Building new systems

[Brian]

Okay.  So, my current desktop system will have been in storage for over a year by the time I get to it, and outdated in some other senses besides, on account of ... well, it's old.

For more than a year, I've adapted to doing all of my computing on a laptop/the iPad (which ... has gotten me surprisingly far).

Now, however, it is time for me to build a new system.  My year+ of exile into the UBUNTU wastelands has left me hopelessly addicted to the usefulness of that operating system, so I'm going to be doing something a little different from my normal approach.

I'm going to be making ... two systems.  One of them will be an UBUNTU system that I use for non-gaming purposes (writing/editing, and all that entails).  One of them will be a Windows system that I use for games/multimedia.

Now, I'm not going to be like Jim, and design a system so powerful nothing on earth can utilize it (seriously ... WTH justifies 20k IOPS on a desktop?), but I would like to have a system for UBUNTU where every part is known and supported by the OS, and a system for Windows that I don't need to upgrade for a year or two.

Considering that I should be able to start gathering supplies and assembling these systems next month ... any suggestions on good hardware?

[Jon]

Ars's system guide is half a year old at this point, but still worth reading. I ended up going somewhere in between the Budget Box and the Hot Rod when I rebuilt my wintendo.

[Iron Dragoon]

Did a bit of scouting around and read some reviews. I'm kind of a K.I.S.S. guy, so I went with package deals.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.689962

Everything in there got some pretty solid reviews. Only issues I saw people having were them not being able to figure out settings and the occasional bad piece of hardware from the factory.

Video cards: Dunno how much you want to spend on this, so I checked a range.
(Biggun @ $330) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

(Not-Quite-As-Biggun @ $250) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604

(Upper SLI @ $340) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500206&cm_sp=Cat_Video_Cards_%26%2338%3b_Video_Devices-_-Weekly_Deals-_-14-500-206

(SLI @ $300) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908&cm_sp=Cat_Video_Cards_%26%2338%3b_Video_Devices-_-Weekly_Deals-_-14-102-908

The combo pack comes with 2x 2GB sticks of memory and the board has 4 slots, so you still have two more slots to up it with. Uses DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066. Memory is cheap, the included sticks are like $40, so it's not too bad to just get the combo and toss them aside if you want better. It's got 2x USB 3.0 and 8x USB 2.0 on it; not sure how much that matters to ya. Tower comes with 1 fan, so you'll have to buy at least one more, if not two.

Not sure how it'll work for you, you didn't really give any specifics for what you wanted, but hey, it was a quick browse and find, and you at least have a starting point.

NOTE: I haven't built a system since I left for contracting back in 2009, so I'm probably off on some stuff, likely forgot a lot.

[Dracos]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20722 I've used this for my last one
I found it to be significantly informative as well as generally giving good eyeball prices and reasoning in a variety of areas.
It doesn't include monitor/keyboard in it's pricing, but you may not need that

[Yuthirin]

Reminder: Brian, give me your address so I can send you 8gb of DDR3 RAM for FREEEEEEEEEE.

[Brian]

And back to this thread.

I'm moving tomorrow, and may start piecing a new system together as early as Sunday!  The first new system would by my 'for actual use' Linux box.

:D

[Brian]

Slight issue with current GPU trying to melt itself.

So, Windows system first. :x

Well, at least I won't have to buy an OS for the next one! :D

Iddy, Yuth, you guys rules -- thanks for all of the suggestions in IRC. :)

[Kt3]

Slight necro, but bumping with some relevant information.

I've been using the Falcon Guide, and it's updated constantly.  Give it a looksee.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af150/The_FalconO6/CurrentLogicalPCBuyingGuide/Guide.png is the current location, updated link is constantly at http://tinyurl.com/FalconGuide