[Juan Pablo]

I want to build a new rig for myself, I want it to be as cheap as possible but with at least very good perfomance, I have been doing some research and wrote this configuration which costs around $800
I don't know too much in the hardware part, roughly installing a new hard drive, some AGP and PCI cards and some jumper settings

What do you think?
Any suggestion?
Linux compatibility? specifically on SATA
Any essential piece of hardware I'm missing?
I would appreciate some words on memory timing


194.99 Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820220174

89.99 Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KSRTL 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136037


38.99 SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner With LightScribe Technology http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827151141


126.99 ASUS EN7600GS SILENT/HTD/512M GeForce 7600GS 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121007

59.99 ASUS TA-250 Black 0.6mm SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811173012

174.99 EVGA 122-CK-NF67-T1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI ATX Intel Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188015

145.00 Intel Pentium D 940 Presler 3.2GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual Core, EM64T Processos http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116239

[Grumpy-Gecko]

I would suggest a bigger power supply, a 600 W PSU would use less electricity too.
Something to do with it not working so hard.

[harner]

That's a decent PC. I remember when I got my Pent D 830 (3Ghz) for $330, almost 2 years ago.

I'm actually selling my old pc to a friend of mine:
aspire x-dreamer case,
1GB gold series OCz ram,
x700 128mb, 128-bit,
250 sata2 wd,
nec dvd+-rw,
intel mobo,
scythe shogun heatsink (HUGE)
and maybe a couple other things.

$750 w/g16 keyboard, mx1000 mouse, dell 17" crt (ugly), and crappy infinity speakers.

I figured I'd probably never see that on eBay so it's a good deal. Plus between my trans am and tattoos I need some extra cash.



But, anyway looks like a good build. Take some pictures while you're putting it together. What kind of monitor do you have?

You can always upgrade to a quad-core processor, as well. They are pricey right now and not really supported by much. I'd wait til they go down in price.

Sata2 compatibility? Pretty good depending on the distro. I installed Ubuntu, Suse, and Fedora on my box with no problems at all.

The only thing I would recommend is get some arctic silver thermal compound for like $5-10 for the processor. Pentiums run hot, and the compound helps a lot. Just make sure when you apply it, not to put much on. Maybe a drop the size of a grain of rice and smooth it out evenly.

[techieMoe]

Originally Posted by Grumpy-Gecko

I would suggest a bigger power supply, a 600 W PSU would use less electricity too.
Something to do with it not working so hard.

Ditto. I'd go with a 500-600 watt as well. I don't know much about ASUS power supplies, but I personally like Antec.

[bigtomrodney]

I'd agree on the bigger power supply. Don't worry it'll only use what it needs but the higher rated power supplies will give you that extra capacity.

[KyKo]

You could build a rig with a c2d for 800 dollars... forget that Pentium D.