Reference

Build It Or Buy It? A Practical Guide for an i7-920 Computer with 12GB Memory and Windows 7 for under $1,000

The Core i7 is Intel's monster processor that everybody seems to be talking about, but is the Ferrari of processors really worth the price?

We wanted to see what all the i7 excitement was about, so we decided to take the plunge based on the following criteria: It had to be screaming fast, upgrade compatible (1366 socket), and relatively low cost. After some research, we learned that an i7-920 would be the best i7 computer to meet our requirements - and to our surprise - could be built OR purchased on a budget of less than $1,000.

Make sure you start with a Core i7-9xx series (1366 socket) processor. Other i7s like the i7-860/870 use the 1156 socket and are not upgrade compatible.

An i7 computer needs three essential ingredients that generally aren't lying around in the garage: (1) an i7-900 series processor (like the entry-level i7-920); (2) an Intel X58 chipset-compatible motherboard, and (3) lots of DDR3 memory. Knowing what we needed, we then had to decide whether to build it - or buy one off the shelf.

The decision turned out to be an easy one after we found a Core i7-920 workstation at Costco loaded with a jaw-dropping 12GB of DDR3 memory, 1TB SATA hard drive, and Windows 7 - all for $999 delivered.Read More

The free Popular Science archives includes the following "I'd Like To See Them Make" series from their January 1956 issue (page 116). An item you won't see in today's publications:

Popular Science has partnered with Google to offer their entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements.Read More

If the gold medal was solid gold with the same mass, each Olympic Gold Medal would be worth almost $20,000

Weighing more than a pound each, the Vancouver medals are among the heaviest in Olympic history, and because of strong commodity prices, are among the most valuable ever handed out.Read More

Things You May Not Know About Cars

More at The Car Connection

Largest book in the world to be displayed for the first time

It takes six people to lift it and has been recorded as the largest book in the world, yet the splendid Klencke Atlas, presented to Charles II on his restoration and now 350 years old, has never been publicly displayed with its pages open - until now.Read More

Handy hourly rate calculator is a great tool for freelancers

Whether you're freelancing or working on side projects for some extra cash, make sure you get paid what you're worth with Freelance Switch's hourly rate calculator.Read More

We're always hearing about it being best to make off-season purchases, so the folks at Lifehacker has compiled a timeline and lots of best-time-to-buy suggestions to help plan a more frugal 2010.

Lifehacker