Lets get the main details out of the way first:
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: this week or next. BUDGET RANGE: up to 400 (with shipping, before rebates)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: home (movies, music--not an audiophile), work (word processing, academic applications, often many at a time), photo work (gimp and bibble), need wireless card (G is fine.)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: CPU: AMD (though can be convinced otherwise.) Mobo with decent onboard graphics (but with PCI 2.0 to expand), Roomy case (my very first build after all)
OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Unlikely either.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Most intense activity I'll likely be doing is photo management/editing work under GIMP / Bibble. Will likely dual boot with Win7, though main operating system will be Crunchbang Linux (a lightwieght, Openbox, distro with a Ubuntu base.) Hope for expandability (so no PSU's with a single sata connector). Stability is a premium, and prefer silent/low power options where available. The cheaper, the better. (Grad students don't make a lot of money.) This is going to be my home box, to supplement a eeepc while on the run.
Moving off an aluminium Core 2 Duo 2.0 Macbook with integrated graphics...hoping to get a lot more for less, and get rent money off the sale of it. I say this as to use the Mac as a baseline for thinking about performance increases.
Look forward to seeing what people come up with. A preemptive thanks.
-Barnes
APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: this week or next. BUDGET RANGE: up to 400 (with shipping, before rebates)
SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: home (movies, music--not an audiophile), work (word processing, academic applications, often many at a time), photo work (gimp and bibble), need wireless card (G is fine.)
PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse.
PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
PARTS PREFERENCES: CPU: AMD (though can be convinced otherwise.) Mobo with decent onboard graphics (but with PCI 2.0 to expand), Roomy case (my very first build after all)
OVERCLOCKING: Maybe SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Unlikely either.
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1680x1050
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Most intense activity I'll likely be doing is photo management/editing work under GIMP / Bibble. Will likely dual boot with Win7, though main operating system will be Crunchbang Linux (a lightwieght, Openbox, distro with a Ubuntu base.) Hope for expandability (so no PSU's with a single sata connector). Stability is a premium, and prefer silent/low power options where available. The cheaper, the better. (Grad students don't make a lot of money.) This is going to be my home box, to supplement a eeepc while on the run.
Moving off an aluminium Core 2 Duo 2.0 Macbook with integrated graphics...hoping to get a lot more for less, and get rent money off the sale of it. I say this as to use the Mac as a baseline for thinking about performance increases.
Look forward to seeing what people come up with. A preemptive thanks.
-Barnes
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