Suggestions for a new desktop

[Ntacman]

Well, Im thinking about buying a new desktop, and would like your suggestions for a good system. I was thinking about just buying the Dell Inspiron 530N with 4 gigs of ram, 320 gig hard drive, and an included 17 inch LCD monitor. Reviews? Opinions?Other suggest desktops that include Ubuntu?

[OutOfReach]

My opinion: Build your own, you have complete power over the system. You can make it completely compatible with Linux like I did mine (sig).

[SteveHillier]

My opinion: Build your own, you have complete power over the system. You can make it completely compatible with Linux like I did mine (sig).

You rotter!!

How can those of us who build systems for a living make a living if you advise people to build their own!!!!!!!!

Of course after building it for you if you are not UK based I would have to email or fax you the finished product!!

However, you are right, build it yourself, have complete control over the spec, buy standard components. Buying from the right places you can probably get a better spec for less money.

The problem of buying ready made is that people like Dell, HP, Acer and these big boys often use their own product or product manufadctured for them that is not generally available so if it goes wrong you have to go back to them to get it fixed.

[yse]

Well, Im thinking about buying a new desktop, and would like your suggestions for a good system. I was thinking about just buying the Dell Inspiron 530N with 4 gigs of ram, 320 gig hard drive, and an included 17 inch LCD monitor. Reviews? Opinions?Other suggest desktops that include Ubuntu?


Some important things:
- CPU go for dual core 64 no matter what
- 4GB ram minimum
- GT260 at least, if you have resources get 295
- go for LCD 22-24, dont make the mistake to get 15-17.. really, 22-24 make all money
- HDD as much as you can get, is never enought

- rest are just unimportant:)

Good luck:)

[Ntacman]

I've been considering making one for a long time, But Im kinda scared to try it :/. Any links for Good quality parts?

[perlluver]

Depends on where you are, but http://www.newegg.com, and http://www.tigerdirect.com.

[OutOfReach]

You rotter!!

How can those of us who build systems for a living make a living if you advise people to build their own!!!!!!!!

Of course after building it for you if you are not UK based I would have to email or fax you the finished product!!

However, you are right, build it yourself, have complete control over the spec, buy standard components. Buying from the right places you can probably get a better spec for less money.

The problem of buying ready made is that people like Dell, HP, Acer and these big boys often use their own product or product manufadctured for them that is not generally available so if it goes wrong you have to go back to them to get it fixed.

:)

I really recommend buying from Newegg. It has very cheap prices and great customer support.
I've heard some bad things about tiger direct, but I've never bought from them.

[swoll1980]

My opinion: Build your own, you have complete power over the system. You can make it completely compatible with Linux like I did mine (sig).

Yeah make your own. No sense over paying for a comp with limited upgrade-ability, a os preinstalled, and a bunch of crap ware to go with it.

[Stan_1936]

...Build your own...like I did mine (sig).

Could you please post the price you paid for the following components:
CPU
Motherboard
Graphics Card
Case
Power Supply
Special Sata Cables that you required....also, where did you purchase these from?
Hard drive/(s)...would you recommend a 10,000 RPM WD Velociraptor(SATA Ofcourse), or would a traditional 7200 RPM Sata HD suffice for various(future) versions of Ubuntu X64

[Bart_D]

Could you please post the price you paid for the following components:
CPU
Motherboard
Graphics Card
Case
Power Supply
Special Sata Cables that you required....also, where did you purchase these from?
Hard drive/(s)...would you recommend a 10,000 RPM WD Velociraptor(SATA Ofcourse), or would a traditional 7200 RPM Sata HD suffice for various(future) versions of Ubuntu X64

Depending on his case and harddrive, I'd guess something around US$2000.

Note: He's not gone for the maximum possible RAM and his HD can be found for quite cheap these days. These are 2 places where he has saved quite a bit, while (presumably) giving himself the option of add RAM(depending on MB support) in the future.

[Warpnow]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4442417&sku=B69-0014&SRCCODE=WEM1846C&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEM1846-_-Compo


Got that deal in an email.

Everything you need to build a pc. A terabyte of space and 8 gigs of ram, a quad core processor, all for $399.

[Bart_D]

Well, Im thinking about buying a new desktop, and would like your suggestions for a good system. I was thinking about just buying the Dell Inspiron 530N with 4 gigs of ram, 320 gig hard drive, and an included 17 inch LCD monitor. Reviews? Opinions?Other suggest desktops that include Ubuntu?

I don't know what your level of knowledge is in terms of hardware but there is NOTHING like building your own system. If you want readymade, and want to futureproof yourself, you NEED support for MORE than 4 GB of RAM...a LOT more, I'd say!!! That is one of the most important factors to keep in mind when selecting a system.

[OutOfReach]

Could you please post the price you paid for the following components:
CPU
Motherboard
Graphics Card
Case
Power Supply
Special Sata Cables that you required....also, where did you purchase these from?
Hard drive/(s)...would you recommend a 10,000 RPM WD Velociraptor(SATA Ofcourse), or would a traditional 7200 RPM Sata HD suffice for various(future) versions of Ubuntu X64
I bought all my parts at newegg
CPU: ~$290
Motherboard: ~$300
Graphics Card: ~$90
Case: ~$60
Power Supply (Actually bought this from Frys): ~100
Set of SATA Cables came w/ motherboard
HDD: ~$70 (Was on sale)

Wow $230 for a WD Velociraptor? It sure has beautiful specs. But I think a normal 7200 RPM hdd that you mention would be good enough.


Depending on his case and harddrive, I'd guess something around US$2000.

Note: He's not gone for the maximum possible RAM and his HD can be found for quite cheap these days. These are 2 places where he has saved quite a bit, while (presumably) giving himself the option of add RAM(depending on MB support) in the future.
Nice guess. It actually costed $1,375. Yes I've saved myself a lot of money with the HDD, plus I also setback on the video card and the processor (originally was going for the i7 940, but the 920 is more than enough for me).

[SteveHillier]

I bought all my parts at newegg
CPU: ~$290
Motherboard: ~$300
Graphics Card: ~$90
Case: ~$60
Power Supply (Actually bought this from Frys): ~100
Set of SATA Cables came w/ motherboard
HDD: ~$70 (Was on sale)
I am amazed. I was lead to believe that for equivalence in the UK we took the dollar price and changed the $ for a £. but at these prices this must be one hell of a spec. We have superstores offering ready built systems for £300, £350 with screen, printer, OS etc. These prices include VAT so I don't know if your prices include sales tax. Even if the exchange rate were 2 dollars to the pound the machines I have quoted would be $600-700, you can work out the rest for yourselves.


Wow $230 for a WD Velociraptor? It sure has beautiful specs. But I think a normal 7200 RPM hdd that you mention would be good enough.
Surely the point here is that the limit on access is the interface and not the spin speed. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[mips]

Surely the point here is that the limit on access is the interface and not the spin speed. Please correct me if I am wrong.

There are several factors that impact on speed. If spin speed was not a factor then we would all still be using 4200rpm drives. The spin speed greatly affects seek times for one.

[Stan_1936]

Speed is definitely a factor.


There are several factors that impact on speed. If spin speed was not a factor then we would all still be using 4200rpm drives. The spin speed greatly affects seek times for one.

+1

[MikeTheC]

Well, Im thinking about buying a new desktop, and would like your suggestions for a good system. I was thinking about just buying the Dell Inspiron 530N with 4 gigs of ram, 320 gig hard drive, and an included 17 inch LCD monitor. Reviews? Opinions?Other suggest desktops that include Ubuntu?

Um, how about "Buy a Mac so you'll be able to run Snow Leopard when it comes out later this year..." ?

No? Well, then I can't help you.

[Ntacman]

Macs are way to pricy...and I guess I should've given some guide lines as what I'll be doing with it. Pretty much writing, with alot of windows open, Flash vids, The occasional 3d Game, pretty much anything on those linesw. Just want something fast enough to run more then 2 windows :/

[PurposeOfReason]

Still have yet to say what you want from the computer. I rock this baby:

CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072 72
Sink http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835101012 11
Board http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813500012 50
Ram http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148163 23
PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104112 20
HDD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220341 75
===
251

The whole computer is like an 8" cube. Fully custom.

[jmszr]

Ntacman,
I noticed this on Lifehacker today and thought it might be of use to you: http://lifehacker.com/5151369/the-first+timers-guide-to-building-a-computer-from-scratch#c10679947

[SteveHillier]

Speed is definitely a factor.

I need to jump to my own defence!!
I like this answer, 'speed is a factor'. I don't believe I said it wasn't. However, and forgive me if I am wrong, but the limiting factor in disk access is the slowest part of the chain.
There is no benefit for the disk to be able to transfer data at speeds far in excess of the capabilities of the interface. And before you all shout at me I assume that the buffer exists so that the disk can do just that for burst speeds. Sustained access is a different matter.
The previous post indicted the if spin speed were not a factor we would all be using 4200 rpm disks but I would posit that the days when we used these slower spin speeds was also a time when we could get less across the interface.
I would simply finish by asking this question. For the most part how many people would notice the advantage of a 10,000 rpm disk when they are typing a report for their boss. I suspect in this case typing speed is more important.
Only in disk bound applications is access speed a real issue, and I suppose all you gamers out there will say 'That's me!', but where 99% of the worlds computing is done I suspect it makes very little difference.

[phaed]

I bought a Dell Inspiron 530N with a dual core 2 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 250 GB hard drive. I'm upgrading the processor to a Core 2 2.93 GHz processor, and I added a graphics card, but other than that it works great for me. Some people recommend 4 GB of RAM. I don't know what they are running, but I never use more than 600 MB so it seems like a waste.

[ArtF10]

..Some people recommend 4 GB of RAM. I don't know what they are running, but I never use more than 600 MB so it seems like a waste.

Haha, true! So true!

[phaed]

So I just opened nearly every single app in the Applications menu (including Firefox, The GIMP, and all the OpenOffice.org apps -- the only ones I left out were a handful that I had removed from the standard Ubuntu menu listing), and as you can see in the attached screen shot, having almost every single app open still only takes up ~920 MB of RAM. Granted, none of those apps were working with data and they were all freshly opened, but at best, even if I HAD been working with all of them for hours and with large data files, it would probably still come under 2 GB. Some apps like Firefox massively increase their memory footprint over time, but others, like most of the games, do not, so I wouldn't expect the overall memory use to more than double.

I just don't see the need for 4 GB of RAM with Linux. :)

[Ntacman]

Wow...A lot of replies. Thanks for the help, I've decided to go ahead and build my own, and phaed, Nice theme, mind sharing it?