with performance of my Acer. The black is as good as it was on my Viewsonic PF815 (22") monitor. I thought that after flying with the 22" I would notice the difference on the 19" LCD, but as you know the LCD measurements are a lot closer to reality, than the liberal measurements of the CRT's. My screen is only about an inch smaller than the Viewsonic and the colors are just as sharp and vivid!I am really satisfied with it, hope I will be just as happy with the computer, which should be finished in a week or so, barring anymore complication.

I think I'll just skip SP2 for now. I have plenty of 3rd party protection, and really don't need more, at least not now.Since I am keeping my old rig (Athlon 3000+ 333) I will be using it for most of the Internet work. The new rig will be mostly for graphics, multimedia and FS9.

I think it