The rebuild :)

Finally after working out the plan for 2010 (and taking into account my bonuses and raise) I decided to buy a faster computer sooner.
So here it is the config :
CPU : Intel core i7 860 (the best price/performance for a core i7) 2.8 Ghz Quad core +HT and 8MB L3 cache.
Memory : 1 GB (very cheap) Zeppelin 1333 Mhz memory - TODO upgrade it
Motherboard : Gigabyte P55A-UD4 - that is 333 or Serial Ata 3.0 3x power and USB3.0
PSU : used the (2 month)old one a Rasurbo silent power from my old Sempron
Case : Nexus version 1 aka Caterpilar - the quietest case I could find for less then 100Euro
GPU : Gigabyte Ati Radeon 4350 (yes it's slow but it works out nicely for my moderate gaming needs).
The best part is that I managed to build it all my self. I have changed some components before(CPU, GPU,RAM,RAM) but this is the first computer build I do by myself and is .. let's say very empowering to know that you can do this and have total control over your configuration. The shops selling parts would do it for 10$ (3o RON) but there was a 2 week waiting period and you were forced to buy the parts from one shop (and not use your old parts).
So I managed to get the total costs to around 550 Euro's (around 750$) for a great machine with good parts waiting for upgrade.

Needless to say Java /GlassFish/Mysql run a lot faster (up to 5 times faster) than my old computer BUT hard disk performance is still the bottleneck in some operations.
I could have used the money for a core i5 and more memory but these processors are all expensive so I feel fine with what I got since I can always add more RAM when I get some cash.
What I have here is a wonderful bicycle for the mind and used properly it could be an amazing tool and I feel almost guilty when I use it for gaming or web browsing .. hopefully the time and money invested in this machine will be worth it for the next 2-3 years.