Zackis

It is called Bloat for a reason. Bloat as in "full of Gas", or uneeded, spurious. 95% of bloat is just crap. 5% ( im being generous) is marginal at best. Regardless of Vendor you will see bloat how much is dependeant upon how much money the software vendors give ot...so it wil vary greatly. The Basics should be in any system, by basics I mean: 1) a functioning A/V solution 2) all the software neccessarry for the system to function as intended...don't know it's function? Figure it out BEFORE you buy.... For a vendor system, save yourself the headache, blow the system away and start from scratch. I can build a win 7 box from DVD insert to configuring all the options I need and want in about an 90 minutes ( including install time). It is well worth your time to turn OFF services you do not need, and to unistall services you wont use. Even better.... build your own system, save the extra cash, become more proficeint over time.

I prefer the second one... even for wallpaper as the darker background on the left side, make the use of icons easier to see and the sparks would make a nice visible part of the screen.

yea I am doing them a 'favor' that may not end ...lol

a cursory look at the Mobo shows the max speed is 1600 MHz so the 1866 MHz might be overkill try this RAM stick instead still a 2 X 4GB http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-memory-cml8gx3m2a1600c9

Just finished helping a co-worker whose wife thought that all things in the browser are helpful. needless to say 14 PUP programs later 3 different tool-bars and 1200 changes to the registry later that are now fixed I had to gently explain that "No, people on the internet are actually NOT particularly nice," and that 'locking the door' so they cannot easily step inside the house is a good idea. 3 hours worth of work being handed back to someone that knows very little is almost handing a hand grenade to a small child....

Connectivity extra for little extra cost..makes perfect sense!! I'm not a streamer but I do know that it can push the processor and Ram, in that case 8 GB would probably be fine.

ISO mounting Virtual clone ( mounting ISO's) Browsing: Sandboxie ( run your fav browser in a delete-able sandbox) FF with the No script extension Utilities: Sumatra PDF reader WinDirStat

Admittedly this is nitpicking... but the listed trackball is useful but if you use any voice applications ( vent, TS3, mumble) it is often worth your while to get the 4 button Kingston Trackball.

2 questions for you: 1) Do you have to use wireless? Granted I know it is easy but so is plugging into a hard wire...plus wireless is half duplex ( one part transmits then the other signal transmits...which can be inherently slower) while a wired connecting woudl require you to spend nothing ( use the RJ45 on the Mobo) and would get you better performance. 2) I would spend money on RAM rather than processor unless your use would require the top end power from the i5...so you could save a little cash by reducing the processor while providing more RAM...so do you need the i5?

I might be able to help drive the number over the 39 M mark I was wondering if anyone has the multi-seat bomber? I might pick that one up...any thoughts ?