A brief update, but I've just submitted my NewEgg order for some G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3 RAM. In short, I decided to take advantage of the $140 G.Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB DDR3 1333 special that NewEgg is currently having. I also decided to go from six 2GB DDR3 1600 sticks to three 4GB sticks myself, but I bought three individual DIMMs rather than one tri-channel kit to save a bit a money. (Seriously: the current price of a tri-channel kit is about $330, whereas individual sticks cost around $90 each.)
On Tuesday, I'll head back to Micro Center and see whether or not there are some 500GB Samsung F3 HDDs available. I thought about buying a second 1TB HDD and combine Options A and B from my HDD plans, but the new plan is to buy two 500GB HDDs and use the 1TB HDD as space for storage and additional VMs. (The new Plan B is to use two 1TB HDDs and keep the 2TB "green" HDD for storage/VMs, but I believe that it's way too much storage for my parents' plans.) I'll order the processor, motherboard, and case (online) for my parents' new system around the beginning of November so those parts will reach them before I arrive to visit. (That will be around the same time that I'll mail off the parts that I've accumulated so far -- NIB, of course.)
I'll also stop being lazy and make the long-overdue upgrades to my system. (Yeah, yeah: there will be pictures then.) Having the system up now (or, more accurately, soon) will allow me to test some of the parts that I plan to sell in the immediate future -- and wipe a few hard drives that I've been meaning to sell earlier.
On Tuesday, I'll head back to Micro Center and see whether or not there are some 500GB Samsung F3 HDDs available. I thought about buying a second 1TB HDD and combine Options A and B from my HDD plans, but the new plan is to buy two 500GB HDDs and use the 1TB HDD as space for storage and additional VMs. (The new Plan B is to use two 1TB HDDs and keep the 2TB "green" HDD for storage/VMs, but I believe that it's way too much storage for my parents' plans.) I'll order the processor, motherboard, and case (online) for my parents' new system around the beginning of November so those parts will reach them before I arrive to visit. (That will be around the same time that I'll mail off the parts that I've accumulated so far -- NIB, of course.)
I'll also stop being lazy and make the long-overdue upgrades to my system. (Yeah, yeah: there will be pictures then.) Having the system up now (or, more accurately, soon) will allow me to test some of the parts that I plan to sell in the immediate future -- and wipe a few hard drives that I've been meaning to sell earlier.