$500 Ubuntu Computer, advice:

[djinnkeeper]

The system I'm typing this with has:

AMD II X2 240
GIGABYTE MA785GM-US2H
GIGABYTE 512MB GDDR3 - NVIDIA 9600GT
8GB of Corsair XMS2 (DDR2 800)
two 640GB Western Digital HDD
Sony Optiarc DVD-RW (cheapest one I could get at the time, I think)

I started with 4GB and later upgraded to 8 when I found the same sticks, used, on Ebay.
I could pull up the receipts or otherwise try to remember how much I spent, but initially, it was very cheap. I think I ended up racking up costs in excess of a grand, but I bought a new monitor, wall mount, case, better fans, etc.. Though I normally try to build it all once and upgrade as little as possible, it turned out to be very cost effective for me to wait on the memory upgrade, for instance.. (got the same sticks for like half retail.. hardly used at all)

[caprice]

I would assume $500 US, and you are in the US. I would also assuem that you need a whole box (case, power supply, motherboard, CPU, RAM, video, HDD, DVD, video card, and possibly keyboard/mouse). If you dont want a monitor out of the $500, you should be able to build a nice system for that.

AMD is generally better in the 'bang for buck' stakes. AFAIK ATI is currently a little ahead in bang for buck as well, but the whole GPU scene changes so fast it can be hard to keep up. With your stated use, you arent going to need an expensive video card anyway

If you have a preference for AMD or Intel, its best to get that out of the way at the beginning IMO.



nVidia is generally better for long term support, but the newer ATI GPUs are good (but its always a good idea to check before you go buying them). By the time that ATI discontinues support for the newer GPUs, the opensource drivers should be stable and at least decent.

As for 'quad core intel being cheap now'- what, on a $500 budget? The cheapest Intel quad I can see is a Q8300 ($150at newegg), and that is a lot more than the AMD options. Its also a socket that is already 'obsolete' (LGA 775).

4GB of RAM might be pushing things as well, even 'obsolete' 2x2GB DDR2 800 is $85 at newegg. Better off with DDR3, its faster, cooler (temprature) and only a few $$$ more. as time goes on DDR3 will get cheaper, while DDR2 will probably rise.

LGA 775 Core2Quad + 4GB DDR2 800 + a decent motherboard will add up to about $275-300. Doesnt leave much for HDD, DVD, case, power supply and a video card......($50 minimum for 500Gb, which is as small as I would go for the OPs uses, $20 minimum for a DVD burner). Do-able, but something is going to be junk IMO.

*edit-



X6 is $200, minimum. 4GB DDR3 is near enough to $100. Sorry, bad idea on a $500 budget.

Fantastic Post! Thank you!

I still have my Lanboy case from back in the day with two fans in it, an old DVD drive that connects through IDE cable and a 350W PSU (even though I imagine 350W is not enough for todays standard?)
I have a VGA monitor, mouse, and keyboard. So I'm covered in those departments.
And yes $500 US.
So I should go for DDR3, alright done. Go for Intel, as opposed to AMD, God its still the same battle, haha. I'm not sure on this one but I'm gonna say AMD because I used to be an Intel guy, but lately I'm for the little guy much much more..

[djinnkeeper]

If you have a preference for AMD or Intel, its best to get that out of the way at the beginning.

Wise words.
I would try to buy a good power supply. That's the foundation of your system. (no generally 350w will not cut it, especially if you have a graphics card)

[Drenriza]

Kingston HyperX 2 x 2 GB ddr3
Phenom II X6 1055T 6 MB (AMD Processor in a Box (PIB))
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H

393 $.

Phenom II X4 925 6 MB (AMD Processor in a Box (PIB))
Kingston HyperX 2 x 2 GB ddr3
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H

327 $

i dont see this unrealistic. And then he dont need an graphic-card.

[djinnkeeper]

it's not completely unrealistic, it's just overkill in the wrong areas, at the wrong time. I would say 6 cores is a bit excessive and while I would normally agree with your assessment that he does not need a graphics card, one might note the price difference between an X6 and an X2-4 could pay for the better part of a graphics card. It's never budget friendly to buy a processor that was just released.

[Drenriza]

the X6 is not just released. But anyways i also showed the price with an X4.

But if your gonna buy an graphic-card instead of an onboard one then you also want to change the MB that i have showed. To an motherboard with newer chip set.

and then i would suggest ATI HD 5450

[cascade9]

well I guess that budget can grow, because it may take a month to get all the stuff together. Let's say:

$500 for just the motherboard, CPU, and RAM.


then I'll worry about video card and hard drives later...

That changes things. For AMD, this is what I would do-

Gigabyte 870A (SATA3, USB3)- $100.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128443

OCZ DDR3 2000, 2x2GB- $130-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227569

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T- $200

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103851

or X4 965- $180

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103727

The X6 will be faster on multithreaded programs (well, ones that use all the cores anyway) and the X4 faster on single threaded programs. Choice is yours, depending on what you think is better.

BTW, I know that doesnt come to $500, you could get the X6 1090T. Which is faster, but not worth the extra $100, 10% clock speed increase for 50% increase in price. Well,t hats teh top of the line pricing for you....

Fantastic Post! Thank you!

Thanks.

I still have my Lanboy case from back in the day with two fans in it, an old DVD drive that connects through IDE cable and a 350W PSU (even though I imagine 350W is not enough for todays standard?)
I have a VGA monitor, mouse, and keyboard. So I'm covered in those departments.
And yes $500 US.

Ah, the classic 'lanboy' case. Still great after all these years. The IDE DVD wont be a problem (almost everything still has an IDE port).

Yeah, a 350 isnt quiet enough. It should work, but really not recommended. 500 is as small as I would go, and 600 or so is a good choice.

For sound work, this is expensive, but amazing power supplies-

Seasonic X650 gold- $150 (ouch!)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151088

Amazing though, check this review-

http://www.silentpcreview.com/Seasonic_X650

So I should go for DDR3, alright done. Go for Intel, as opposed to AMD, God its still the same battle, haha. I'm not sure on this one but I'm gonna say AMD because I used to be an Intel guy, but lately I'm for the little guy much much more..

Yep, the same battle At least its not Intel vs AMD vs Cyrix vs IDT anymore

[djinnkeeper]

ah so you did, my mistake.. but it was so "just" released. "Just" like, it's their latest desktop processor. I suppose it was what like 2 months ago now?

[cascade9]

Kingston HyperX 2 x 2 GB ddr3
Phenom II X6 1055T 6 MB (AMD Processor in a Box (PIB))
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H

393 $.

Phenom II X4 925 6 MB (AMD Processor in a Box (PIB))
Kingston HyperX 2 x 2 GB ddr3
Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H

327 $

i dont see this unrealistic. And then he dont need an graphic-card.

I would go for a AMD 8XX chipset with a SB850 southbridge over a 7XX chipset/SB7XX southbridge these days. SB 7XX- SATA 2. SB 850- SATA3. Not that it matters a huge amount now, but aleady some SSDs are saturating the bandwidth for SATA2, and SDDs are going to just get cheaper, and faster over the next few years.

If onboard video is OK with the OP (perosnally, I perfer a standalone video card, but thats my preference) then this either of these are my choices-

GA 880GMA- $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128445

GA-890GPA- $140.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128435

I'd rather have the 890GPA, as I perfer 'full' ATX motherboards not microATX, and its got a slight faster video card. But for the $40 extra its already more than the cost of a (low end) video card. Choices, choices.....

BTW, not all the 8XX chipset motheboards have a SB850 southbridge. There are some with the older SB7XX southbridge.

ah so you did, my mistake.. but it was so "just" released. "Just" like, it's their latest desktop processor. I suppose it was what like 2 months ago now?

Not even that. Late april release for the X6

[caprice]

wow! guys this is perfect! Just the information I need to get started ordering stuff.

I'll probably go with the 6 core AMD (un-imaginable 5 years ago)
A motherboard without on-board video (i still wanna game some)
2x2GB DDR3 RAM

I'll start ordering the stuff and get it all thrown into the Lanboy then figure out which hard drives and video card to get.

I'll probably go with the Seasonic PSU since it looks sick!

thank you everyone for the info! can't wait to get started with Ubuntu