I was talking to my coworker this afternoon and we both noticed how CPU prices have come down quite a bit in recent weeks. I think nothing has surprised me more than the prices for quad core systems. Yesterday, I wrote about a review that CNET did on the HP Pavilion Media Center TV m8120n PC. Just to repeat – this is a quad core Intel Q6600 processor clocked at 2.4GHz. The system is loaded with 3 GB of RAM, 640GB of HDD space, a combo NTSC/ATSC TV tuner, and a remote with IR receiver. You get all that for $1149.99 (of course this is only for the system.. BUT STILL!).

Then I noticed a special that was coming up this weekend over at PC Club. The company will apparently be selling the same Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor on Sunday for $299.99 after a $50 dollar online rebate. Now that’s a pretty sweet price folks. Some of you that have followed my writings since my days at WhiningDog.NET will know that I’m big on multi-processor machines. I’ve had a dual processor or quad processor system for years now and I can’t imagine working off of a single processor machine anymore (I know.. I’m spoiled). With AMD also cutting prices left and right, it’s clear that multi-core systems on the cheap is the way to go these days. I’ll have to seriously consider building a new home theater PC with the ways prices are plummeting. Another thought was – if ready made systems are going to be so inexpensive to purchase, why not buy one of those systems and then transfer the components into a chassis you do want to use. Just a thought!

Speaking of which – if you are in the market for building an HTPC – remember, systems like Windows Media Center love multiple cores or processors. Plus – the more you’re going to make that system perform – the more cores you’ll want in there.

Finally, the lower processor prices is making one thing very clear to me. It’s going to be fairly inexpensive to roll your own Windows Home Server system. I’ve been thinking about getting a low end HP box like the HP Pavilion Slimeline s3100e to act as possibly my new Windows Home Server machine. At $399.99 after rebate, it’s not a bad deal at all. Sure you could get even cheaper systems but will they be the same form factor as the S3100e?

OK.. that’s it for my thoughts…

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