Linux main box build

[chewster]

Greetings.

So I've been using a 5 year old dell laptop as my main computer for the past year or so. I had a fairly sweet rig that I built a few years back, but it got fried by lightning. Insurance paid me more than I spent on it, so that worked out pretty well.

Running a laptop as my primary box has worked for the interwebs, but it's time to stop being lazy and build a real computer.

Here are some of my constraints:

This will be a Linux box running Ubuntu 9.10 64 it the short term and 10.04 64 within the next couple of weeks.

That being said, obviously gaming is not a big issue for me.

I want to spend my money now so that this box can be used as a secondary machine 5 years from now and still be reasonably relevant (yes, that's possible with Linux).

So I'm looking for USB 3.0, Sata 3.0, DDR3 and other new technologies.

Here is the list of hardware that I've come up with so far (only linking things that need linking):

AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 140W (stock cooling for now)
Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 AMD 790X + SB850
G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL8Q-8GBRM 4x2GB 8-8-8-24 1.6V
Silverstone ST75F-P Strider Plus 750W
Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced

I could use some help with the GPU. I want to go with NVIDIA as ATI and Linux still don't play well together. Am I going to run into problems with the AMD 790X chipset and an NVIDIA GPU? Last time I bought a GPU, AGP was all the rage so I'm kind of clueless now.

I specifically went with that mobo for the SB850 that gets me SATA 3 and because it doesn't have integrated graphics which I don't need or want.

Anyway, the GPU that I'm looking for needs to be able to run the advanced compiz effects (window burn, cube with animated high res skydome, etc.) at 2048 x 1152 smoothly and not much else. So I'm looking for a best bang for the buck NVIDIA card with a bit of headroom.

Thoughts? Is anything I have found overkill? Am I wasting money anywhere for what I'm looking for? Is it plain just not going to work since I've been out of building rigs for years and I'm a n00b again?

Also if anyone has any experience with the mobo above in Linux, I would appreciate it. Google fails here.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Shadow703793]

I could use some help with the GPU. I want to go with NVIDIA as ATI and Linux still don't play well together. Am I going to run into problems with the AMD 790X chipset and an NVIDIA GPU? Last time I bought a GPU, AGP was all the rage so I'm kind of clueless now.

The board you selected doesn't have on board vid. So you should be fine. And yes, stick with nVidia for Linux.

As for GPU, a cheap 9500GT (~$40) will do. If you want a bit more, a 9600GT ($60) will do: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133239&cm_re=9600gt-_-14-133-239-_-Product

Also, depending on what you do, you could save a bunch by getting a Athlon II X3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103726&cm_re=athlon_ii_x3-_-19-103-726-_-Product

Unless you are doing encoding,etc you don't really need a Quad esp. on Linux. Hell, for just doing web browsing,etc a X2 will do.

 

[chewster]

The board you selected doesn't have on board vid. So you should be fine. And yes, stick with nVidia for Linux.

As for GPU, a cheap 9500GT (~$40) will do. If you want a bit more, a 9600GT ($60) will do: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133239&cm_re=9600gt-_-14-133-239-_-Product

Also, depending on what you do, you could save a bunch by getting a Athlon II X3: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103726&cm_re=athlon_ii_x3-_-19-103-726-_-Product

Unless you are doing encoding,etc you don't really need a Quad esp. on Linux. Hell, for just doing web browsing,etc a X2 will do.

I do a little bit of virtualization right now (which is a horrible pain in ass on this laptop) and I'd like to play with that a bit more to see what's possible.

Even still, I would likely not need anything more than the Athlon II X3, but I just have to get the Phenom out of pure "I'm so l33t I have a quad core" type of reasoning. I probably won't miss the $100 for it and it may save me an upgrade later if I decide to start doing some processor intensive functions.

Thanks for the input on the GPU though. That's the area where I'm most confused.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Just so you know, AMD is selling the X6 for only a little more: http://www.amazon.com/AMD-Phenom-1055T-Processor-HDT55TFBGRBOX/dp/B003FVNC0Q

The AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE is ~$190. So, you could spend the extra and just get a 6 core now. If you are running VMs, the X6 *should* provide a decent boost over the X4. I'd wait a few a week or two and see the benches for the X6 before buying.

 

[tserich]

When did the AMD six cores get released?

 

[Shadow703793]

^ No idea. It is technically suppose to be released on the 27th or later lol.

 

[batuchka]

 

[cmcghee358]

Got released earlier tonight