Thinking about building custom ubuntu PC's

[NoTiG]

I just built a really nice comp for myself. If anyone is interested... i might build one for them too!. Everything on it works out of the box, except the extra buttons on the logitech mouse and microsoft keyboard but they can work.

I doubt anyone will want a computer like mine because it has a nice video card... and its sort of built for gaming. But keep in mind that your video card is MORE powerful than a cpu for certain things.... it can help render your desktop. And there is even a patch for some distributed computer programs that let your GPU help your cpu... and in cases its 20 times more powerful! http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/09/29/folding-home-utilizing-ati-video-cards/

THe things i love about my computer:
Its power. It has dual cores and is capable of modern day tasks
Its quietness. The whole system is really quiet. I bought extra fans to put in it which are designed to make it quiet but the stock fans were all that was needed. Its sooo quiet. there is even a thin layer of sound insulation in the case itself
It looks so nice........
Its upgradability. I did some research before building it. The good news is that Am3 processors will be able to plug into this motherboard. That means 3-5 years from now you will be able to add a really nice upgrade to the processor... and even a second video card because it is SLI capable. That is the true benefit of building computers yourself... no proprietary/integrated stuff so you can be sure it can be upgraded
It runs ubuntu great!


http://static.flickr.com/103/262522705_79c6c4f0c5.jpg?v=0

specs:

amd x2 4200 (socket am2)
Gigabyte motherboard 570 SLI
2GB Corsair DDR 800 RAM
2 X 320 Gb SATA seagate hardrives
Geforce 7900 GS 256 MB evga
Microsoft ergonomics keyboard
Logitech g5 laser mouse with ratpad

Case is my favorite part. its a Lian li http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112102

Lite on DVD rwr
Samsung widescreen 20.1 inch LCD

[maniacmusician]

the link to the case doesnt work.

how much did this cost you? i was considering building one myself a few months down the road. I've never tried to build one from scratch, but i imagine it's easy, yes? I'm just concerened about actually putting the stuff together. but it doesnt seem to be that hard.

edit: was wondering how applicable this is to a notebook. never heard of someone building their own who wasnt super knowledgable (like that guy who does crazy mods with xbox's and whatnot).

[NoTiG]

Here is a link to the case again: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112102

its kind of alot more expensive than just your average case.... but it was so nice to work with... i think its worth every cent. its just beautiful. Never thought i would have a love affair with a hardware component! :P

Alright, building all of these from newegg the total cost is : its 1624.92 (not including the keyboard or mouse) . Thats also not including shipping... which is around $50 . Also there is 50$ in rebates so i guess it could offset that.

I also didn't mention even the power supply was 90 bucks... but if you want SLI in the future you will want to invest in a high quality one like the antec i got.

Building your computer is extremely easy. A couple of things to watch out for though..... you want to pick your parts carefully. For example... some ram is generally bad quality and doesnt work with certain motherboards. read the reviews..... Like i was about to pick an antec case.... but that particular case, the usb and firewire cables in it didn't work well with AMD motherboards. i only found out because i read all the reviews. Secondly you want to pick parts that have a good price to performance ratio. It would be dumb getting a athlon 5000 which is so much more expensive... but doesn't offer alot more performance for the price you pay.

And lastly diagnosing the PC can be tricky. I built my computer and it ran fine.... but i ran a program called memtest, which is actually on the ubuntu install cd... and it showed that the ram had one failed address... so i sent it back and got new ram that worked great. New egg is pretty good about that. When building your computer, the only thing you need to plug in are the powersupply, motherboard, ram, and cpu and video card to see if it works. youdont even need to plug in the hard drives or dvd drive.... just to make sure the components are ok. You don't even need to put it in your case either yet .

i dont know about building your own notebook however. I upgraded the RAM and hard drive in mine easily.... those are usually the only components you can. I know on mine it is possible to upgrade the processor... if you get inside of it. but i havent bothered.... im pretty sure the video card can't be even though its not integrated though.....

[maniacmusician]

i see. i looked around, there's a guide at tom's hardware to building your own notebook. seems tedious though.