My new all linux PC.

[Pedricko]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of building an all linux PC, reasonably powered, quiet and cool looking.

I've decided to go for a tower case (my original plans were SFF) and have this one in mind: http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=9281&GroupID=0.

So building a system around that.

I can muster £150 every 4 weeks, even more if I get a job (hey im only 16!).

I need this system to be quiet and have some kick to it, can my fellow ubunturinos help?

I'm looking for an amd processor, is there a motherboard that would support standard 32bit processors and be able to support 64bit when Vista rolls in?

I will be buying parts in lots of £150 at a time - my first £150 will go towards the case, PSU (reccomend me a quiet one please) and possibly a 120mm fan or two. I'm going for blue lighiting.

A fast hardrive 100gb+ would be nice (a quiet one too), 1GB of memory (which I will most likely get off ebay as its much cheaper), graphics arent mega important as I'm not much of a gamer, so I guess a medium-level PCI-e card would be nice. I will most likley buy a sound blast audigy 4 as it has the breakout box so I can record my guitar and bass lines.

I will also get a standard DVD rom and an all in one drive for disk-2-disk copying.

Anything else I'll need?

Oh and the titles a bit misleading, I'll be dualbooting with this one :twisted:

[OffHand]

You might want to read this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport
Found it with Google. N00b myself so I cannot answer any questions.
Goodluck

[Pedricko]

Thanks for the link.

Also on reccomending me a graphics card, I may be using a dual screen setup in future.

[ezphilosophy]

I'm also in the process of building a new computer. I posted a thread not too long ago. Maybe there are some ideas in there (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=146317)for ya.

I'm not sure when I'll ACTUALLY buy it as my wife is trying to argue why she needs a bigger diamond ring instead of buying a new computer. I keep trying to make the argument....

"but honey...... the computer is for the 'family'...."

hope that works.... heheh

[Pedricko]

I'm also in the process of building a new computer. I posted a thread not too long ago. Maybe there are some ideas in there (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=146317)for ya.

I'm not sure when I'll ACTUALLY buy it as my wife is trying to argue why she needs a bigger diamond ring instead of buying a new computer. I keep trying to make the argument....

"but honey...... the computer is for the 'family'...."

hope that works.... heheh

Heh and I thought having to buy a new guitar amp at the same time was a hassle!

I just upgraded my current ram to 256mb, quite noticeable boost I must say, could do with it being 512k mind!

[MenZa]

I just upgraded my current ram to 256mb

Dude.. do you, like, live in the stone-age or something :S?

[bjweeks]

Just get a 64 bit AMd not and run ubuntu 32 bit.

[Pedricko]

Dude.. do you, like, live in the stone-age or something :S?

128mb isnt bad for a linux only system.

[OffHand]

128mb isnt bad for a linux only system.
Well, Ubuntu alone takes about 110MB (on my system). Doesn't leave much for other applications to run. Those will all have to use the swap. Anyways, 256MB should do the trick if you don't use any heavy applications

[Pedricko]

Well, Ubuntu alone takes about 110MB (on my system). Doesn't leave much for other applications to run. Those will all have to use the swap. Anyways, 256MB should do the trick if you don't use any heavy applications

I noticed a lot less hard drive activity, its cut down a lot.

Maybe I'll boost the RAM to 512k and it can replace my dads crusty ME system.

[bjweeks]

I noticed a lot less hard drive activity, its cut down a lot.

Maybe I'll boost the RAM to 512k and it can replace my dads crusty ME system.

Worst OS ever.

[Pedricko]

Yes, that it is.

It needs replacing when I get my new PC with this one!

[Bandit]

Ram is dirt cheap nowa days. Go with 1GB. You will be happy you did.
Also get a AMD64 Chip around 2GHz. They are reasonably priced now.
Also get a 7200RPM SATA150 hard drive, preferable a WD or Segate.
As far as sound, just about any built in sound card will work fine.
Video card?? If you go with nVidia dont get anything less then a GeForce 6600. If you want ATI get a Radeon 9200 that way you can use the Xorg O.S. drivers. But if your heavy into gamming best bett is with the nVidia.
Motherboards are all about chipsets and construction. Normally I would go with Soyo, Asus, Gigabyte, Tyan, Shuttle or Biostar. Stay away from cheap mobos, they can make your whole system worthless.
Make sure you get a good quality power supply that is rated 450w or better.
Dont forget about Monitor, Keyboard, mouse and maybe speakers. A old worn out monitor, keyboard, mouse and even speakers can make your whole system feel nasty and low quality.
I for one like Logitec Mice & Speakers and BenQ LCD's & Keyboards.

Cheers,
Bandit

[arcanistherogue]

I can support that, I am using a 17 inch monitor from 1996 and my friends computer with it's 17 inch 2004 LCD, while less powerful than mine, looks like it is the better computer.

[DJ_Max]

Well, Ubuntu alone takes about 110MB (on my system). Doesn't leave much for other applications to run. Those will all have to use the swap. Anyways, 256MB should do the trick if you don't use any heavy applications
If your system doesn't free up memory for applications,, you have a problem. They shouldn't be using swap.


Ram is dirt cheap nowa days.
Depends on the type of RAM, but for the most part it is.

BTW, all I have is 256MB of RAM.](*,)

[OffHand]

If your system doesn't free up memory for applications,, you have a problem. They shouldn't be using swap.This is right after reboot (only thing running is gdesklets), so I wonder how much the computer can free up.

[MenZa]

128mb isnt bad for a linux only system.

Sounds weird to me.

[Pedricko]

[QUOTE=Bandit]Ram is dirt cheap nowa days. Go with 1GB. You will be happy you did.
Also get a AMD64 Chip around 2GHz. They are reasonably priced now.
Also get a 7200RPM SATA150 hard drive, preferable a WD or Segate.
As far as sound, just about any built in sound card will work fine.
Video card?? If you go with nVidia dont get anything less then a GeForce 6600. If you want ATI get a Radeon 9200 that way you can use the Xorg O.S. drivers. But if your heavy into gamming best bett is with the nVidia.
Motherboards are all about chipsets and construction. Normally I would go with Soyo, Asus, Gigabyte, Tyan, Shuttle or Biostar. Stay away from cheap mobos, they can make your whole system worthless.
Make sure you get a good quality power supply that is rated 450w or better.
Dont forget about Monitor, Keyboard, mouse and maybe speakers. A old worn out monitor, keyboard, mouse and even speakers can make your whole system feel nasty and low quality.

All in all its gonna take me 4ish months to raise the cash, less if I get a job, or get another monetary means.

I'm thinking of going ATI so I can get all that delicious eye candy and what not, Asus were going to be my first choice for a m/b as they are packed with features.

I'm just looking for my ubuntu/windows to look nice (transparancy etc.) work without waiting, and be reasonably futureproof.

And quiet! After a while I may boost up to 2GB of ram so I never delve into the noisy hardrive realms of swap.

[zachtib]

look into barebone kits on tiger direct, here is one that is pretty cheap for what you get: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1871067&CatId=1914

as for ATI, STAY AWAY! I have an ati card in my laptop, and it gives me a load of trouble, my nvidia card works beautifully

[Pedricko]

I wast hinking a small factor barebones... maybe its the best route?