synkr0nized
08-24-2010, 07:02 PM
My Ubuntu box is showing signs of failure. The processor whines about heat issues (perhaps my air flow isn't as good as I have told myself), the hard drives are full (they were scrounged from other machines, as were almost all of the parts, back when I put it together), and it's just old (P4 2.4 GHz, 1 GB RAM, etc.).
So I want to replace it. As such, I am not trying to make a gaming rig or some kind of higher-end multimedia device. I want to be able to handle daily tasks -- browsing the Internet, reading email, playing downloaded videos and streaming videos, torrenting, and coding -- but do not anticipate taxing it much. I am also looking to keep it cheap-ish, as I only bring in a graduate student's salary.
I whipped this up on Newegg just now. I have my suspicions that I went overboard with the power supply, and I also realize I could drop the price more by dropping down to a dual-core CPU. That said, I always appreciate critical opinions of others to help identify glaringly terrible mistakes [incompatible parts, for example], really bad ideas in terms of hardware selection [cards with known issues, perhaps?] and ways to make each dollar travel further.
The Easy Stuff
Oh Look a Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137) - I like the price and the number of fans.
LITE-ON optical drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289)
WD Caviar Blue 7200 RPM 320 GB (http://www.nuklearforums.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=60) - I realize I stated that HD space was limited on the machine in question, but this is in fact an upgrade for it [I don't actually keep much in terms of large video]. I know I can add additional drives later as I see sales. Heck I could even hold off on the drive for now...
The More Important Stuff
GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443) I admit I don't have any super-particular reason for picking this motherboard aside from liking the amount of positive reviews and what it offered for under 100 bucks.
AMD Athlon II X4 620 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706) It's a quad core. It's also not got an L3 cache. It might be a poor choice. Please help me from remaining ignorant; I haven't kept up with AMD CPUs at all like I have with Intel's.
OCZ Gold 2x2GB DDR3 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227582) I've been quite content with OCZ RAM over the years, so I decided to select some of theirs here.
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 1 GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855) The motherboard didn't have onboard video, so I just went looking for a PCIEx16 that wasn't going to shatter any records but could hold its own.
Corsair 650W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005) I dig these PSUs.
Tear it up or support my choices as you see fit. I am not too proud to turn away helpful critique. ALSO, I am totally willing to look at pre-builts. While I enjoy building, if a pre-built can meet or defeat the specs one can put together on their own in the 400-500 dollar price range, I sure want to know about it. However, based on [brief] poking about, I think most machines in this range have integrated video or are dual-core only or still run DDR2, etc. with less future-potential.
e: Hmm. Some of the discounts have expired, so I'm over 500 now. Well, that's fine; I'll keep things like that in mind when I actually am ready to make purchases.
So I want to replace it. As such, I am not trying to make a gaming rig or some kind of higher-end multimedia device. I want to be able to handle daily tasks -- browsing the Internet, reading email, playing downloaded videos and streaming videos, torrenting, and coding -- but do not anticipate taxing it much. I am also looking to keep it cheap-ish, as I only bring in a graduate student's salary.
I whipped this up on Newegg just now. I have my suspicions that I went overboard with the power supply, and I also realize I could drop the price more by dropping down to a dual-core CPU. That said, I always appreciate critical opinions of others to help identify glaringly terrible mistakes [incompatible parts, for example], really bad ideas in terms of hardware selection [cards with known issues, perhaps?] and ways to make each dollar travel further.
The Easy Stuff
Oh Look a Case (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137) - I like the price and the number of fans.
LITE-ON optical drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289)
WD Caviar Blue 7200 RPM 320 GB (http://www.nuklearforums.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=60) - I realize I stated that HD space was limited on the machine in question, but this is in fact an upgrade for it [I don't actually keep much in terms of large video]. I know I can add additional drives later as I see sales. Heck I could even hold off on the drive for now...
The More Important Stuff
GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128443) I admit I don't have any super-particular reason for picking this motherboard aside from liking the amount of positive reviews and what it offered for under 100 bucks.
AMD Athlon II X4 620 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103706) It's a quad core. It's also not got an L3 cache. It might be a poor choice. Please help me from remaining ignorant; I haven't kept up with AMD CPUs at all like I have with Intel's.
OCZ Gold 2x2GB DDR3 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227582) I've been quite content with OCZ RAM over the years, so I decided to select some of theirs here.
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 1 GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855) The motherboard didn't have onboard video, so I just went looking for a PCIEx16 that wasn't going to shatter any records but could hold its own.
Corsair 650W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005) I dig these PSUs.
Tear it up or support my choices as you see fit. I am not too proud to turn away helpful critique. ALSO, I am totally willing to look at pre-builts. While I enjoy building, if a pre-built can meet or defeat the specs one can put together on their own in the 400-500 dollar price range, I sure want to know about it. However, based on [brief] poking about, I think most machines in this range have integrated video or are dual-core only or still run DDR2, etc. with less future-potential.
e: Hmm. Some of the discounts have expired, so I'm over 500 now. Well, that's fine; I'll keep things like that in mind when I actually am ready to make purchases.