VAIL said:
Ok. time to toss my hat in, I am looking to build a machine in the next few weeks.
Here is what I am aiming for.
Price around $600
Video:
Machine will not run windows, so let's not factor in stuff like Crysis and whatnot, though I still want a decent card to whip around the games I do play in Linux. Nvidia over Ati.
Speed:
I'd like to spend the Bulk on speed and ram, storage is taken care of via my SAN and other devices. 2 to 4gb or ram, would be fine. I've been eyeing the tricore AMD's and they seem like a good option
Case and PSU:
Case would be Mid-tower, and psu has to be modular. I would prefer quietness over looks
Etc:
Lan/sound are fine onboard for me, if I can get wireless and bluetooth without going to external devices that would be a bonus. Hdd again doesnt have to be massive, but storage is cheap, dvdr drive is also fine, no need for blu quite yet.
If someone wants to take a stab at building a rig based on this..I'd love to see what people can cook up.
Thanks in advance to anyone who takes a crack at it.
VAIL,
I would look at the following:
Intel chip (AMD.... big Meh this generation). For multi-tasking, a Q6600 G0 step, nice and cool and super fast. For $200 bucks, can't really beat it.
P35 Intel ATX board. The Gigabyte boards are top heavy for features and a great bargain for the price. Usually can be had for around $100 bucks.
Memory : DDR2 PC6400 2x2GB should be around $70-80 bucks. 4GB total.
Case and PSU - Look for a mid-tower with at least a 500W PSU.
Bluetooth & Wi-Fi onboard--- Those are more expensive boards in the $200+ dollar range. Add-ons might not be a bad thing.
Hard drive - 500GB drive is around $120 bucks now
DVD+-RW Burner - $30 bucks for a SATA drive.
GPU - 8800GT or 9600GT would be good for gaming for you, just depends on your price point.
Should be around $600-700 bucks depending on where you source the parts + shipping. Best of luck.