Building My Own Computer (Your thoughts/opinions)

[cms9000]

This is something I have wanted to do for awhile now. As it is this will take me at least a year to save up the money. So I have plenty of time to research what I want, what is good, etc. I will list what I am looking at so far at the end of this post.

Basically I want a computer that is good for everything. I would rather build one that is 100% Linux compatible. But I am a bit stuck on this part. I would like to use Linux only but some things do worry me. Gaming being the biggest and most obvious. So I am also going back and fourth with the idea of buying Windows 7 as well. I don't want to but then I wonder if I should and just dual boot. The problem with that is even though I have a set up for dual boot I always stay in one OS more then the other and if I spend almost 300 USD for Win 7 I would probably stay in that more. But there are many reasons why I would rather stay with Linux (Ubuntu for now, but that may change.)

Before I post the hardware I am looking at I would much rather start off with a motherboard that has Duo Phenom II, 2-3 PCI-E 2.0 (SLI) and 16-32 Max RAM (I can't believe how expensive RAM has gotten.) So AMD CPU's and Nvidia SLI. One problem is I can't seem to find any duo processor Motherboards. Also I'm thinking of a better PSU then the one I have below. Money IS an issue so I am trying to be realistic with what I want and what I can afford.

* Motherboard (ATX)- Newegg.com - Open Box: ASUS M4N75TD AM3 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

* CPU - Newegg.com - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor

* RAM - Newegg.com - Kingston 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KVR1333D3N9K3/6G

* PSU - Newegg.com - Rosewill Xtreme Series RX750-D-B 750W Continuous @40°C ,80 PLUS Certified, ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91, SLI Ready CrossFire Ready, Active PFC "Compatible with Core i7, i5" Power Supply

* Case (ATX)- Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Blue RC-932-KKN3-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

This is just the short list, to start.

Thoughts, ideas, opinions, experiences, etc. are VERY welcome.

[unoobtu]

well first using a wine compatibility layer you can play a lot of windows games on linux. The system looks like it could use a bit of working though. An AMD processor... well I have not bought one but I have tried some and they do not seem to perform as well as intel. I would recommend a core i5 or i7 processor or if you're on a budget try a core 2 duo or core 2 quad with at least 2.2 GHz or above. As for SLI well... having 2 lets say 512MB GPU's doesn't nesesarily add up to 1GB graphics memory. Also not all programs use two cards so you will have the performance of just one. I know the HD radeon series provides some great performance. The RAM is a good choice but you'll need to chance it because of the motherboard change. I'd also recommend perhaps only 4GB RAM to save money and because it can be upgraded later if nesesary and Linux really doesn't eat much RAM. As for the power supply make sure if you decide to stay with SLI it can power both GPUs. 750W should be able to but maybe to be save upgrade your power to 800W or a little up just don't go too high. Also if you chose to keep SLI make sure to either have a great fan, 2 good fans, or an H2O cooling system. A realistic configuration is this. 800 Watt PSU, Quad core processor with 2.5GHz or more, 1GB discrete grahpics, H2O cooling system, 4GB DDR3 RAM, wireless card, a few more components like sound card ($50-$75 is a good baseline for a pretty decent sound card but don't spend so much on it). These components should make a very good Linux system. So hope this helps and good luck!

[cms9000]

Thanks for your reply Unoobtu.

[TaZMAniac]

I've been using AMD CPU's for years and have never had a problem.
Save yourself the money and stick with an AMD.
I'm using a Regor 240 dual core and in Linux it runs fast and flawlessly.
Linux unlike Windows isn't a resource hog.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from any open box deals.
They were either returned because of damage or the purchaser had problems with it.
If money is an issue you could cut down on the Ram and use 4 Gigs to start. You can always add more later.

As for gaming in Linux using Wine?
Check the compatibility and rating of games in Wine here;
WineHQ - Wine Application Database

You can do a search for your game title and see how well it works. Read the user comments as many times you will need to do several changes to get it working right.
If you are playing newer games you may be better off dual booting Windows and use it just for gaming and use Linux for everything else.

As for video cards? I prefer Nvidia. I know that AMD now owns ATI and open sourced the drivers for Linux but I still prefer Nvidia.
At Newegg you can get a decent EVGA 9800 for about $110 (U.S.)
That should handle most games and play at a good frame rate.

Hope this helps and good luck in your build. It's very rewarding to build your own pc.

[curiousgirl]

I've been planning to build my own computer for years also, but I always seem to find things to buy before I save up the money. LOL.

I wish you luck though, and the self discipline I don't have.

[oz]

Building your own is a great idea and it's lots of fun. I've been building all my own computers for both work and home for the last 10 years or so and have never regretted it.

As it is this will take me at least a year to save up the money. So I have plenty of time to research what I want, what is good, etc.

You'll find that lots of hardware that is current now will be on the edge of being outdated in a years time, so keep that in mind during the one year that you are saving up money and putting together your components list. Also, since you seem to like NewEgg (I like them, too), you should subscribe to their emailed newsletters if you aren't doing so already because that's where their best deals are posted along with special promotion codes that you can use to grab even more savings.

Best of luck to you with the future build!

[cms9000]

Thanks for the replies all. I did notice that AMD was much cheaper then the I7's. I have been using AMD Athlons for some years now without issue, I was hoping that the Phenom would be of equal or greater quality. I just want to make sure that I get the best, that I can afford that is, lol.

Now I am off to sign up for neweggs newsletter.

Oh, to get this computer I have to do something I never wanted to do. But since I love computers more and really want to do this, I have to quit smoking

[MikeTbob]

Oh, to get this computer I have to do something I never wanted to do. But since I love computers more and really want to do this, I have to quit smoking

That's good for you and your new machine. Good Luck.

[Rubberman]

I think that most of us would agree that price/performance-wise AMD is much more cost-effective than Intel parts of the same category. Pure performance = Intel. Price for given level of performance = AMD. Whatever you do, do get a motherboard with support for fully buffered ECC RAM. Yes, it is more expensive, but it more than makes up for it in reliability and performance. That's one place I won't go "cheap".

Next is video. Definitely (in my opinion) nVidia boards are the way to go. They are very cost-effective these days. Even with dual HD monitor capability you don't need more than 512MB of video RAM, so you can get decent (as in honking performance) boards for under $100. Do get the proprietary nVidia drivers, however; otherwise you won't get very good performance for full-motion video or games.

Hard drives are a contentious subject these days. Some (like me) prefer Seagate drives, others don't. All of the drive manufacturers have quality problems and firmware snafus from time-to-time. However, I have always found that Seagate is very responsive in replacing drives under warranty or recall, and their bare-drive warranties are very good (at least 3 years). In all my years of using them (about 30) I've had exactly one fail (last year), and that they replaced wtihout any argument, drop-shipping me the replacement overnight. I typically get 7200 rpm Sata-II drives (3gbps) in the 500GB to 1.5TB size range these days. I don't recommend getting faster drives unless you have a really serious database need, such as running Oracle in a high-tps enterprise system where microseconds count. Also, unless you are building a 24x365 server that requires 6-sigma uptime, don't bother with RAID. It's a waste of space. Better to purchase a quick-load external eSata dock and an extra sata drive or two for periodic system drive image backups and daily user data backups. I have a nice dock from StarTek that holds two drives from 2.5" (laptop) to 3.5" (workstation/server) and has both USB 2.0 and eSata ports. The drives just drop into the top of the dock like a couple of paperback books. That configuration also lets me use it for temporary storage or to plug in drives from my clients that may need some data recovery or virus removal.

[cms9000]

Well things are moving faster then I thought. I did quit smoking and in this short time I am saving more then I thought, can't believe I was actually spending that much on smoking. It will still take some time saving though, but maybe not as long as I thought. Well unless I end up upgrading and changing the hardware around more, lol.

With the replies I received so far I am making some changes to the hardware I am getting. I really like AMD and the price is good, so I am sticking with them. Either Quad Core or six core.

I have no choice but to buy Windows 7 Ultimate (approx. 320 USD ) and duel boot. The FPS issue with some games is the main reason. No sense in getting two Nvidia cards (SLI) and not being able to fully use them. I am currently duel booting now, Vista Compaq Bundle that came with my current computer, (took awhile to get it stable and where I wanted it, more or less,) and Ubuntu. I had to switch to vista. XP just wasn't playing nice with my Nvidia GT 220 and I was getting limited FPS. Vista is handling it much better, never thought I would say something good about Vista.

I am going to go with water cooling as well plus checking out ecc memory and nvidia boards, etc. I still have time. I just wish I had more money and things would just go faster lol

Edit: Well maybe on the water cooling. Not sure about the cost of the kits and if I can pull it off, well the good kits anyways.

Edit 2: I am wondering about the ECC memory. I more or less understand what it is, but is it really worth the cost difference? Does it make that much of a difference on the performance side?