I am building my first Ubuntu PC! Any Suggestions?

[theaceoffire]

So with a little help from a co-worker and a little help from a friend, I have put together a list of parts that I am planning on purchasing for a new computer from NewEgg (newegg.com).

But as a huge fan of Ubuntu, I want to make sure that this hardware isn't going to cause any obvious problems (Also, I want to make sure I didn't pick something that won't work with something else).

Since the online community helped me a lot when I was getting my Old piece of crap working, I figured that asking *before* buying my new computer might save a lot of work...

So without further ado, here we go:



Parts
Case: Handles ATX/Micro ATX, 4 3.5" internal Bays, 1 external 3.5" Bay, 5 5.25" External Bays. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119068)
Motherboard: AMD ATX Motherboard, AM2+/AM2 CPU Socket, Athlon 64 X2 CPU type, supports 4x240 pin DDR2 1066 ram (Max 16GB), has Two PCI Express 2.0 x 16 slots and handles 6 SATA 3Gb/s. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157139)
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU, 2.8GHz Dual Core, 64 bit, Virtualization Technology Support (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103771)
Ram: Two 2GB sticks of DDR2 1066 RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166)
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT, uses one PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot, 512MB Memory, handles DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130378)
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145215)
CD/DVD Drive: Handles Dual Layer DVD's and below. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106287)
Power Supply: 500W. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371007)
and 2 SATA II cables (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816027).

It is $482.90 ($462.90 after rebate) before shipping, taxes, etc, which is nice and in my price range almost exactly... might even be able to upgrade my monitor after this. The question is: Am I missing anything? Is there something else that I should get? Has someone used one of these parts and had a good/bad experience?

I would love any input. This is replacing a 3GHz Pentium 4 powered HP computer (with no AGP or PCI Express Slots), so I want to do this right...

[D3ath]

This looks like a pretty nice system in general. I the motherboard might be the only thing that you may have an issue with. The bios might need and upgrade but that is easy. Heh you might not even have to worry about that. I know with my XFX 750a board i had to flash the bios with a optical drive which was rare and a pain! but i did it and my ubuntu works great! I don't think you will have any issues.

[Bölvaður]

you can use your existing cd/dvd drives (I always do... and also my old soundblaster live! card)
You could also use your existing case... tha last computer I bought, that was the most expensive part (wtf)

I'd say google that motherboard (you need the product number for it, not the description ;))

[SpriteSODA]

As far as I know, Intel's Core2Dou processors are simply superior in the terms of performance : price.

[theaceoffire]

This looks like a pretty nice system in general. I the motherboard might be the only thing that you may have an issue with. The bios might need and upgrade but that is easy. Heh you might not even have to worry about that. I know with my XFX 750a board i had to flash the bios with a optical drive which was rare and a pain! but i did it and my ubuntu works great! I don't think you will have any issues.

How do you update the Bios? Would I have to install Ubuntu 32 bit, or Windows? Would I need to get a floppy drive?

Thanks.


you can use your existing cd/dvd drives (I always do... and also my old soundblaster live! card)
You could also use your existing case... tha last computer I bought, that was the most expensive part (wtf)

I'd say google that motherboard (you need the product number for it, not the description ;))

I don't want to use the same case cause this one is falling apart, but I might try stealing the DVD drive...

[D3ath]

How do you update the Bios? Would I have to install Ubuntu 32 bit, or Windows? Would I need to get a floppy drive?

Thanks.
Well you would have to look at your Mobo manual. Most are floppy. Some are flash drives and like mine i did it with and optical drive (disc). So read your manual and make sure there are no thunderstorms i learned the hard way. Was flashing the bios when my power went out. The update was maybe 3 min. The power went out and now i have a very expensive paper weight! so be careful but don't get all worried before hand see how the live CD works out. You may not have to do a thing!

-Good Luck