Minor System Upgrade
I was forced to upgrade one of my systems this week because the motherboard (or CPU) died. Rather than mess around trying to figure out which specific component was impacted, I ran over to NewEgg (virtually, of course), and picked up a new AMD Sempron 3400+ CPU and a Gigabyte Socket 754 motherboard for cheap to replace the previous Athlon 2500+ CPU and Socket-A motherboard that the system had been sporting. I'll test the motherboard out more rigorously in a few weeks.
The system actually died on me a few weeks back, but luckily, it was only my former desktop system, so there wasn't really any urgency to get it fixed at the time. My wife is probably happier with the briefly lowered electricity bill... 
For just a second, I was actually contemplating going all out and getting a dual-core CPU and associated motherboard, but that would have required getting new RAM, SATA hard drives, a PCI-X video card, and probably a bigger power supply. Bah! My wallet is happier with the current choice (I paid less than $140), and this box will be repurposed as my new Security/Monitoring server, and I'll get to rebuild on of the older ones for more reasonable duty. Even as I speak (er.. write), I'm installing Windows 2003 R2 on the box. (Thank you, Microsoft, for the Action Pack subscription!)
As I've previously mentioned, I hate upgrades that waste parts, and so I avoided the temptation to do that on this occasion. I do, however, need to get myself another workstation that I can go 64-bit on. I missed the opportunity to do it when I obtained my current dual-core system, and I really don't feel like incurring a whole lot of downtime to transfer my apps, rebuild it again, then transfer the apps back. Better to do that with a swap-grade. I also need to get my wife a new laptop, as the old one is dragging. Once I get her apps transferred to a newer model, I can rebuilt the current one to get rid of the 4+ years of accumulated junk and let my daughter use it for her homework.
For now, I have some server apps to install/upgrade...
About Logik!
Andrew S. Baker aka ASB aka Logik!
Andrew S. Baker is a business-savvy, hands-on IT leader with expertise in mentoring people, mitigating risk, and integrating technology to drive innovation and maximize business results. He creates competitive advantage for organizations through effective IT leadership: implementation of processes and controls, and architecture of robust business solutions.
Mr. Baker has successfully led a number of high-performance technology teams in designing, deploying and maintaining secure, cost-effective computing environments for well-known companies, including Warner Music Group, The Princeton Review, Bear Stearns, About.com, and Lewco Securities.
For over a decade, Andrew has exhibited thought leadership on technology and business topics via mailing lists, technical forums, blogs, and professional networking groups, along with contributions to podcasts, webinars, and over 20 technical/business magazine articles. He also serves on several boards and committees for non-profit organizations, and within the Seventh-day Adventist church.
His personal interests include Astronomy, Basketball, Bible Study, Chess, Comics, Computers,
Family Life Ministries, Reading, Strategy/Role Playing games, and Professional Networking...
A summary of Andrew's current résumé is available here, and he can be reached on a variety of social and professional networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.