Mid-range linux developer worksation PC

No need for the sata cable . There should be a couple with the mb .

No need for 1066MHz ram with a C2d or quad . 800 MHz is fine unless you are overclocking to 400MHz FSB

and if you were in the US the whole system would be out performed by a Phenom ll quad rig which would cost less . Maybe thats not the same in the UK though

I'm pretty sure we can get Phenom II stuff here as well - obviously I would require a different MB + RAM as well as the Phenom 2 CPU.

This is going to be used for Linux, which is fine with AMD processors but not so fine with ATI graphics. Would you care to suggest a new MB, CPU, RAM to replace the ones I chose?

AMD have AM2+ and AM3 processors and mb's . AM3 cpu's work in both types of MB , AM2 cpu's DONT work in AM3 mb's
AM2 mb's use DDR2 memory
AM3 mb's use DDR3 memory

The AM3 boards are very expensive on aria , so you are probably looking at AM2 if you want to be around the same price

Asus M4A78PRO AMD 780G Socket AM2+ Motherboard
£64.95 exc. VAT
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Motherboards/...(AMD)/Asus+M4A78PRO+AMD+780G+Socket+AM2%2B+Motherboard+?productId=34975

AMD Phenom II X4 940 8MB Black Edition
£128.94 exc. VAT
http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CPUs+%2F+Proc...(Retail%2C+AM2%2B)+?productId=34834

The same 1066 MHz RAM you selected . Phenom has a memory controller on the cpu and does use the faster RAM speed

I found this
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=355...

The Phenom and your Intel build are close performance wise in productivity apps , with the phenom generally having the advantage . Its cheaper too but not by much .
This is probably a coin toss , or just brand preference .

No problems using the vVidia card with this system
And Id stick with the stock cpu cooler whichever you choose since it will do the job . The only reason to replace it would be to reduce noise a little

Nice build you have going.   I would only make two changes to that build. The psu you have chosen is major over kill, and unless you plan on doing some extreme over clocking this ram down below would be a much better choice imo.

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Power+Supplie... £59.95 exc. VAT | £68.94 inc. VAT
Corsair 550W VX Series PSU

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Memory/DDR2/D...(PC6400)/Corsair+4GB+PC2-6400+C5+XMS2+(2x2GB)+?productId=27910 £35.49 exc. VAT | £40.81 inc. VAT
Corsair 4GB PC2-6400 C5 XMS2 (2x2GB)

Do all the retail CPU boxes (Intel + AMD) include standard coolerts? Since I will not be overclocking I just want something good enough & quiet.



The idea was that from time to time I'd want to bolt in a few extra hard-drives... i'd like to be able to do all that without stressing the power-supply.

Would the 550W psu still be adequate if I went for the AMD X4 Black edition + DDR3 as suggested?

Thanks

Hard drives draw very little power 10 watts or so

The big power draw in a computer is often the gfx card . Without the load of a gaming gfx card your system will be fine on 550 watts . But dont skimp on quality for a power supply .

All retail processors include a heatsink and fan .

Thanks Outlander,

So given that I do not need to overclock and that my GFX card will be a mid-range model is there anything quieter than the corsair? I dont mind paying extra for something that runs just that little bit more quietly.

Regarding switching from Intel Quad to AMD X4 - the costs are about the same. How substantial are the speed differences? I never found a benchmark that was relevant to typical Linux use - most benchmarks are done by gamers. :-)

I bought the AMD chip, plus the Mobo that Outlander_04 suggested.

I just noticed that in addition to the 2 DVI ports on the Nvidia card, this motherboard has it's own VGA / DVI out. Does that mean I can potentially run 3 monitors from this thing?

As a developer, the ability to have lots of monitors running concurrently is a very good thing!