Since the price had fallen so low ($1,503.88), I decided to increase the amount of ram from 4GB to 8GB. This was due in part to a conversation that I had with my good friend and DevExpress colleague, Oliver Sturm. We were discussing the well-known limits of ram in 32-bit Windows. Oliver made the point, "I'd rather have 4GB on 32-bit Windows than 4GB on 64-bit Windows." The thinking is that, while 32-bit Windows may not be able to fully access 4GB of ram, 4GB on a 64-bit machine might seem cramped since applications use more memory due to wider pointers. Besides, ram is cheap! There's no reason not to purchase a little more elbow room—especially since the price of the machine had already dropped by $400.

The final build that I settled on is below:

As you can see, the price has dropped even further, and the cost of 8GB of ram is now around $200!

Full Disclosure: I had a negative experience with the MSI P6N SLI Platinum motherboard. It was dead on arrival. After installing the CPU, RAM and a video card, the motherboard refused to POST. Newegg's RMA service did a fantastic job of replacing the board. However, there's nothing worse than removing a CPU, cleaning off the thermal paste and hoping that it works the next time it's installed. Fortunately, the second motherboard worked fine and has been running well for nearly two months.

The time I've spent developing with this machine have been nothing short of pure joy. Builds are faster, multiple VMs don't drag me down, virus scans occur without my knowledge... it's complete bliss. I can even watch every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1 simultaneously without a hiccup.

I should also mention that my trophy wife, while OK with the initial purchase, is grumbling a bit after seeing the current component prices.