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Thanks for this info. How did you happen to come by Windows 7?

It's Windows 7 beta build 7000. It'll run until Aug. 3 or something like
that. I got it from Microsoft in Feb.

Can anyone get that?

Build 7000 which was officially released by Microsoft is no longer available for download. There are other places offering a 'leaked' build 7020 or 7048, but I've never used them. If your in the US or Canada, and you don't mind, email me your address and I'll send you the 32 and 64 bit installation DVD (change gmail.com to ns.sympatico.ca).
But wait, there's more. Act in the next 20 minutes and I'll include product keys for the DVDs ;)  Again, the beta runs out in the first part of Aug.

IIRC, Microsoft was only going to release build 7000 beta and a RC1 before the retail version became available. I don't know where these 'leaked' versions came from.

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OK, here it is, My CUDA / HD video machine, Nov. '08 prices:
CASE RAIDMAX|ATX-208BP 450W RT $44.99
CPU AMD|A64 X2 4850E 2.5G AM2 R  $59.99 (45 watt dual core)
MB GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3H RT    $86.99
MEM 1Gx2|KST 240P KVR800D2N5K2/2G $28.99
HD 250G|HITC 7K 8M HDP725025GLAT80 $59.99
DVD Burner                                       $25.00
VGA GIGABYTE GV-NX84S512HP 8400GS R $39.99 (PCI-e 1.0 x16 512 MB)
Total minus tax and shipping: $346
Misc. Mouse, Kbd, Optic cable plus the $200 Happauge HD PVR 1212
and stuff I already had like the monitors and speakers.
I was trying to go low end but not rock bottom. So it's $346
for the basic machine. I think that's pretty reasonable for
a computer that's the fastest in the house. (Then there's Windows to consider.)
I record the video to a 1TB e-SATA external drive I already had.

I'm looking at a ASUS M3N78-VM motherboard.
OCZ Gold XTC OCZ2G10664GK 4GB RAM (I know about the 4 GB limitation).
OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W power supply.
AMD Phenom X4 9650 or 9950 (9950 is $10.00 cheaper than 9650 on newegg.ca) processor.
BFG GeForce 9500GT videocard if I decide I need it.

I think I can use my IDE hard drive and DVD burner and reuse my current case.
I'm planning on buying one piece a month or every other month until I get it all together.

I'm estimating that the CPU alone will be able to do 8+ work units in the same time my current CPU does 1.