Athlon AM2 SLI Custom Build Configurator (NO MONITOR) *BASE_PRICE: [+535] CAS: ($10 off Mail-in Rebate) Sigma Gaming Orca Mid-Tower 400W Case [-21] CASUPGRADE: NONE CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (2 x Fans [+3]) CPU: AMD Athlon X2 6000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology [+60] CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR) CD2: NONE CABLE: None FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR) FA_HDD: None FREEBIE_CU1: FREE! CyberPower Multi-Purpose Carrying Briefcase ($19.99 Value) FREEBIE_CU2: FREE! AGE OF EMPIRE III FREEBIE_CU3: FREE! RISE OF NATIONS: RISE OF LEGENDS FREEBIE_CU4: FREE! Cyberpower Unleash The Power T-Shirt with AMD Logo on the back ($19.99 Value) FAN: Raidmax Maxcool AMD CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent at 20dBA & Overclock Proof) [+15] FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (BLACK COLOR) FREEBIE_OS: None HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD) HDD2: NONE IEEE_CARD: NONE KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR) MOUSE: PS2 INTERNET MOUSE W/ WHEEL (BLACK COLOR) MODEM: NONE MONITOR: NONE MONITOR2: NONE MOTHERBOARD: Asus M2N SLI NVIDIA nForce 560 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 SATA RAID PCI-Express MBoard w/GbLAN,IEEE1394,USB2.0,&7.1Audio MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand) NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD OS: NONE - FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY PRINTER: None PRINTER_CABLE: None PRO_WIRING: None PS_VGA: None POWERSUPPLY: 500 Watts Power Supplies [+49] (**Recommended** WIN-500XSPX APEVIA 500W JAVA Power Supply-Black) RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO SPEAKERS: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers TEMP: NONE (AS SHOWN) TVRC: None UPS: None USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports USBHD: NONE VIDEOCAMERA: NONE VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA) VIDEO2: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB 16X PCI Express (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA) VIDEO3: NONE WNC: NONE _PRICE: (+644) _view_: detail I went through these specs and decided on my way through I'm going to end up using my old Win XP OS disc anyway so why spend the extra money right? Hows that look?

Thanks for the response. There is no exterior door to the bonus room - it is accessed via stairs from the main living area. I like the Mitsubishi system but the $3900 price tag is scaring me. I did hear that you could disconnect the system and take it with you though. Your 2nd and 4th paragraph sort of go together (you'll see what I mean in a second) so I'll talk about that now. My current heat pump is a Bryant 661cj048-a. I believe it is a 4 ton (so I am told). I have good air out of the vents in the bonus room if that is what you mean by "air flow". But (and, here is where paragraph 4 comes in), there are a couple of issues with the bonus room with insulation that cause heat to come in. First, it is built into the attic and the attic is always about 125 to 130 degrees even though I have an attic fan. I have thought about doing the spray foam insulation in the attic. In fact, I have a company coming Monday morning to talk to me about it. The 2nd thing is that there is a door to the attic just after you get to the landing of the bonus room. It is ALWAYS hot right around that door. I think you are right about fixing that and then evaluate afterward. I have ordered a solid core insulated door. It will be here next Thursday. I will definitely wait to get that installed before proceeding. No one has done the calculations as far as I know. They have all taken measurements but I don't know what they do with them. I actually have access to a portable unit that I can use until I can get this sorted out. I have also ordered a TED (the energy detective) 5000 to help me evaluate my energy usage. I am going to test with it Tuesday - Thursday next week and then again for a few days after getting the new attic door installed. I hope to test as I make improvements so that I know which one (if any) truly makes the difference (A/C system, spray foam insulation, misc fixes). BTW - we installed new windows a couple of years ago so we should be good there. Thanks again for your help.

So yesterday buddy comes over to look over things with the a/c system and I think we've got things nailed down properly now. The superheat for the given ambient temperature and heat loading from the indoor coil was way off (5F) vs. the 14-15F that it was supposed to be so he had to remove some of the refrigerant (I was quite surprised how little he had to remove to get the superheat up) and we even went as far as measuring the furnace's CFM flow rating using a differential manometer. I'm pushing roughly 1000CFM across a 2 ton coil so which is a tad bit on the high side but my colleauge says it's a margin of safety for the a/c to not freeze over as we have relatively little humidity in the air would means that on the cooler days we wouldn't be heat loading the coil enough which could lead to freeze up. I personally would like to try running my furnace on the lowest speed to get the 855 CFM but I'm not sure how that will affect the superheat. Presumably I would imagine that if a system is charged properly using the superheat method for fixed orifice systems that blower speed shouldn't dramatically impact the superheat values to the point where they're completely out of whack. I would guess that superheat would rise but isn't that sort of a given? I mean hotter days for example would increase loading so therefore superheat should rise no? For the record the pressure reading on the manometer with the furnace on medium low with a 3M 1500 series filter installed has a -0.44 in wg static pressure difference. With no filter the static pressure diff changes to -0.55. Humidity was still somewhat of an issue yesterday night when it was raining but it was quite cool outside. I had to drop the tstat to 21C to force start the a/c on but after just 20 minutes the house was nice and dry and less stuffy. Just for the sake of my understanding does TXV technically do any better or worse job of temperature/humidity control over a fixed orifice system IF both systems were installed properly and charged to near perfection? I have a friend that is looking to install a/c and his contractor insists on having TXV and says that fixed orifice is evil and should never be used. I find that rather extreme to make a claim like that. I've tried to do my own research online and although it's a given that TXV is the way to go I think it has a lot to do with the fact that it will better protect the compressor from liquid flooding + it's more forgiving for techs that do an incorrect charge on the system - critical charge isn't nearly as important on a TXV system vs. fixed orifice. Thanks,

I'm a little lat to this conversation, but I have a few thoughts. First of all our house was built in 1939 and was remodeled with new wall insulation and double pane windows in 2005. We're in San Antonio so the humidity is significantly lower than at the coast, but still horrible. In San Antonio, as in Florida and all the gulf states, the AC must run 24 hours a day in the summer. 23 years ago we designed and installed a 2-stage (3-ton 2-ton) Carrier system that was supposed to solve the humidity problems. I'm an aerospace engineer and wanted to work with my installer, a mechanical engineer and friend of the family, to design this system. It never worked right. Apparently there was something wrong with our calculations or assumptions, because we had humidity running around 75% inside. We had over designed the system and specified way too much cooling for the house. After about 5 years I went with a custom modified condenser unit from a guy in Houston. The modified unit had solenoids that activated flaps to block the air flow and super cool the coils. The installer was skeptical that the unit would freeze, but in 15 years of use it did not. So that was fine until the condenser finally sprung several leaks. Fortunately Carrier had come up with the Infinity system which, in theory, does everything the kluged condenser did but did it as an integrated system. The 2005 remodel was to add another 800 square feet to the house. Finally the AC started working better with the added square footage. Two years ago I replaced the leaking condenser with the Carrier Infinity condenser, heater/blower, and thermostat. That finally solved my humidity problems. Humidity runs about 45-48% now. It finally feels great in the house. We can keep the thermostat set to 79 in the summer and, because of the low humidity, it feels very cool when you walk inside. If you are thinking of getting a dehumidifier, you need to know that your air conditioner is a dehumidifier. That's all air conditioner's do is dehumidify. Cold air is just a byproduct of the dehumidification process. So if you need a dehumidifier after you get an air conditioner installed, then you are admitting that you didn't put enough thought or money into the AC system to begin with. Or that it isn't performing right. A well designed AC unit should pull your humidity down to the 40s. If it doesn't, then call the installer back to fix it. But if you skimped on the AC design up front, then you have yourself to blame for needing additional dehumidification. All that was to say I think you might be making a mistake going with a Carrier Performance system. Look a little harder at the Carrier Infinity system. It is designed to pull more moisture out of the air.