We added a SSD section to the $1200 and up computers and upgraded the AMD CPU on the $800 computer to a quad core model.  The rest of the changes were replacements for discontinued models and price changes, mostly down.

You can find the main Computer Parts Lists page here.

There were a lot of price changes, as per usually, mostly down.  One thing I noticed that is just baffling.  On the $1800, $2000 and $2300 lists it is cheaper to get 12GB of RAM than 6GB of RAM.  We replaced a few discontinued models and on the  $800 computer we upgraded the video card from a 6850 to a 6870.

You can get to the main parts list page here. 

The videos are intended to teach anyone how to setup a SSD or SSD RAID array in their computer.  SSD or Solid State Drives are much faster than hard drives and greatly improve your experience using your computer.  Using a RAID setup with SSDs can improve speed even more.

• Lesson 1 - SSD and RAID Basics
• Lesson 2 - Other Features of SSDs and RAID
• Lesson 3 - SATA and RAID Configuration
• Lesson 4 - Finding Drivers and Installing Windows
• Lesson 5 - Installing Drivers, disabling Defrag and backing up your C Drive

These videos are available for immediate online viewing by members of the site.  You can join here.  The same videos will be available on DVD for purchase by the end of July.

As usual most of the prices went down,  between $1 and $20 since the last update of the lists.  The only changes were updating a few of the motherboards and the recommended DVD burner.  AMD is set to release the new Bulldozer CPUs, which will run on socket AM3+, very soon.  We changed out the AMD motherboards to the socket AM3+ equivalents of the socket AM3 motherboards that were in the lists.  The LG burner that was in the lists has been discontinued.  We replaced it with a burner from Asus.

You can find the main computer parts list here.

We've got most of the video shot with Lesson 3 through 5 close to being finished.  Lesson 1 and 2 are similar in format to the Internal Component video lessons from the Home PC Builder 2011 videos.  They are pure information.  We're planning to have all 5 videos on the site and available for members to watch by the end of July. It will take about week after that to get them on DVD.  

This month it was mostly price changes.  Some a few dollars and some $10 and $30 changes.  The only changes to the hardware in the lists was the video card and case recommendations in the $250 Upgrade and $500 Computers.  An Nvidia 9500GT was replaced with a Radeon HD 5670.  The cost went up about $20 but I think its worth it.  The 5xxx series supports DX11 and can play all the latest games, just with all the bells and whistles turned off.  The case was replaced with a very similar one only with a higher wattage PSU to allow for the updated video card.

You can find the main parts list page here
http://www.homepcbuilder.com/build-your-own-computer-parts-lists.html

We just ordered two Kingston SSDs.  We're going to make a set of videos showing how to configure RAID 0 or 1, install Windows 7 onto the array and show some tips for getting the most performance.  RAID 5 won't be possible with just two drives but we can still tell the steps for setting up the area.  We'll also show a few different configuration utilities.  The steps are the same but the look is different in various utilities.  In RAID 1 or 5 if a drive fails there is a procedure to replace the drive and have the RAID array recover or reconstruct the missing data.  We will show this as well.

The main changes were switching from the socket 1156 to 1155 CPUs on the $800 and $1200 computers.  For the $1800 computer and above we are sticking with recommending socket 1366 until socket 2011 comes out later this year.  Going with a socket 1155 motherboard and Core i7 2600K is definitely an option for higher end systems.

We also doubled the recommended amount of RAM on the $1200 and up computers.  This is made possible by low RAM prices.  Windows 7 64bit loves RAM and the more you give it the smoother your system will run.

The other changes were mainly price updates and a few replacements of discontinued parts.

You can find the main parts list page here.
http://www.homepcbuilder.com/build-your-own-computer-parts-lists.html

The more reviews a product on Amazon.com has the higher it appears in searches.  We need your reviews!  If you have watched the 2011 videos on the site or on DVD you can give your opinion.  

Here is the link to the 2011 DVD on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Builder-2011-Michael-Cooper/dp/B004VBUGLC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1302803172&sr=8-2

As always your help is greatly appreciated.  If there is something you don't like about the videos or there are ways you think they could be better please include that as well.  Glowing reviews are great but people will lend more weight to reviews that have a few critical things to say.  Don't worry we can handle it.

This brings basic DirectX 11 support to the sub $80 market. These cards only need 29 watts to run so they will work even on systems with 300W power supplies.  This makes them an easy upgrade from the on-board graphics that most $500 computers come with.  

It won't play the latest games in high resolution with all the bells and whistles on but should be able to play the latest games set to lower resolution with most of the bell and whistles turned off.  

Anandtech.com has a good write up.