Pros: After being a Mac advocate for years, I finally built my own PC and tried Vista. I'm actually rather impressed. Installation was easy and the OS is fast and stable. Granted, I don't do much on this rig besides World of Warcraft, but so far so good. Automatically found drivers for my motherboard.

Cons: Home Premium is, well, a premium. No 64-bit DVD included, although you can order this from Microsoft's website without much hassle.

Overall Review: Rule #1 for building your own PC: The internet is your friend. Most technical hurdles can be avoided by researching ahead of time. Check for compatibility of parts and software with Vista. Browse the manufacturer's website for drivers before buying the product. Take note of issues others are experiencing, especially if their build is similar to yours. Finally, diagnose any hardware problems before upgrading (aging hard drives and bad memory should be replaced).

Pros: I'm going to go out on a limb here. I don't understand why this cooler gets such rave reviews. Yes, the performance is good, but nothing extraordinary. The included thermal grease is average. But more importantly, the retention clip is easily dislodged.

Cons: My experience with the retention clip has been nothing but frustration. The heatsink is attached using a curved piece of metal, which latches on to a tiny plastic nub. This nub, which is about 1cm in length, is all that holds the heatsink to your processor. If you move your PC often, prepare to flinch in horror as the heatsink, which weighs in at 530g, becomes dislodged with a loud clang. If you're lucky, the sudden release of tension from this accident won't damage your motherboard's PCB or the processor's heat shield. If your case doesn't have a removable motherboard tray, have fun taking everything out just to apply the thermal grease again.

Overall Review: Really, it is a decent cooler, but the design of the retention clip is a critical flaw. If your heatsink isn't properly attached to the CPU, it doesn't matter how good it is!

Pros: After using this case for months as my personal gaming rig, I know it like the back of my hand. But I wouldn't call us good friends. Read on, or if you need a summary, spend your $400 elsewhere.

Cons: I don't intend to be dramatic. This is a high-quality chassis. However, I have grown to hate it. If you like to work inside your case from time to time, avoid this case like the plague. The 4-5mm thick aluminum panels sound good on paper, but are in fact a nightmare. Because there is no motherboard tray, you are forced to either (A) install directly into the chassis or (B) remove the side panel. As you will soon discover, the panel never lines up correctly again, resulting in an I/O panel that doesn't quite fit. Its immense weight makes it a burden to carry even a few feet. If you want to remove the hard drive cages, think again. The screws are over-tightened and I stripped most of them trying to increase airflow to my graphics card. The side panel window, which seems substantial at first glance, is thin and scratches easily, obscuring your components because it's not completely transparent. In contrast, the Silverstone TJ10-BW (N82E16811163089) boasts better airflow,

Overall Review: a lightweight yet strong aluminum frame, supports 3x VGA and costs less while still aesthetically pleasing. So why would you buy this case? I don't know. It is marketed towards gamers, but is an epic failure in this regard. As an HTPC, it is expensive and mediocre. The saving grace of this chassis may be its appearance, but similar designs can be had from Lian-Li and Silverstone. As an enthusiast who enjoys tinkering and swapping parts often, I regret this purchase. Zalman makes excellent products, but this is not one of them. But if this exposé of design flaws isn't enough for you, by all means, click Add to Cart. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Pros: It looks great out of the box before changing anything. The display itself is gorgeous, definitely go for the glossy. I didn't know this before buying, but it features a few proprietary technologies, one of which is called MagicColor. I turned it on and my games had a new level of color saturation and vibrancy. Of course you can turn it off if you need accuracy, but this is a TN panel so you shouldn't be worried about that anyway. Also, the 4-way adjustable stand is the best I have seen.

Cons: As others have stated, the touch-sensitive buttons leave much to be desired. Even when I can see them, they don't always work.

Overall Review: I am actually returning mine to Best Buy, so that I can purchase the 2693HM for just a few dollars more from Newegg.

Pros: Excellent performance/price ratio. This card gives hope to a lot of Intel chipset owners like myself, whose only multi-GPU option is CrossFire.

Cons: This card generates an enormous amount of heat, like something from the Pentium 4 Extreme era. It will fit inside most cases, but if you don't have good airflow, look elsewhere.

Overall Review: After a single day of use, the decal on my card has started to melt. Why do the manufacturers do this? Also, the packaging was substandard. Not sure if the other ATI partners are like this, but DIAMOND, I am not impressed.

Pros: I bought this for my DX48BT2 until I can afford Corsair's 1600 XMP modules. As mentioned previously, scores 5.9 in Vista. Motherboard recognized timings immediately. For those concerned with aesthetics, the black PCB and silver heat shields look awesome.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: DDR3 is still very expensive compared to, say, DDR2 800, but if you're looking for an affordable set of sticks for your new board this is a great buy.