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Building a Linux Computer

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Hi all-

I am going to build a box for Linux and am looking for some advice. I have zero experience with Linux and am thinking about building off of the Ubuntu distro (good choice?). Will be using box mainly for office applications, but want to play around with all open source has to offer. My original goal was to keep the box as cheap as possible, but with the prices on components right now I am thinking of upping my budget a bit to get much better performance. Here are the two options and general prices (I already have a box and generic 400w PSU).

Cheap Build:
AM2 Sempron - $35
6100 Mobo - $50
1 GB Ram - $30
DVD Player - $14
160 GB HDD - $50
Total ~ $180

Better Build:
AM2 X2 (65W or BE model) - $75
690G Mobo - $60
2 GB Ram - $65
DVD Player - $14
250 GB HDD - $60
Total ~ $270

Budget is not a big issue, but I don't want to spend the money if it is not worth it. Also, I was thinking about upgrading to a quiet ~250W name brand PSU (worth it?). Should I go for 64 bit install? If I get a 65w or BE model X2 can it be passively cooled? At the end of the day I would really like this to be a near silent internet computer that I can learn Linux on. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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I presume you have another decent computer?

If so, my recommendation would be to grab a copy of VMWare, add a little memory and another drive and use VMWare to build some virtual systems to learn VMWare.

The great thing about VMWare and similar tools is that it's so easy to back off changes. Great for learning because you can totally screw up your system and undo the gaffe in about 30 seconds.

I prefer Suse, but Ubuntu is good as well.

Thanks for the quick reply. My other comp is - opteron 180 (2.4 ghz, socket 939), x850xt, 2gb ram. I like the VMWare idea, but I already bought the case. Also - I am just getting into TV capture on my other rig...could this linux machine potentially be used as an HTPC. Could I add in a HDMI video card and use for HTPC?

Thanks
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Reading through the list of requirements for the MythTV shell, it sounds like the two most important factors are the MPEG decoder and lots of HDD room for saving recorded video. You could go with the cheaper build, add a decent hardware encoder, and buy 2x500 GB HDD's for a total of 1 TB space.

I find Ubuntu rather unstable. It is built on top of the Debian "unstable" branch, and it shows from time to time by freezing up.

I think you would be better off going with one of the following:
- Simply Mepis
- OpenSuse

They are both easy to use, but Mepis is based on Debian so you can leverage the massive Debian packages.

i would hold off on a 64bit version imo, as there are still a few necessary things that arent supported... unless its been fixed by adobe in the last few months. but the main thing that comes to mind would be flash support, there simply isnt.

in my experience ubuntu is pretty reliable/stable, but to each their own.
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