[GRLUG] Speccing a Linux system

[Michael Mol]

So I'm speccing out a Linux system, and I thought I'd share the
components I'm looking at right now, and see what the rest of you
folks may have been looking at lately.  My focus for this box is to
have an AFFORDABLE machine that performs better than my current
Pentium 4 desktop with 1GB of RAM, yet has room to cheaply upgrade in
the future.  As such, I looked at Newegg components that were
highly-rated, but were also fairly cheap.  I also stuck with an AMD
platform because AMD platforms tend to be cheaper right now. (And I
like AMD.)  I'm not going for the fastest computer, just something I
can buy on a budget.

OCZ Platinum 4GB DDR2 1066 RAM kit - I wanted 4GB of RAM.  I'll be
running 64-bit Linux, and I wanted as much RAM as I could afford to
drop in. I wanted DDR2 1066 because it'll be easier to get my hands on
in the future than, say, DDR2 800. (I've already run into this problem
before when seeking to upgrade the RAM on older systems...)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298

AMD Phenom 8450 - I would have gone with a dual-core processor, but I
wanted DDR2 1066, DDR2 1066 requires socket AM2+, and there weren't
any dual-core socket AM2+ CPUs listed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103254

Western Digital Caviar Blue 80GB - I'm only going with one of these
until someone comes out with an 8GB SLC solid-state disk.  I don't
want or need a large drive for my / mount point; Ubuntu takes less
than 5GB on my desktop machine.  In the mean time, this drive is cheap
and highly-rated.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822135106

Rosewill 500W PSU - I have no intention of using fancy video cards, so
even 500W is overkill for this computer; They recommend 550W if you're
running an SLI configuration, which means I could probably throw in a
single high-end video card if I ever got tired of the onboard video.
(Such as if I want to go dual-screen.)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182009

BIOSTAR TFORCE TA780G motherboard - Similarly-specced boards cost
twice as much, and the onboard video is more than powerful enough for
my needs.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138105

There are a few components you'll notice are missing, like case,
monitor, etc.  I'm reusing components I already have around the house
for these roles, so I don't have to buy new ones.

The final price for the listed components? $375.96


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:wq