[clue-tech] Suggestion for upcoming presentation - build you own PC

Sun Nov 7 11:11:31 MST 2010

Other comments:

Unless you are into gaming or need the extra power of the GPU's for
certain types of processing, the video built into the motherboard is
probably sufficient.  Your preference for ATI or NVidia will eliminate
some boards from consideration.  As will your choice of Intel or AMD.

I think all motherboards have 1GB Ethernet now.  Apart from mini ITX,
I'm not aware of any boards that have built-in wifi.

I'm guessing that all of the new boards now use DDR3, but maybe DDR4 is
out now.

If you want an uncluttered case, you might want to spend a bit more and
buy a power supply that has detachable cables.   I have used both
Silverstone and Enermax with no problems.

You can use fans or water cooling.  Water cooling is more efficient but
requires some maintenance, such as adding biocide to kill algae.
Personally, I avoid water cooling.  It takes more space, might leak
someday, and air cooling has been perfectly adequate so far.

Motherboards have connectors for multiple fans and can control fan
speed.  You can also buy a fan controller and install it in a spare
drive bay.  At least one fan manufacturer (Aerocool?) has fans that can
plug into each other and be driven together.

Regarding noise, some fans have lower dB than others.  You can also line
the case with some sort of noise absorbent material.  

I've never been interested in modding cases and I doubt that Collins is
either.  However, if I ever buy another Hivelogix case, I think I might
have it painted.

Others probably have other suggestions too.  I think this is definitely
worth revisiting in a talk.

On Sun, 2010-11-07 at 10:27 -0700, chris fedde wrote:

> If you know the overall process, then selecting parts is pretty
> subjective.  As long as all the parts fit together you'll end up with
> a working configuration.   As with any engineering activity, selecting
> parts for a system is a matter of designing for the goals and
> constraints.  If you have some goals in mind then you can select parts
> differently to accommodate those goals.
> 
> For the average desktop linux system even the most basic low end
> components will probably meet the average to mid level users goals.
> For your first system I'd recommend using a supplier like NewEgg and
> pick parts that have good recommendations.  (http://www.newegg.com/)
> 
> There is a lot of discussion on the relative merits of different cpu,
> ram, and other component choices. But when it comes down to making a
> final choice, a system built today at some given price point will far
> outperform a system built two years ago at the same price point.  And
> two different systems built today at that same price point will
> perform very similarly.
> 
> For detailed discussion of various components I'd recommend Tom's Hardware Guide
> (www.tomshardware.com/) Several times a year Tom's publishes a guide
> for building a number of systems at different price points.  Here, for
> example, is their recommendations for a $400 "Game" system:
>  http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-pc-build-a-pc-overclock,2739.html
> 
> Shake well before using
> cfedde
> 
> On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 9:15 PM, Mike Bean <beandaemon at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I'd be curious not so much for the process, just to get a good idea about
> > recommended parts.
> >
> > On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 9:01 PM, chris fedde <chris at fedde.us> wrote:
> >>
> >> I'd be happy to help anyone who wants to put together a linux PC.
> >> It's really pretty straight forward once you know the moving parts.
> >> I suppose that the process could be bundled into a presentation for
> >> CLUE.  if there is any interest I can work up such a presentation.
> >>
> >> chris
> >>
> >> On Sat, Nov 6, 2010 at 2:48 PM,  <wpsmithii at msn.com> wrote:
> >> > Hi Collins, I've built a few and have repaired some as well. I think the
> >> > trick is to pay attention to current pricing (micro center, tiger direct and
> >> > newegg are the ones I watch) and buy the best components you can afford at
> >> > the time. It changes from moment to moment. Bill Smith
> >> > Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
> >> >
> >> > -----Original Message-----
> >> > From: Collins Richey <crichey at gmail.com>
> >> > Sender: clue-tech-bounces at cluedenver.org
> >> > Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 11:42:53
> >> > To: CLUE technical discussion<clue-tech at cluedenver.org>
> >> > Reply-To: CLUE technical discussion <clue-tech at cluedenver.org>
> >> > Subject: [clue-tech] Suggestion for upcoming presentation - build you
> >> > own PC
> >> >
> >> > Perhaps others are in the same boat as I am. I've spent 10+ years
> >> > tinkering with Linux, etc., and I've done some repairs on PC's, but
> >> > I'm still a complete dummy when it comes to selecting cases,
> >> > motherboards, etc., etc. I'm in the market for building a new PC, and
> >> > I'm sure there might be others who would love to know more about this
> >> > arcane science!
> >> >
> >> > What I'm looking for is a good virtual base to make it easy to tinker
> >> > with various OS, so there would be plenty of ram, fast CPU with
> >> > virtual assist, large drives (maybe RAID). I'm not interested in one
> >> > of the giant gaming cases with flashing lights, but rather a medium
> >> > sized box (either mid tower or one of the newer cube shapes) with
> >> > quiet fans and lots of usb connectors since almost everything plugs
> >> > into USB these days. Probably a quad-core cpu with something like 8G
> >> > memory. Many of the available standard boxes from the big hitter
> >> > manufacturers have disabled virtual assist, so their boxes are
> >> > worthless for my wants and needs. There must be 100K or greater
> >> > options for this type of equipment, and how does an amateur/idiot go
> >> > about selecting select the right thing?
> >> >
> >> > So, would one or some of you guys who have hardware savvy please put
> >> > together a presentation, perhaps something like the following?
> >> >
> >> > * how to select cases, power supplies, motherboards, etc.
> >> > * best sources for equipment
> >> > * techniques for building
> >> > * gotchas
> >> > * etc.
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Collins Richey
> >> >      If you fill your heart with regrets of yesterday and the worries
> >> >      of tomorrow, you have no today to be thankful for.
> >> > _______________________________________________
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