Just wanted to let you know that i'm currently posting from my new pc I'd like to thank you for taking some time to give me precious advices.

So finally i chose : Asus M2N SLI Deluxe + AMD Dual core X2 6000+ + 4gb RAM + Seagate Barracuda 160go + GeForce 7600 + Asus Silent Knight (damn this thing is huge).

I'm happy with it, i didn't really test it yet, but i can feel the difference from my laptop during casual use. FARR scans my music collection in a blink of an eye 

I didn't buy the screen yet because i'm still hesitating. I just saw that IIyama is about to sell a 24" screen (IIYama B2403WS) with 2000:1 contrast ratio for about 500€, which is not very expensive, especially compared to Samsung Syncmaster 971P. My hesitation comes from the fact that it uses a TN film and i'm not sure weither it makes a big difference or not (reviews says this screen offers excellent image and color display).

the iiyama monitor sounds good - the price sounds crazy. i see that you can disable the 2000:1 contrast to provide greater colour accuracy (yet another example of this weird above 1000:1 ratios where things don't quite add up, i.e. bigger numbers equal less accuracy - bizarre).

for the prices i've seen i'm tempted to buy one just for the sakes of getting a bargain. i wouldn't even need to take it out of the box to feel satisfied. the eizo model i've got is the 24" 1920x1200 res thing and i can imagine that this iiyama will be identical (same samsung screen i bet) but for a third of what i payed.

what an insane bargain, and i'm trying to justify why i should buy one - two 24" screens would surely be an over indulgence. hmm, maybe.

oh, and congratulations on the birth of your new machine 

Lashiec> well, i'm not a big gamer at all, so i don't need a great graphic card right now. If i ever want to go for something better, i guess i'll get another SLI card (that explains why i went for a nVidia card). NO i'm not running Vista, i don't want to, no right now. I'm fine with XP and if one day i really wanna do something that can only be done in Vista, maybe i'll switch. I'm using a "Suza Advance JUPITER 8005" case (maybe it'll ring a bell, i chose it because it was cheap and seemed nice ) with a 480W power supply (i've been told it could be insufficient, we'll see...).

nudone> oh well, if you already own a 24" monitor, you'll be able to answer this : is it ok to use it on a normal distance, or do you have it to place it far away from you so it won't hurt your eyes ? I don't have much space so the question is important And what do you say about TN film, do you think it's ok or is it reeaaaally important to get a PVA one ?

carol> well, 160gb seems really ok to me, if i ever need more space i'll get another disk

my face is about 24 to 30 inches away from the screen depending on how i'm sitting. i don't think i'd be happy to move it further away and i could probably work with it being a bit nearer - but nearer would probably feel uncomfortable. all i know for sure is that my eye strain is nothing like it was before i had this monitor.

the only comment i can really make about TN film is that i would hope that it has progressed and so wouldn't be a problem. but i suppose that explains the price of the monitor.

i think viewing angles are pretty irrelevant as you'll be sat directly in front of the screen. colour reproduction, hmm, well, it's not going to be perfect no matter what so maybe that's not too big a deal either.

the eizo i'm i'm looking at is pva so that obviously means that the iiyama screen is a different samsung model - not the original bargain i was hoping for then.

if you can, i recommend trying to see the monitor up and working before you buy it. maybe you can find it in a big computer shop and do a comparison with the other screens on display. i think it will be obvious whether it looks good or not - flesh tones are usually a good indication of how bad the monitor is as you will instinctively know what looks right or not - well, that's what i tend to find anyway.

could you buy from somewhere that you could send it back if you weren't happy with it? Carol usually reminds us of the regulations - i can never remember. i would guess that France offers better consumer regulations than the UK.

I'm puzzled you went with and AMD64x2 instead of core2duo, since money doesn't seem to have been your biggest concern; around here, I could have gotten a E6550 for the same price as the 6000+. But oh well, it's going to be a decent enough machine anyway.

GeForce 7600 is a pretty decent card, relatively fast but not one of the monster power consumers. I'm fond of my fanless one, and I certainly like the NV drivers a lot more than the buggy stuff from ATI

If i ever want to go for something better, i guess i'll get another SLI card (that explains why i went for a nVidia card).

You do need the second card to be exactly the same as the first card, though, don't you? Might be difficult finding that once you get to the point where you need the extra performance. Of course you can always get a new (or two new ) cards then, but then it defeats the "economic" aspect of SLI.

I do run a SLI motherboard myself, but that's only because it was the only fanless motherboard available at the time that was also stable.

4gb shouldn't a problem under XP, not under the 32bit version either, you just won't be able to have a single app use all the memory.