[QUOTE=c10ck3r;260019]Wow! Thank you all for the ideas!
Okay, so assembly is about $150, Linux OS installed=another $50, I'll probably take 16G(B) RAM (4x4)[/QUOTE]

Excellent choice - 16GB will rock.

[QUOTE=c10ck3r;260019]
In other forums, I've heard rumors about an i9 series coming out this year, can anyone confirm/link to?[/QUOTE]

Depending on the source of the 'i9' comment, I'd say someone is making the number up. It's probably someone guessing the model number of the 6core cpus coming.

[QUOTE=c10ck3r;260019]
I'm looking at next February for purchase, but I wanted to get a good idea of what I'll need. I appreciate all y'all's advice, and hopefully by the time I get it online we'll have another Mersenne prime found![/QUOTE]

Wow ages away. Plenty of time to wait until the 6core intel cpus come out. More than likely another generation of GPUs as well by then - [URL]http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/21/nvidia-reveals-fermis-successor-kepler-at-28nm-in-2011-maxwel/[/URL]

Supposedly Nvidia's Kepler later this year.

-- Craig

[QUOTE=nucleon;260035]Excellent choice - 16GB will rock.

Wow ages away. Plenty of time to wait until the 6core intel cpus come out. More than likely another generation of GPUs as well by then - [url]http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/21/nvidia-reveals-fermis-successor-kepler-at-28nm-in-2011-maxwel/[/url]

Supposedly Nvidia's Kepler later this year.

-- Craig[/QUOTE]
And what about AMD's Bulldozer? Betting that will be out, too!

Got at least the basic graphics going on my Xubuntu10.10 GEForce 430 today; think I may get CUDA going tonight.

Only problem with waiting so long is that, depending on what you have now, you can get a substantial part of what you want to do for about 20% of the cost, today. By the time the end of the year rolls around, we will be having the same conversation about the NEXT generation, the successors to Bulldozer, i9, and Kepler....