- Jun 9, 2007
- 27
- 0
- 18,540
Hi all,
I'm going to get a laptop sometime this summer, but in the meantime I need a short-term workstation. So it should be as cheap as possible but still work well. I've built many systems myself but the new processors, main boards and components are making my head spin. Any guidance would be great! Here's what I'm doing.
Already have:
Case, hard drive, DVD burner.
Need: Video, CPU, RAM & MB.
Budget is around $300.
* Dual-boot Linux & XP - Developing software on Linux, encoding video on XP.
* Dual-core, AMD or Intel doesn't matter I'm after bang for buck.
* Video - must be NVIDIA. Not gaming but must to 3d in Linux.
* Not a gaming system.
* Prefer it to be QUIET.
* 1gb RAM should be OK.
I'm hoping to kill two birds with onboard video on the mainboard.
Fry's has a deal right now:
Athlon X2 6000+ & ECS GEFORCE6100SM-M board for $229. It has the onboard 6100 video.
Or,
Athlon X2 5600+ & ECS Nforce4M-A - no on onboard video, $179. I imagine any cheap Geforce 7300 would blow away the onboard 6100. Even though I don't need it, may as well get it since it costs the same?
Is there a similar system on the Intel side I can build for the same dough? Any other combinations I should put together myself? Seriously I am lost. I know the Intels are better, but it seems like the AMDs will still encode amazingly fast for a bit cheaper.
I'm going to get a laptop sometime this summer, but in the meantime I need a short-term workstation. So it should be as cheap as possible but still work well. I've built many systems myself but the new processors, main boards and components are making my head spin. Any guidance would be great! Here's what I'm doing.
Already have:
Case, hard drive, DVD burner.
Need: Video, CPU, RAM & MB.
Budget is around $300.
* Dual-boot Linux & XP - Developing software on Linux, encoding video on XP.
* Dual-core, AMD or Intel doesn't matter I'm after bang for buck.
* Video - must be NVIDIA. Not gaming but must to 3d in Linux.
* Not a gaming system.
* Prefer it to be QUIET.
* 1gb RAM should be OK.
I'm hoping to kill two birds with onboard video on the mainboard.
Fry's has a deal right now:
Athlon X2 6000+ & ECS GEFORCE6100SM-M board for $229. It has the onboard 6100 video.
Or,
Athlon X2 5600+ & ECS Nforce4M-A - no on onboard video, $179. I imagine any cheap Geforce 7300 would blow away the onboard 6100. Even though I don't need it, may as well get it since it costs the same?
Is there a similar system on the Intel side I can build for the same dough? Any other combinations I should put together myself? Seriously I am lost. I know the Intels are better, but it seems like the AMDs will still encode amazingly fast for a bit cheaper.
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