Friends,

Any advice on a set-up for a homebuilt?

I'm hoping just to slap together a solid general-purpose
machine for my son, he's not a big gamer (yet), and
in fact I plan on installing Linux, so there won't
be that many very video-intensive games he could
ever get interested in.... I'm thinking Intel
because things are more standard, I'd like to come in
at under 1K$, does anyone have a sweet system design
posted recently that I could copy?

Or, if I try to design on my own, what do y'all think
about the CPU:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor

and a compatible MB:
GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard

then some RAM, like:
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK

and a video card, say:
SAPPHIRE 100226L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card


Now, my big questions are:
1) Is that too much of a CPU for a mid-level machine? I would
prefer to save a bit, is it reasonable to go with a cheaper
CPU? (Maybe "Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Processor
1333MHz FSB"?) Would I then have to change the MB?
2) Is that a reasonable video card? Are there reasons to choose
another?
3) I read that power supply is important -- any suggestions for
a decent one at a decent price?
3) Remaining parts will be an HD, CD/DVD reader/burner, wireless
adapter and case. Is it true to say that all such parts are
pretty much compatible and I should just order whatever is on
special at newegg or some such?

(E.g., the wireless card:
LINKSYS WMP54G 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless-G Adapter is more than twice the price
of the GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter -- is there any reason to
choose the more expensive one?)

(For the optical drive, what do you think of:
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black PATA Model SH-S202N - OEM
Model #: SH-S202N -- what is this LightScribe, anyway?)

(And for the HD, what about
Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3500320NS?)

(Hey, along these lines, what do you think of:
XION II XON-103 Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply
it looks kind of cool, I bet my son (a teen!) would like it....)

(Hmm... reading more reviews, there seem to be some mixed impressions. Any
ideas for a good quality, but also good-looking case? What about this:
"RAIDMAX Sagitta 2 ATX-928WOP Black / Orange SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply"?)

(By the way -- my son lives in Europe, so the power supply has to be
compatible... but they mostly seem to be. Are there any other issues?)


Thanks in advance!

for a non gamer, i'd say it's a good idea to get that graphics card; it ought to be plenty powerful...

that system is powerful enough to last for a bit... it ought o be very good in terms of price/performance.

a power supply is the key component of a PC - you don't want the PSU to die utherwise your whole system can die... that said, i reccommend the Corsair HX 520... it is a top nothc PSU, but it does mean that you won't have to worry about any reliaility issues down the line. Or, you can get the Antec Earthwatts 500

Lightsdcribe is the ability to burn labels directly onto a disc... Pretty useless IMO, but then it hurts hardly anything to have it added in, so...

get the power supply where he stays, i think...

you ought to come in pretty clear of $1000, cosidering you don't need a monitor / windows...

Okay here's a $1k build that I have recently posted on another thread, but this will give you an idea on what to look for.

Okay here it goes. This will give you plenty of power for now and give you good GPU power for the $.

CPU - $250
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache Retail ***Free Shipping***
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] Code=80864

Mobo - $98 - $30 MIR = $68!! One of the best budget p35 mobo's out there.
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813127031

GPU - $277 - $30 MIR = $307!! You can upgrade within 90 days using the "Step Up" program, if you want to get the latest GPU. Limited Lifetime Warranty!
EVGA 512-P3-N841-AR GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130325

PSU - $120 - $20 MIR = $100!!! One of the best PSU's you can get in this price range. Has plenty of connections for your upgrade needs! Has 5 yr. warranty too!
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX ATX12V / EPS12V 650W Power Supply 100 - 240 V UL, CE, CB, TUV, FCC, CCC - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139005

Memory - $107 - $15 MIR = $92!! Cheap and fast CAS 4 DDR2. Allows you to upgrade to 8gb's later, if you like.
Patriot Viper 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820220293

HD - $100!! You'll enjoy the extra space. If you need more, just buy more now or just buy another HD later.
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136073

DVD Burner - $29 shipped!! This is the retail version, so you can view/burn DVD's, because the software is included!
PHILIPS 2-Tone 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827248008

Case - $57 shipped! One of the better budget cases out there. Currently there aren't any really good steals, so this is what I found. I'd go for a Antec 900 or Cooler Master 690 case, if they were on sale. They usually are around $60-70 when they are on sale, so consider those when they hit the sales rack!
COOLER MASTER CAC-T05-UB Centurion 5 Mid Tower Case (Blue) Retail
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Prod [...] ode=141783

Total ~$1,023 - $95 MIR's = $928!!! Not bad for under $1k.

Remember these are form US sites and will be different in Europe, but you can use the information to pattern or use for research purposes.

I'll try to answer a few of your other ?'s.
what is this LightScribe, anyway?
It will actually laser "scribe" a design or characters that you want it to do on the DVD/CD disk. This takes alot of time to do, about 20-30min. or so, so if your patient you can have a nice "scribed" DVD or CD. Oh, and get the "retail" version of the DVD burner, because it'll come with the software needed to view/burn the DVD's. It's usually only about $3-5 more for the retail version.

Hey, along these lines, what do you think of:
XION II XON-103 Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply
it looks kind of cool, I bet my son (a teen!) would like it....
If you like the case than get it, just don't get it with the PSU that comes with it. It's not a very solid PSU, so save your $ on the combo and just get your PSU seperate from the case. Most PSU's that come with the cases are not always very good. This isn't always the case, so do your research. Most of the Antec case/PSU combo's are pretty good, so I'd look at those. The Antec Sonata III case/PSU combo is quite good, but you can decide. See my link in by signature for quality PSU's. They rank them by quality, so read up and make your decision.

the wireless card:
LINKSYS WMP54G 32bit PCI2.2 Wireless-G Adapter is more than twice the price of the GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS PCI Wireless Adapter -- is there any reason to choose the more expensive one?
Usually there isn't much difference. Some of the cheaper ones may have signal issues, but this is hit and miss, so you can decide.

Edit: forgot to mention that the GPU is a bit overkill for a non-gamer, so I'll include a link to a more affordable and reasonable GPU for a non-gamer PC. $56 shipped.
SAPPHIRE 100233L Radeon HD 3450 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102724

Thanks so much for the help! People on this forum are great!