Newegg.Com

I've yet to push the button for the new computer hardware at Newegg, but with that $5500 I saved on the yearling the trigger finger is getting itchy. What justification is there for this, after all, just because I generally can issue a few curse words while waiting for my Internet Explorer to load? There is still this stack of bills on my desk! Hmmm..... IRS...!

Let me put it this way. I drive a pickup truck instead of a Cadillac, my horses run $2,500 claimers, and my bank account is usually on empty. BUT, the one thing that I can afford that would look good even in Sheik Mohammed's living room would be a computer assembled with all the latest high end components.

And, folks, after much research at Anandtech, Extreme Tech, X-bit Labs and SilentPCReview.com, yes it's true that $776.00 plus ship will get a near optimized non-overclocked machine that performs at or near the top on all the benchmarks. Sheik M. eat your heart out. Here it is:

Processor E6850 Intel Core Duo
Asus Maximus Motherboard x38 chipset
Corsair DDR2 800 (6400) Ram at latency 3
Hard Drives: My present WD 150 GB Raptors 10000 rpm in Raid 0
Scythe Ninja Mini Heat sink--fanless
Video Card: My present XFS 6600GT

I'll get back to horses when (and if--the matter is still somewhat in doubt) it's built.

Training:
Art: Friday through Sunday has been walk-trotting in the pasture about 10 minutes. Nob says he's still protesting, and so we're careful. Horse has been trotting all of a week so you may imagine he's a little testy at this point. We'll make fast progress this week. He's also been galloping riderless a mile a day with short bursts of speed.

Y: short daily riderless gallops. The ground equipment for tack work has arrived, but, I've yet to put it together. One more shoe to go, and thankfully that bit of torture will be completed for 3 more weeks.