Getting that new hardware itch...

[Federico Voges]

Alan,


To all the recomments you already received, I'd add:

On Friday 23 December 2005 02:14, Alan Jackson wrote:
> Well, my system is 4 1/2 years old, and beginning to show it's age so
> early next year I plan to replace it. It will force me to move to Linux
> 2.6 too!
> I have an old AMD 500 Mhz system with 500 Mb of RAM.
>
> Here's what I'm thinking - any recommendations or suggestions
> are welcomed. I'm not a gamer or a multi-media guy - I do science
> and noodling around so I don't need really high performance graphics,
> but I like to have oodles of memory and plenty of cycles. I run gentoo.
>
> cpu : 2 Ghz Athlon 64 939
> Motherboard : ASUS A8N-SLI - not sure which one, regular, premium, or
> deluxe Disk : 2x250 Gb Western SATA
> Memory : 2 Gb (4 Kingston 512k DDK 400)

Go with 2 modules and try to get fast memory (CL1). Be careful because some 
memories are labeled CL1 but only for Intel CPUs (don't know the technical 
explanation for this tho).

Some motherboards impose some limitations when using all the memory slots 
(like reducing the memory speed from DDR400 to DDR333 or disabling dual 
channel). Needless to say, both reduce the memory bandwidth and final 
performance. 


> DVD/CD/RW : Sony DRU 700A??
> Video : eVGA GeForce 6200 128 Mb??
> Audio : soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
>
> issues : I'd like to have about 4 serial ports for my PDA, weather station,
> X10 controller, etc. Not sure how to accomplish that. Newer motherboards
> don't have serial ports (the board above has one). Suggestions for an
> add-in card?

Although PCI cards are a far better option, you also have the USB to serial 
adapters. 

>
> Are there any issues remaining with going to 64 bit? Especially with Gentoo
> I'd think I'd be insulated against a lot of potential issues...
>
> Not sure on the video card - I'd kinda like to get one that has the option
> for dual heads. I might want to do that in the future.
>
> I'm shooting for around $1600-$1800 for the system - not cheap, but not
> expensive either. About what I have *always* paid, actually.
>
> If there are good Linux-ready suppliers you love, I'll look there too. I'm
> not committed to doing myself, I'm just exploring the options and prices.
> At least if I buy it prebuilt for Linux, I don't have to sweat the
> compatibility issues.

-- 

Running: Gentoo Linux
Kernel:  2.6.14.2-ftc i686
Procesor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ @2009MHz
Uptime:   13:55:55 up  5:50,  7 users,  load average: 1.49, 1.33, 1.31