Building a CPU- Suggestions? Recommendations?

[Ralob]

Well, I am in need of a new computer. I built this one over two years or so ago and it is time to retire it. Now, I have never built a computer specifically for Linux or Ubuntu. I am unsure of who provides the best support for Linux and how well they perform. I am looking into an

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor
MSI K9N4 SLI-F Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 500 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1,
Rosewill RP500-2 ATX 2.01 500W,

Plus a Seagate 500GB SATA .1 HD and a case for $665 if all purchased from Newegg.

Any recommendations or suggestions on changes for better performing or cheaper parts? This is by no means set in stone, just getting an idea of the price I am looking at. :popcorn::popcorn:

EDIT: Fixed thread title :P

[bread eyes]

Made sure you use the right instruction set.

[igknighted]

A few things:

1) You really should go with a C2D instead of an Athlon, the difference right now is significant. The 6320 and the 6420 are the best deals going (imho) do to their large cache size and cheaper price.

2) A sound card is a waste of money, period. I bet the HDA audio on that Mobo is better than that rather cheap sound card you are adding. I have the nForce550 chipset on my mobo so I just gave away my sound blaster... it didn't compare.

3) The nForce chipset, while a great chipset, might not be 100% linux compatible. Nothing flat out doesn't work on mine, but I must use the noapic boot option and sometimes the sound drivers need a bit of "finessing". To me this is worth it, I love my mobo. I just think you should be aware that it may require a bit extra work. Not sure how NVIDIA's intel chipsets work with linux.

4) A 500gb internal hard drive? Not so sure thats really all that necessary. I would go go with a smaller/faster drive internally (mine is 80gb) and have data stored on an external. Its more portable that way, especially if you go with eSATA. If data loss is a concern to you, a mobo in the range you mentioned probably has RAID capabilities, so you might set up a raid1 array for data mirroring, or if you are really lucky and get a nice mobo you could go with raid5, it requires more disks (4 minimum iirc) but you get a performance boost while having a redundant system (loss of a disk means no data loss).

EDIT: One last thing, if you don't have a DVD burner, they are $30 on newegg for a good one. Its the best $30 I have ever spent.

[LowSky]

dont get the 7600 when you can get the 8600 for only a little bit more.

Do you really need a sound card? Onboard sound is fine as most boards support 5.1 and will save you a good amount of money.

4GB of RAM is awsome but 2GB is more than pleny for ubuntu...

With the money i just saved you... buy a faster processor.

dont forget the dvd-rw drive/ case.... also logitech mice are annoying to install but this site has all the info you'll need.

[Zzl1xndd]

If your looing for the fun of building the only real suggestion I would make is stick with Intel at this point. Not that I dislike AMD but Intel has done a lot more for the OSS comunity.

[starcraft.man]

If your looing for the fun of building the only real suggestion I would make is stick with Intel at this point. Not that I dislike AMD but Intel has done a lot more for the OSS comunity.

Seconded. Intel just knocked a crap load off their quad core prices, its now only 299 (266 at bulk 1000X purchases is what their listed at) I believe American for the Q6600, I'd get it :).

Oh and most definitely get an 8 series card, 8800 GTX would be my recommendation (only performance and OC nuts need the ultra, it's not much improvement). A lower end GTS will do you fine if your not too serious a gamer. Both priced good at some places.

Lastly, while I'm not a super connoisseur of mobos, I'd prefer to get a mobo that's not nforce.

Oh and as said, I've never bought a separate sound card and they never usually offer noticeable improvement.

Best of luck with the computer :).

[Ralob]

hey, thanks for the suggestions! I will look into Intel. I always used AMD in the past, therefore I never considered switching. I am now. :)

And I, too, was unsure of the sound card issue and have decided it was redundant.

Plus I am switching over my current burner to my new cpu (LG GSA H42N).

Any more suggestions/recommendations/reviews are more than welcome. :guitar:

[distroman]

I agree with what's already said, C2D ftw right now, 2 gigs ram should be plenty easy upgrade anyway, think about 8600 or 8800 gts very sweet cards for a good price, no sound card needed.

Beside that I would say think about a heatsinks and don't forget the case, there's nothing like lian-li or silverstone IMO.

GL :)

[stmiller]

Sound card choice is picky for Linux. I'd say just go with onboard now and investigate later if you think you need a better sound card option. Most onboard sound is actually okay these days. A lot better than onboard sound was in the past.

Also if a quiet computer is a factor, consider getting a passively cooled Nvidia graphics card. (No fan and silent!) Works great in a Shuttle box to have a silent, fast, kickin computer.

[Zzl1xndd]

Im a big fan of this case

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/xoxide_1959_146093858

[starcraft.man]

Im a big fan of this case

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/xoxide_1959_146093858

Ah, this one right? (http://www.xoxide.com/nzxt-nemesis-elite-case-black.html)

Looks ok, can you easily remove the face plate on front? I hate hinged covers...

I'll look into it, I'm building a new comp for myself in a week (after my stupid dell encounter, I think I'm done with OEMs and Manufacturers). I found a few great sites to order parts from, including NCIX (http://www.ncix.com/) which I'd never heard of until a few weeks ago, I like their site :).

Even have a custom pc build section, any part ya like and most of the prices are good... though knowing some local folks can get ya better.

[kamaboko]

Ewwww....I hate those big *** tower ATX cases. Small form factor is the way to go. All you need to worry about is getting one hd, a dvd player, and rocking video card in there.

[starcraft.man]

Ewwww....I hate those big *** tower ATX cases. Small form factor is the way to go. All you need to worry about is getting one hd, a dvd player, and rocking video card in there.

Depends on your needs. Some folks need more, like they want a raptor and one or more regular HDs, most want a floppy (if you install xp on sata you need it for easy install), then theres 2 dvd drives (I always get two burners), then theres the large PSU if your a gamer (or otherwise need lots of power), then if you want SLI/Crossfire (Especially for the 8800 GTX cards, they are big a**) you need to make sure your case gives you room (some really don't...), etc...

Different strokes for different folks :).

Personally, I've been screwed when I opted for a small case (my mistake underestimating my needs) and found expanding later hard due to wiring config (you wouldn't believe the mess...). Personally, if you know you need room (or are expanding later) get a big case, better safe than sorry.

[Moustacha]

Don't get an 8 series (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=781&num=1) card, or at least don't expect any amazing performance out of it yet, especially under linux.

If you're a power (wh...) go for C2D, but if you're going for cheap, AMD. Here there's around a $100 difference between AMD and C2D cpus.

[macogw]

Made sure you use the right instruction set.

:)

Triple check your schematics, and teach us all the ASM for this new CPU of yours

[starcraft.man]

Don't get an 8 series (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=781&num=1) card, or at least don't expect any amazing performance out of it yet, especially under linux.

If you're a power (wh...) go for C2D, but if you're going for cheap, AMD. Here there's around a $100 difference between AMD and C2D cpus.

Hmmm, didn't know there was that much of an issue with the drivers... up to you then op.

[Ralob]

Hmmm, didn't know there was that much of an issue with the drivers... up to you then op.

Ah, thanks for that :D

I don't game much anymore, and if I do it is through Wine, so I am thinking of just getting a cheaper card.

Also, how much of a performance boost is a C2D in comparison to a AMD X2? An 80 dollar worth of difference?

[igknighted]

Ah, thanks for that :D

I don't game much anymore, and if I do it is through Wine, so I am thinking of just getting a cheaper card.

Also, how much of a performance boost is a C2D in comparison to a AMD X2? An 80 dollar worth of difference?

Depends. If you are going to buy a new comp in 2 years again, then I'd go with the Athlon. If you go C2D, plan to keep it a while and don't skimp. Make sure you get the 4mb L2 cache (the 6320 and 6420 are the cheapest with this IIRC), the actual clock speed isn't that important, and if it is to you then you can OC these with a decent cooler. In every benchmark I have seen, the cache size makes a great deal of difference on the c2d's. Oh yeah, and they tend to beat the AMD chips in almost every test (that hurts coming from the mouth of a diehard AMD fan, but its true right now). How noticable that will be depends on what you do with your computer. Since you don't game much, if you don't really push the computer hard in some other way (editing photo's, music and video for example) you might not see any difference.

Oh yeah, the AMD chips in my experience run much cooler. My Athlon64 runs at ~25 degrees, while the Q6600 (core2quad) system I just built for my brother struggles to stay under 50 degrees. If you go with intel, buy a good cooler.

[starcraft.man]

Ah, thanks for that :D

I don't game much anymore, and if I do it is through Wine, so I am thinking of just getting a cheaper card.

Also, how much of a performance boost is a C2D in comparison to a AMD X2? An 80 dollar worth of difference?

IMO, Intel is thoroughly trouncing AMD in terms of raw performance. I mean heck, for 324 you can get a q6600 (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22211&vpn=BX80562Q6600&manufacture=Intel) (289 if you bundle). If you want a decent overview of the chips you can get, this review (http://techreport.com/reviews/2007q2/pricevperf/index.x?pg=1) seemed fair and well done. It doesn't include the newly launched 1333 chips. That isn't a big loss though, from reports I've seen the speed advantages so far are minimal, maybe as the tech and boards get better it will be more worth it.

Oh and if you do get a quad, DEFINITELY get a good CPU heatsync. From reviews and a few stories seems like the Zalman CNPS9500 is a decent one for price and gives good cooling, but don't just take me on it have a look around :). Tomshardware, anandtech and techreport (google em) are nice sites to view for hardware reviews.

[igknighted]

IMO, Intel is thoroughly trouncing AMD in terms of raw performance. I mean heck, for 324 you can get a q6600 (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=22211&vpn=BX80562Q6600&manufacture=Intel) (289 if you bundle). If you want a decent overview of the chips you can get, this review (http://techreport.com/reviews/2007q2/pricevperf/index.x?pg=1) seemed fair and well done. It doesn't include the newly launched 1333 chips. That isn't a big loss though, from reports I've seen the speed advantages so far are minimal, maybe as the tech and boards get better it will be more worth it.

Oh and if you do get a quad, DEFINITELY get a good CPU heatsync. From reviews and a few stories seems like the Zalman CNPS9500 is a decent one for price and gives good cooling, but don't just take me on it have a look around :). Tomshardware, anandtech and techreport (google em) are nice sites to view for hardware reviews.

Good review. One thing I was really curious about: Why no 6320 or 6420? For very little price increase, intel doubles the cache which could potentially let them score well higher than the 6300 and 6400 respectively. Oh well, that 3600+ is the chip I'm using, so I'm happy with that purchase now :)

[Ralob]

i don't game MUCH, I still do play some NWN and so forth, but nothing like Crysis :P

And I don't really want to buy another cpu in 2 years, so I am thinking of going with the Intel. At least with the Intel, I have enough power to hold me over for a bit. The thing is, even if you bought the top of the line, it would be outdated by the time you buy it anyways. Really, the only intensive things I do are video encoding (DVD Shrink) and some gaming + virtualization. I am thinking of just going with AMD because for 100 bucks more, I get more bang for my heck. hell, I am already paying 650 dollars for AMD, might as well pay 750 and get something that much better.

And no quad-core for me. Not worth it for what I need. Though it does look fascinating.

[Spike-X]

You're going to build a Central Processing Unit yourself? That sounds complicated.

[igknighted]

You're going to build a Central Processing Unit yourself? That sounds complicated.

Haha, thats what I thought at first when I read the thread title. I almost didn't read the thread, thinking back to shellfish's "I am bulding as OS" thread, but curiosity got the better of me :)

[Ralob]

You're going to build a Central Processing Unit yourself? That sounds complicated.

YUP, Making my own sixteen-core 10ghz 20mb cache processor by HAND! And all out of aluminum foil, paper clips, a piece of cardboard, and some lint. Going to McGyver that s.o.b.

:)

[Ralob]

So, this is my current (and ever changing) list of things to get:

Intel CPU Core 2 Duo E6420
MSI P6N SLI Platinum nForce 650i
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS SATA HD (size TBD)
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply
G.SKILL 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (size TBD)

Current price if that ends up with 4gb of RAM and a 320gb HD is about 750 including shipping. Did a lot of research on the graphics card and it is perfect for me and only $75 bucks. :guitar:

[starcraft.man]

So, this is my current (and ever changing) list of things to get:

Intel CPU Core 2 Duo E6420
MSI P6N SLI Platinum nForce 650i
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS SATA HD (size TBD)
EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT
Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply
G.SKILL 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) (size TBD)

Current price if that ends up with 4gb of RAM and a 320gb HD is about 750 including shipping. Did a lot of research on the graphics card and it is perfect for me and only $75 bucks. :guitar:

Looks good to me (if that's all ya want), only thing I'd warn you about is the nforce. You might have a few issues like were mentioned before but you can probably work around them with a bit of effort. Best of luck with the comp.

[Ralob]

Yeah, I keep hearing that about the nforce. Any suggestions for a motherboard that is comparable? I really know very little about mobo's, I only picked nforce because I am familiar with MSI and currently use a k8n neo2 platinum for this computer.

[igknighted]

I don't think any of the issues will be major. I don't regret getting my nForce550 mobo even if it is a pain every now and then. Intel aparently makes some good mobo's, but my only experience with them is not good (an older 865 chipset with a P4). A quick scan of the reviews seems to indicate that this board/chipset will run perfectly on Ubuntu/Linux though, so I'd go ahead and get it.


Pros: I have an E6300 CPU. The following are left over parts from my other system: CORSAIR Dual ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300), GeForce 6800xt, WD 250GB Sata 2, DVD/CD burner, DVD/CD reader, 12 in 1 card reader, floppy, non-stock CPU cooler, DIAMOND XtremeSound XS71DDL. Linux Ubuntu Edgy Works and Runs in Ludicrous speed on this MB. It’s so nice to have a dual boot system that WORKS!!! Ubuntu installed just like it’s supposed to. XP works also, but not like Ubuntu. You can use your not so old parts on this MB with no problems. I will in the future, when the prices drop, upgrade to some faster memory and other parts. This MB gives you a lot of room for future additions. Comes w/great cooling for the north & south bridges. Just look at other MB’s in this price range, and see what they do with cooling the 2nd and 3rd hardest working chips in the PC. This MB is fast & it’s not even OC.

Cons: To New to Judge. There is OC in Bios and windows (don’t use). The 3rd Bios release is coming soon. It’s supposed to have better OC (the F4 key to use it). The con is a good one, because it shows how well they support their product.

Other Thoughts: MSI web site said it only works w/windows, but Ubuntu 6.10 also works.


Other Thoughts: The poster-sized picture with all connectors labeled made install a breeze. System worked perfectly on first boot. Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo w/Zalman 9700 cooler and A/S 5, EVGA e-GeForce 8800GTS video, 2MB OCZ DDR2 SDRAM, 320GB WD EIDE HD, Raidmax Smilodon case, Kubuntu Linux OS.


Pros: Works Great. Great for OC! Good north-bridge cooling. Surround sound works in linux!

[doog519]

I'm not sure how cheap you want to go.
But last fall I built something similar and it matched up with Linux without any problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856167009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103772

Add a couple gig of ram and hard drive of your choice and a burner and you good to go.

As you know Linux isn't real power hungry, like Vista

I have pretty much built all my computers for the past 15 years.
And that makes a nice linux machine.

[Ralob]

Thanks for giving me so much help and so many suggestions, I appreciate it a great deal.

I think I am just going to get the nForce and deal with the fallout (if there is any). I am just more comfortable and fimilar with it's setup, use, and quality.

Once again, thank you all for giving me hints and tips, it has been a long time since I have heavily researched computer parts and time flies faster in the technology sector than any other.