New Parts

I recently invested in a Jaton GeForce 8400GS 256MB DDR2 PCIe x16. Awesome video card that was about 25 bucks open box on www.newegg.com. The problem is, my motherboard only does PCIe x8 even thou the MB and manual state x16. Thank god for backwards compatibility. The card also requires a 450W PSU but my 400W works good with it. Came with all the cable for out to devices, so experimenting with Nvidia's Twin View to out 21" TV. Flash video's from fancast, hulu, youtube, etc look freaking sweet. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814139018R

Got myself a 2x1GB DDR2 800Mhz (PC6400) Kit by OCZ from newegg.com as well. The price of RAM just made me go "whoa!" at about 24.99. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227124

I had to sacrifice some OverClocking speed from my Semperon 3000+ 1.6GHz because of the RAM and Video card. Instead of a CPU Multiplier of 300 for a 2.4GHz had to settle for a Multiplier of 263 for a 2.1GHz. Still a nice gain and with 2 80mm Fans (back), an 80mm (front), a Video Card Fan, and a nice CPU fan... Still runs about 40C for Case, 48C for the Nvidia, and 55C for the CPU. Nice if you ask me :) Also, took my PCIe from 100Mhz to 150Mhz as well.

Hrm, Compiz + Emerald works with out a hitch. The problem is trying to narrow it down to KDE 4.2 with its system settings manager and more complex customization features. Or do I stay with Gnome 2.24 with its simplicity.

The KDE widgets/plasmanoids are nice to have so I can post to twitter, gmail notifications, and folder view.