New Home Computer - i7, GTX 460, 8GB RAM, 2TB HDDs,

I built a new computer for Elea and myself (more for me to be honest!) this weekend that I am absolutely thrilled about. It has an i7 quad-core CPU, an NVIDIA GTX 460 video card, an overkill of 8GB of RAM, and two 1TB hard drives in a beast of case. Check out the raging horsepower:

Such raw processing power. These numbers make me light headed.

Now for the rationalization of building such a powerful box. This computer serves three vital functions. First, it allows me to become more familiar with the Windows 7 platform as I haven't had much experience with it so far. I skipped Vista entirely and have successfully relied on XP these past five years which is how long I've had my previous home-built computer. I anticipate this experience will help with my career. Secondly, it will help immensely with graphic intensive applications like games (SC2 anyone?) and photo and video editing. Already I have seen the benefits of going from a single core processor to a multi-core CPU and the difference is instantly evident. Thirdly, having a new computer will aid me through this next semester of grad school as it will be more reliable because it's new. My old computer served me well but was showing signs of age even after replacing the video card after it blew out, doing a minor upgrade to the RAM, and swapping out the hard drives. The DVD player stopping reading discs and the hard drive started making the infamous clicking noise. So with that, I hereby name the computer Rocinante in attribution to my old computer, Sancho and its predecessor, Quixote. May I lead it to better pastures than it's literary namesake.