Help me buy a new computer.

[happyisland]

My current home computer is reaching its end of life and I am planning to buy a new one in the near future. When faced with all of the configuration options at http://www.digitalstormonline.com/ (a manufacturer I chose because they offer a wide variety of customization AND will ship a computer with No OS - ie no "Windows tax") I realized that I am not sure what I should be picking. My goal is to have everything work as well as possible, with the minimum number of headaches due to lack of support or incompatibility in Ubuntu. I switched to Ubuntu from Windows about a year and a half ago, and I'm still better off when there's less tinkering required to get something to work.

My requirements:
I will be using this computer for the next several years as a home entertainment center, graphic design projects (Gimp & Inkscape), and music editing (Audacity). I will NOT be using this computer for any kind of 3D gaming. The computer with have two big drives to house recorded music, graphics projects, and a library of FLACed CDs and ripped DVDs.

I'm pretty open to all advice right now, and here are some of my questions:

1) Is there another supplier that you recommend over digitalstorm? I recently bought a laptop from System76 that I really like, but they don't have desktops that fit my needs. I WILL NOT buy a computer from a company that preinstalls windows and requires me to pay for it.

2) I'm leaning toward the http://www.digitalstormonline.com/thundervalueintel.asp . With that in mind, what do you recommend for:
a) motherboard
b) network card
c) video card (this is a big one - any help would be appreciated. I basically just want something that will play videos (DVDs) beautifully on my 1920X1200 home display). Which is best supported? What should I get, given my non-gamer needs?
d) sound card (should I just use the motherboard's onboard sound option, or go for one of the SBs?
e) power supply - does anyone out there have any feedback on any of the options digitalstorm sells?

Thanks in advance for any advice. The one thing I've enjoyed the most about the switch from Microsoft to Ubuntu has been the excellent support and camaraderie that's available in these forums.
Waiting impatiently for the advice so I can get out the old credit card,
happyisland

[Redache]

a) motherboard
b) network card
c) video card (this is a big one - any help would be appreciated. I basically just want something that will play videos (DVDs) beautifully on my 1920X1200 home display). Which is best supported? What should I get, given my non-gamer needs?
d) sound card (should I just use the motherboard's onboard sound option, or go for one of the SBs?
e) power supply - does anyone out there have any feedback on any of the options digitalstorm sells?

A)Motherboard isn't the biggest worry, although the more expensive Asus on there would do fine for a few years.

B) All Onboard Network cards should work out of the box so there shouldn't be a need for a second network card.

C) All of the Nvidia ones are supported, I have an 8600GT which works fine in Ubuntu. From those either the 8500 or 8600 would suit you best as you don't need a high performance monster.

D)Out of the soundcards listed there I think the Audigy SE SHOULD work in ubuntu, I had an Audigy 2 ZS Platinum that seemed to work ok. If you're into recording maybe an M-Audio delta 44 would suit you better.

E) All the power supplies they have there as options all seem ok quality wise so any will do. 500 Watts+ is an advantage currently.

Extra info: If you can afford it 2-4 Gigs of ram would see you well for the years to come and ram is cheap at the minute.

It might be best to go for the lower end Core 2 Quad that's there, just because it's quad core although any of the Core 2 Duo's would suffice.

Hope this helps.

[happyisland]

Thanks for the quick reply!
More questions:
1) For the power supplies I'll want a quiet one since this will be in my living room. I noticed that they're ALL listed as "silent". Should I believe this? Are some more silent than others?
2) What about the wireless network cards they offer? This is actually one of the things I've had the biggest problems with on this old computer, so I'd like to get it right.
3) RAM - do you have any experience with the different speed options available? I want a reasonably future-proof PC, but I don't want to throw money away on gimmicks either...
4) Would it be worth it to get the 150GB raptor to use for the OS? I could then use a second larger HD for media. Would the performance boost be worth the price increase and the smaller amount of overall storage?

[sloggerkhan]

My opinion is that getting RAM faster than DDR 800 isn't currently worth it.

[stmiller]

For a quiet box, you could get a Shuttle. They are designed for being ultra-quiet.

Nvidia graphics cards are most Linux friendly, and you can find passively cooled (no fan) video cards if you need it really silent.

Intel chipsets are very Linux friendly. Intel releases specs for Linux drivers to be made, so if it's intel for the chipset everything will work. And if it has intel based wireless, then it is also more likely to work with Linux.

[kamaboko]

I give a thumbs up on the Shuttle boxes. I've put a few together and all of them have been quiet.

[Redache]

Basically the cheaper ram will do you fine. The "Performance" and "High performance" stuff is for Games really. Even then it doesn't make "That" much of a difference, it's just like fast cars but with more of a gimmick attached.

As for the wireless I'm not sure about their compatibility and what little googling I did didn't come up with any answers.

Hard disk wise, It'd be ok to use one 150gb drive for the OS and then say a 500gb one for storage. Look into Raid 0 for performance, although there's no redundancy protection from it, it does increase hard disk speed.

As for the Power Supplies, it depends. Most of them will be fairly quiet compared to other components as they have 12cm fans which does help lower noise.

[maniacmusician]

eek. The site looks like an absolute ripoff. It was getting up to $1,000 with me just changing the RAM to 2GB@800MHz and inputting 2 500GB hard drives. Sorry, but you could probably build a comparable system and save $200-$400.

[Tundro Walker]

Just hop on CraigsList.com and look in the "for sale - computers" section for the city you live in. There's usually folks selling a decent comps, normally because they've upgraded.

You can find...

P3's for about $50-100
P4's for about $100-200
"Uber" machines for $400+ (usually some gamer who special-built their system, but is off-loading it now to upgrade to something better)

Just today, I think I saw some guy selling some quad-core gaming comp with stuff that was uber 6 months ago for about $600. Guy had gone so far as to hook 2-3 hd's in a RAID 0 configuration for personal storage. Talk about geeky.

EDIT:

Might not make a difference to you if you're going to install Ubuntu on the comp, but if you wanted to dual-boot with Windows, be sure to tell the seller you want any OEM disks that came with the comp. Some of the sellers advertise the comp as "Windows XP/Vista installed", but they don't mention giving you the install disks. Some of these jokers are just refurbishers that like to install a pirated/hacked copy of Windows on the comp to get it running, then toss tons of freeware (like AVG anti-virus or such) to justify increasing the price.

[mips]

Get the stuff from newegg and build your own. I'm sure if you give us a budget some people here would put together a nice system for you.

If you want a quiet pc get a Antec Sonata II case and add the Accoustipac insulation stuff to it. Buy low noise fans & cpu coolers. Thats what I did anyway.

For motherboard stick with Gigabyte, they have the lowest return ratio out there. For hard drives go with Seagate or Western Digital. For video cards go with nVidia chipset. If you are into audio look at M-audio cards.

[happyisland]

Good morning!
How nice to wake up and fine a bunch of helpful posts. I had been leaning toward getting a pre-built system because of the ease (and because they ship internationally, which newegg does not...). The nearest decent computer store is a 2.5 hour flight from here, so I was worried about messing something up and not being able to troubleshoot, buy replacement parts, etc. However, I think you have all shamed/inspired me into building my own Shuttle-based system. I am looking them over right now on newegg.

I haven't built a PC since 1999 (a PIII box that is still going strong, btw) so I would appreciate advice on the process, especially with regards to Shuttle. Anyone with any strong opinions about what specific system, processor, RAM, HDs, wireless card, etc please chime in. I really appreciate it!

Working on the new can of worms that you all opened up,
Happyisland

[mips]

My impression so far is that shuttle systems are that they run quite hot in general. I dont like heat.

[happyisland]

Now that I've been looking at Shuttles I am strongly leaning toward a small form factor PC. Have you had experience with other brands that have run less hot than Shuttle, or does that just come with the tons-of-stuff-in-one-little-box territory?

[happyisland]

Ok, the shopping cart is full with what I think will be a decent system. It came in under my budget of $1,300, which is good since it will allow me to pay for any psychotherapy I may need if anything doesn't work like it's supposed to.

Anyway, here's what I've got in the newegg shopping cart. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Barebones kit: Shuttle SG31G2 $223.99

Optical drive: LITE-ON Combo Black IDE Model DH-52C2P-08 - Retail $23.99

HDs: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640A 750GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM $389.98 ($194.99 each)

Wireless adapter: SMC SMCWPCIT-G PCI V2.2 (5V/3.3V) Wireless Adapter - Retail $30.99

RAM: CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) $114.00

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail $279.99


The only thing I'm not totally confident on is the choice of processor. Anyone have any thoughts on that before I pull the trigger?

Thanks in advance, happyisland

[inversekinetix]

if you get the 95W Q6600 instead of the 100W one you can overclock it to the same spec as a q6700 without added a non stock cooler.

I have heard nothing but bad news about 750GB and 1TB HDs, you might want to look into some 500GB SATA II (3Gb NCQ) drives.

What is the timing on the ram?

I didn't see a graphics card in your selection, i noticed you said you wouldnt play 3d games so I guess you dont need it but does the onboard graphics support the max resolution of your display? Does linux require HDCP compliant hardware to playback HD media? If you are doing graphic design i think it might be worth investing in a cheap decent graphics card, it will give the the dual head option if you decide you need it, it will also give you TV out as standard and some also have a vivo interface to act as a capture card.

[happyisland]

The timing on the RAM is 5-5-5-18.

Annoyingly, I'm having a hard time finding out what the performance specs are for the onboard video in the Shuttle I've got my eyes on. Any idea on how to dig up that info? It would SUCK if the thing couldn't fill out my 1920x1200 LCD.

[maniacmusician]

if you get the 95W Q6600 instead of the 100W one you can overclock it to the same spec as a q6700 without added a non stock cooler.

I have heard nothing but bad news about 750GB and 1TB HDs, you might want to look into some 500GB SATA II (3Gb NCQ) drives.

What is the timing on the ram?

I didn't see a graphics card in your selection, i noticed you said you wouldnt play 3d games so I guess you dont need it but does the onboard graphics support the max resolution of your display? Does linux require HDCP compliant hardware to playback HD media? If you are doing graphic design i think it might be worth investing in a cheap decent graphics card, it will give the the dual head option if you decide you need it, it will also give you TV out as standard and some also have a vivo interface to act as a capture card.
Agree with most of what inversekinetix said. You probably don't even need a quad core processor to be honest.

Go with 500GB hard drives. Consider going with 2GB of RAM to save yourself some money, and buy another stick later if you feel like you need it; you very well may not.

also, your power supply is kind of weak; I don't know if it could handle a full-on video card.

[maniacmusician]

The timing on the RAM is 5-5-5-18.

Annoyingly, I'm having a hard time finding out what the performance specs are for the onboard video in the Shuttle I've got my eyes on. Any idea on how to dig up that info? It would SUCK if the thing couldn't fill out my 1920x1200 LCD.
According to this page (http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/articles/eng/1488.htm), it looks like your onboard video (GMA 3100) supports resolutions up to 2048x1536. It also supports 1080p and DirectX9, for what its worth. It's not the top of the line model, but I think it will serve you fine.

[happyisland]

Thanks for the link to the video information. With that in mind I'm going to take my chances and go video card-free.
At your suggestion I have also changed the HDs to the
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
These cost $119 each, and I'm getting two. Now I'm completely tricked out and I'm $400 below my original $1,300 budget. Should I upgrade the Shuttle case I selected or just invest the savings and live off the interest?

[inversekinetix]

i would recommend getting 5-5-5-15 ram and if you think you might need 4gb later down the line I would get it now, just to have it all from the same batch. I missed the power supply in the shuttle, but maniac musician is right, you will be better with a bigger one being less stressed that a smaller one being worked hard.

As for your case, i would not buy a shuttle, if you want to add a higher end graphics card, it will most likely not fit, i just had a friend flip out because his shuttle type case is 7 mm to smalll for the 8800gt he bought for it, ouch.

I know it might cose a little more but i would recommend the case in my sig, it is amazing. but it doesnt come with a MB or PSU, however it leaves you loads of options to upgrade later.

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800

check the images.

[Sef]

I built my own computer a couple of months ago. Here is what I got

Motherboard: ASUS P5VD2-X

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.2G/FSB800/2MB)

Ram: Samsung 1GB 240pin DDR2 SDRAM (PC6400) (Will get 2 sticks.)

Power Supply: SolarMax 425 Watts

DVD-RW: DVD LG Super Multi

Case: G-Made 7-J

[mips]

I was going to suggest you check the wireless chipset on that SMC card but it looks like you will be fine as it uses the Atheros AR5212 chipset which is good in linux.

Can't really fault your choices so far.

The only concern from my side is the shuttle. From what I remember they use non standard form factor mother boards so if you ever wanted to upgrade or replace the mb it might be an issue.

[Xbehave]

you can buy ram, HDD or a graphics card later
ram & HDD are defiantly cheaper if bought separately from somewhere reliable!

[Spike-X]

you can buy ram, HDD or a graphics card later

Stuff's getting cheaper all the time, too. For the money I spent building this comp a little under 2 years ago, I can build something at least twice as good now.

[happyisland]

Thanks to everybody who wrote in with advice. I just bought something totally different than I had originally planned thanks to you guys. I think it's way better for my needs though. Now I'm just going to have to build it...

[happyisland]

Super sweetness! I am currently typing this on my blindingly fast new PC. The entire project, from unboxing to going on the internet, took less than two hours! I remember building a PC back in 1999 and it took me about a week of troubleshooting BIOS problems, IDE jumper settings, etc... Ubuntu installed flawlessly too. Thanks again to everyone who gave me advice on this project. It turned out great!

[sloggerkhan]

What parts did you end up using?

[happyisland]

This is what I ended up getting. Thanks to prior research, and the kickass abilities of Ubuntu to work on fricken anything, it all worked FLAWLESSLY. I've never had a computer project go more smoothly in my entire life!

The new comp:

+Barebones kit: Shuttle SG31G2
+Optical drive: LITE-ON Combo Black IDE Model DH-52C2P-08
+HDs: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM
+Wireless adapter: SMC SMCWPCIT-G PCI V2.2 (5V/3.3V)
+RAM: CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
+CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail $279.99