Any PC builders here?

[HookLine]

Seriously thinking about swapping from Macs to a Linux box. Cheaper hardware, and much easier to repair and upgrade.

Looking for opinions and suggestions about this build as a Linux only box. I do not need huge grunt. I am not gaming, or doing any serious video work or number crunching. Only need to do basics like browsing, streaming, playing music and videos (at least 720p res), occasional video conversion, word processing, etc, and I usually have several programs and windows open at once. It will be my only comp and will be running more-or-less 24/7. Looking for quality, reliability and future proofing out to 4-5 years.

Case & PSU ------- Antec NSK6580 with EarthWatts 430W PSU

CPU ------------- Intel C2D E7400 2.8 GHz (with a Zalman CPU cooler)

MoBo ------------ Gigabyte GA-EP43-DS3R, (or Asus P5QL-E P43)

Graphics --------- 512MB Gigabyte ATI 4670

RAM ------------- 4GB (2 x 2GB) G.Skill DDR2-1066

HDD ------------- 2 x Western Digital 500GB SATA hard drives

LCD Monitor ------ 22" Asus VW222U

Also will be getting a dual layer DVD burner, keyboard and mouse, and probably a digital TV tuner as well. Any suggestions there?

Thanks for any help.

Hook

[grunger]

Not sure if that video card that you're looking at supports dual monitors, but I just got a new computer with a GeForce 9600GT 512MB and am running two 19" monitors. I find that it makes it easier to browse multiple pages at a time if you want to click links and branch off of a main page.

[jeger]

Look into workstation class chipsets, the x38/x48. Will give you a snappier performance in everyday tasks. I havent run linux but in windows everyday things like windows opening and simple things like that are snappier with a good chipset, So as far as i've noticed, comparing my workstation board with friends run of the mill, i get 3-4ms or so better, but noticable. I just upgraded to a new mb and cpu memory i got a GB-x48T-DQ6 and 2 gb of ddr 3 CAS 7 memory, another thing you might want to spend a bit more on is faster memory timings (how many clock ticks it takes it to make the requested memory availbe to read).
video your looking at is better than what i'm running i have a x1950 and just loaded up left 4 deaD and can run it at max settings no problem. I can play hd video but dont have any HD satelite content to try it on that with. Think it would handle it. Looks like there are some FTA sat channels you can get in aus that are HD (acording to a quick browse of http://www.lyngsat.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow)

I was having trouble with my twinhhan 1022a and diseqc switching so i got a skystar 2 DVB-S card, not sure if your thhinking of cable tv tuner or satelite, but with the skystar i can switch lnbs flawlessly. But if you want hd sat, you'ld have to look into a DVB-S2 card that can handle diseqc good.

[violentblue]

running Linux is so much cleaner and faster than Windows, and has a feeling very similar to Mac but is still user configurable.

if you are planning on just having a workstation box, the parts you listed would be huge overkill.
I had one linux box which was just a 2.2ghz p4 with 512mb of memory and onboard video and it was way snappier than my fully built machine which had: dual core processor, Gforce 7800 video, 2 gigabytes of ram and quad hard drives running in a Raid array running XP (this was a few years ago).

Linux is a lean mean operating system, if any function could be done better it has.
find your least expensive components and build a system running linux, it will run smoother and faster than the best system running Vista.

[trthskr4]

will run smoother and faster than the best system running Vista.

Vista actually runs in some parts of the world? Just kidding, I hate Vista but I dispise any form of change. Makes life more complicated than it was before.

[eternalfrost]

we run all linux boxes at our labs. work wonderfully and cant rember the last time anything crashed or need tech support etc. much more stable then windows.
for linux it IS helpfull if you have at least some very basic programing type skills. i.e. not being afraid to use the command line. not absolutely necessary but it is a HUGE help since the whole system is generally geared towards that.

but yea we use the free distributions even for our NASA research.

if your just interested in internet, office, movies etc really ANY hardware on the market now a days is plenty. hardware has far outpaced software for the domestic sector...far... RAM is the only thing that you might want to upgrade from bottom-of-the-shelf but only if you plan on running multiple beefy applications at once. also if you have a highspeed internet connection and like movies and music you can NEVER have enough storage space

but the things you have listed there should kick the pants off of any basic home use stuff...

[davida2]

Set a budget. Start with the CPU and get the best price/performance point. Max out the MoBo RAM. Get the best Vid card you can with the most on-board RAM. 500k is too light for movies, tv, etc. Get the most storage possible in the budget. Movies take up a bunch, and a bunch plus for HD. Get a DVB card. Make sure your MoBo has a minimum of 4 USB ports. A MoBo with a nine pin serial is also an advantage. Wireless on board. Nowdays vid cam/audio is a must. Least for me with kids in 3 states,3 time zones and grandkids in two states, and me missing the action without vid/conference. Bluetooth. Ports for mem cards (camera). A separate HDD for file backup. A bunch of USB mem sticks. Bigger the better.

da2

[dixiedrifter]

Personally I would recommend getting a laptop since your not a gamer. If you need a bigger monitor, get one and hook it onto the back. If you need a better keyboard, get one and hook it into the USB port. Being able to play on the computer in bed or on the road is well, priceless.

If a laptop is totally out of the question, I would consider getting an AMD 780G or 790GFX chipset based board. These have the capability of playing blue-ray natively without additional video card hardware and they have an HDMI port on the back. Go for energy efficiancy instead of raw power when picking out a CPU. Shoot for at least a 1TB hard drive if you plan on doing much work with video... my PC thats all I do, I'll just rip DVDs to the hard drive and not worry about burning them. With prices around a $.10USD a gig, storing your movies on a hard drive is actually cheaper than burning them to a dual layer DVD.

[HookLine]

Thanks for the responses, folks. Much appreciated.

Been out all day and only just got back in, so haven't had time to properly read your comments and check stuff out. Gotta sleep now, but will get back to you tomorrow.

[HookLine]

grunger

Don't really need 2 monitors, though it would be nice to have them. Can't afford them either. Would rather spend the money on one really good quality large monitor.

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jeger

The x38/x48 series are nice processors, but probably overkill for my purposes, and a kinda outside my budget too.

The tuner is for FTA digital only (even in my rural area I can get at least 7 FTA digital signals). But I gotta get my aerial fixed properly first!

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violentblue

That is the sort of thing I like to hear!
 
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eternalfrost

So even NASA use free Linux distros. Guess that leaves more money for getting astronauts home safely.

Yup, no such thing as too much storage space. Besides the 2 internal HDDs (and I have decided to get the 640 gig version, only an extra $10), I also have a RAID 1 array of 2 x 1 TB drives in an external enclosure. Plus another single 500 gig external drive. I also regularly burn important stuff to DVD-R.

You're right that just about anything new (with a GPU card) will handle any general purpose use these days, including HD vid.

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davida2

Some good tips there. Might consider a wireless card again. And movies sure do chew up the storage.

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dixiedrifter

I do not move around much so can't really justify a laptop, though it would be nice to sit on the porch browsing. Also, desktops give you more bang for your buck, and have longer life spans, which counts for me as my ongoing comp budget is on the small side.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been reading up on building a pc for a week or so now, and my eyes and brain are ready to pack it in. So much new detail to wrap my head around. Will give it a rest for a couple of days then get back into it, and chase up more detail about your suggestions. In particular I need to check the Linux driver situation for ATI GPU cards, apparently there have been problems in the past, though word is that ATI have seriously upgraded Linux driver support in the last few weeks.

Cheers
Hook

[TryMe]

Another option is to stick with your mac machine and get a cd bootable version of Knoppix...Linux platforn but boots from cd on startup and has a great amount of functionality.Here's a link for you to get an idea..I have used it quite a bit and love it's diversity.

http://www.knoppix.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[HookLine]

Unfortunately my Mac is getting serious vid problems (distinct blue-purple tint to screen... reds look black, and flesh is a horrible grey-orange colour), and as it is an old one piece unit (2004 eMac), it is not economic to repair. I got 4.5 years of heavy, trouble-free use from it, so can't complain, I got my money's worth.

Hence the need for a brand new comp. Main hassle setting up this new one is figuring out which mobo/graphic card combinations will handle Linux drivers.

[rad14701]

As has been previously mentioned, you'll get a lot more bang for your buck running Linux... I've used it almost since its beginning... Most of my machines are built from spare parts salvaged out of dead customer PC's... Never had a problem other than a few botched release upgrades back before the distros got their acts together... Never had a server or a workstation crash, never lost any data, never had a virus or spyware, and never had anyone hack into my network... I'm currently using Ubuntu Linux but have used Mandriva, Mandrake, Red Hat (before Fedora), and several others...

[HookLine]

Okay. Made my choice. First, thanks to all for their advice, it was very helpful, and I learned a lot checking out PC builds.

I upgraded last week to a 2.4 GHz iMac with a 24" IPS LCD screen (which is drop dead gorgeous, 1080p HD movies are freaking awesome). There were only two reasons I did not go over to a full Linux only box. First is that the Linux distros are still just a little rough around the edges and with a few small gaps to fill, nothing major, but enough to swing me until my next round of hardware upgrade when they will easily be a full match for OS X and Windows. Second, I got a really good deal on the iMac. I priced (DIY) PC boxes carefully but could not match the specs in a PC for the same price as I paid for the iMac, mostly due to its very high quality IPS screen.

Going from a CRT screen to an LCD regained me a couple square feet of real estate on my desk.