Discussion Forums > Technology
Im Building a (Linux) Desktop
rkruger:
--- Quote from: firefish5000 on March 15, 2012, 04:32:40 AM ---A HDMI cable (which I hope to use)
--- End quote ---
Are you gonna use that one for audio as well?
Then make sure you do some extra research on the graphics card you intend to buy, to see if there is actually support to route the audio to that port under Linux.
firefish5000:
Sorry about the late response, I fell asleep tired and confused reading the history of speakers (not what I was aiming to learn, but thats all I found)
Now bear with me here...
So I will 3TB hard drive as storage, mount in my home folder as Anime.(Anime/Music/Manga)
I should probably get the SSD because I dont have another Drive.
The computer will be used for various task, I will be using blender but not for much, the most I can do with it is make the balloons as done in the tutorial.
I will probably host a small web server on it, but only I would visit the site. I will be using KDE as much as possible. LinuxMint will be one of my primary OS (gentoo may be as well, I have yet to try it, made a mistake installing GRUB2 last time and could not boot)
It will be used for listening to listen to audio watching anime reading manga perhaps as a proxy(also for myself) and ssh server. I really dont have much of a plan for it truly though, I came to linux on impulse when I got fed up with all the free trials addware and timebombs on windows.
I will be torrenting a lot, I stopped all my torrents when my laptop fried but thy are on the 3TB so im safe.
I do a lot of encryption but I dont need anything to speed it up, I just have uncommon and unimportant account passwords on the file, I memorize as much as I can but if its used once a year I am bound to forget the password. (I encrypt for fun and privacy, though no real use)
--- Quote ---if you use GIMP, Libreoffice, Inkscape, Blender, (and other slower-loading graphical interface apps) with any kind of regularity, you will definitely appreciate the much shorter app-loading times an SSD can give.
--- End quote ---
Yes, I use them often enough, gimp is used at least twice a week, and its used all throughout the day when I use it.
Oh, and I am still fairly new to linux, I have been sticking to Mint and other Debian/Ubuntu based distros. But I have come to a point where I can do the basics, and almost install gentoo (I cant get grub2, had I tried grub it would have been fine, probably not the best thing for me to have changed.)
Thanks for everything you'v told me and sugested, I am truely clueless about hardware, I know how to use it but thats it.
kitamesume:
^ok then
torrents = lower power the better so = intel build
some program crunching = beefy CPU so = at least a quad
i dont see games on the list so = GT430 is enough
lots of file access = SSD indeed
so... i vote my i5-2300 build lololol, just drop the GPU for a GT430, make sure its a low-profile one.
something like this:
--- Quote from: kitamesume on March 15, 2012, 06:46:51 AM ---also intel's option:
[$179.99] Intel Core i5-2300 Sandy Bridge Quad Core 2.8GHz
[$69.99] GIGABYTE GA-H61MA-D3V
[$48.99] Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory
[$55.99] ASUS ENGT430/DI/1GD3/MG(LP) GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 64-bit DDR3
[$44.99] APEX DM-317-A Media Center Slim HTPC w/ Flex 275W PSU
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[$399.95] SYSTEM TOTAL
--- End quote ---
datora:
.
Remember to watch your shipping costs when planning your budget. I always make estimates with delivery included, and aggressively shop for free delivery items. It can add up, being $40-$60 you can save and invest into better equipment or an extra item or two to support your system. How about a "free" 32 GB USB 3 flash drive instead of throwing $$$ away on shipping?
Also, since you like playing with different distros, you can buy three or four 8GB flash drives and install distros on them, then switch between them as your multiboot option. I got three of these for $6.99 each delivered on special:
Patriot Xporter Mini 8GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable)
or another possibility:
Patriot Axle 32GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive - $24 delivered, or $17 w. rebate.
Personally, I'd probably not get a flash drive larger than 16 GB that is USB 2 due to it's speed issues, but if it's cheap enough ... a useful toy for data transport &/or mutli-OS boot options.
Video cards:
Galaxy 43GGS8HX3SPZ GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 128-bit DDR3 = $55 delivered, also $34.99 after mail-in rebate card; it's nearly identical to the card I got.
Can you trust the rebate ..? Maybe. I'm still waiting on mine, but Galaxy has confirmed the card is 1) registered w/ Galaxy for full 3-year warranty and 2) rebate is accepted & being processed. Notice that's two separate activities.
I've researched this card and there are many happy customers across the Interwebz. It also apparently overclocks decently, cool & stable. Galaxy is a strong name with solid reliability. In addition to the OpenGL 4.1 spec, by using the latest nvidea drivers it is OpenGL 4.2 compliant, a nice bonus for future-proofing against apps in the coming years.
If you feel a need for something much higher end:
MSI N550GTX-Ti Cyclone OC GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI - $130, or $110 if the rebate comes through. MSI is pretty reputable, so a decent bet. This is just a demonstration of specifications of a crazy-overpowered card for what you intend, if you want to throw a little extra money at it and try to use that extra power. Such as a VM and play some games. I really don't see you have a need for that kind of power now, but two years from now it might come in handy.
Memory goes on sale a lot, so shop carefully and you can get a pretty rock-bottom price. Examples:
PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop for $35 delivered. 1333 is slightly slow, but not bad, and PNY is a pretty solid name in memory. I've been using their brand for nearly 15 years.
for a little more:
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop - $50 delivered. 1866 would be really nice to have if you're going to play with overclocking at all. I've seen the similar product from G.SKILL for 1600 going for $40, which is probably the best compromise. I have 2x 4GB kit of their Sniper line which handles aggressive memory timings:
G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop - currently $48 delivered, got mine for $40, I've seen it on special for $35.
Do you need 1600 or 1833? No. But, two years down the road it may have extra flexibility. If you can get it for these low prices, do it. Especially if you get an SSD, having memory on the faster side, like if you can get its CAS down to 7, can keep your system performance near it's peak edge instead of bottlenecking.
At this point your real decision tree is going Intel or AMD. It determines your mobo & your CPU. Generally they both play about the same under Windows & linux, although historically AMD boards had a mild edge for linux support. Intel platforms have generally been tweaked to perform their best as windows gaming platforms, while AMD chipsets have been more general-use. These days there's so much surplus computing power that these differences aren't a factor to speak of anymore.
I would be very curious to see a head-to-head match between an i5-2300 running at 2.8/3.0 GHz vs. the Deneb 980 running at ~4.0 GHz. The AMD would consume a bit more electricity, but I think the raw computing power would be equivalent. Again, speaking to benchmarks for general apps vs. tweaked toward game systems.
If you're going for a budget mobo, make sure you carefully evaluate the expansion slots you need & want. The boards I suggested earlier have substantial capacity for expansion and tweaking your CPU & memory clocks. Cheaper boards shed those options rapidly. Intel platforms in particular limit overclocking options ... so decide if that is important to you and look into it to make sure have them if you want them.
Power supplies:
The APEX PSU that kitamesume suggested, @275 Watts, is very anemic. It should be enough, but your margin is pretty thin on that. For $45, you can do a lot better and pick up something at least 350-400 watts, which is the minimum I'd go, and you should be able to get one of those for ~$35. The GT 430 video cards recommend a minimum 300 W PSU, for example. If you wanted to add one or two drives and use a larger video card (such as a GTX 460 or 550), you'd definitely want over 400 watts, like 420-450ish. I'd feel most comfortable with 500 or 550 for three mechanical drives plus a major vid card.
Regardless, you probably can get a 300-350 for ~$30, a 500-550 for ~$45-$50. I got a great Antec green model with a Bronze 80 cert, 620 watts for $40 after rebate (yes, it did come through). That PSU was spec'd to drive an aggressively overclocked Deneb 960 Quad core over 4.0 GHz, and that sniper 1600 memory up over 1800 plus a ZOTAC GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 card ... and five mechanical drives, 2x WD Caviar Black 750 GB and 3x Samsung 2TB. Still has power enough left over for a second video card of that spec.
This is the DVD burner you want:
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - it goes on sale for $18 delivered pretty regularly. Just watch for it to come around about every three or four weeks.
firefish5000:
Im getting a bit confused so I attempted to organize my thoughts.
Table of Thoughts a google spreadsheet where I attempted to come to some sort of understanding.
Table of Thoughts Uneditable version
Note that they are not complete and I think I am missing several post and parts(No power yet)
Also I need to get the prices on another sheet.
I am forgetting something....
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