Building new DC machine (need advice)

[D1vine]

Hey all,

I"m building a new box for DC projects (currently just SETI for the time being). I need some advice for hardware.
BUDGET is the BIGGEST priority, though performance needs to be upfront as well.

Max Spending = 250$

I currently have the following components that I will use in the new box:

ATX Case
45GB HD
30GB HD
CDROM
FLoppy
IDE Card (if needed)
8MB PCI VideoCard (if needed)

I need the following components:

Motherboard + Processor (Intel vs. AMD doesn't matter to me as long as performance is good and it will fall under my budget)
Quality HSF
RAM (DDR or Rambus definitely preferred) Probably only 256MB needed now if that. A few months down the road and i'll upgrade that. For now..bare minimum to function well.
10/100 PCI Nic
Capable & Qualified PSU
AGP Video Card (preferred over what i have above. I would like to run a GUI (linux, BSD or windows) if possible. At least 32MB if not onboard the M/B
More onboard components the better (IE: save $$ )


Concerns:
Machine must be cabable of running up2date version of latest operating systems. I haven't decided on the OS but will probably NOT be Windows based.
Must be able to run SETI but perhaps still function for other tasks. I'm in the process of learning Unix/Linux so it needs to perform well enough to not limit that.
Must be fairly quiet. This is a big deal for me right now. Current living conditions don't allow me to run my systems outside of my bedroom so for me it has to be quiet enough not to let me sleep
Must be upgradeable. I'd like to not have to completely rebuild in the next 6 months

Anyways, thats what i need, and after doing a fair amount of research this morning, I decided to see what the other TA DC folks think.

 

[Confused]

Epox 8RDA+ ~$100
Tbred B 1700+ ~$50
Some 80mm HSF + quiet fan ~$40-50
256MB PC2700 DDR ~$60

This has onboard USB2, FW, 10/100 LAN

Edit: Only thing missing from there would be PSU, and GFX card if you want, but I'm not sure on those


I have pretty much the same setup (8RDA+ and Tbred B 1700+) and am currently at 2.06GHz, 206x10


I will run some Seti WUs on it tomorrow to see how well it does


Confused

 

[D1vine]

Awesome
Thanks confused


Keep the suggestions coming. I'm thinking about doing this in a few weeks..as soon as the tax return comes in and i see how much money i have to deal with after i pay off the credit card

 

[ProviaFan]

Get your stuff from Newegg if you're in the US. I've ordered from there several times, and they're very good.

Check out the nforce2-based Epox 8RDA(+) motherboard (get the plus version if you want more USB, as well as firewire and integrated LAN). Get an AMD Athlon XP processor within your budget (the 1700+ and 2100+ Thoroughbred B's are supposed to be good overclockers; I have the 1.43GHz 1700+ running stable at 2GHz, or 2400+ on an 8RDA).

Get 256MB, or better yet, 512MB, of PC/2700 DDR SDRAM. Avoid generic brands, OCZ, Geil, and other manufacturers related to the last two like the plague. Crucial, Corsair, and Mushkin are all good. I have Kingston RAM, and it works fine also, while being cheaper than the others mentioned.

For the network card, I suggest a Dlink DFE-530TX+. It costs about US$9, and works fine in many different OSes. An Intel NIC would surely beat it in performance, but the Intel NIC probably costs 4 times as much; it's your choice.

For the video card, consider some variation of the ATI Radeon 8500 or 9000 if you intend to work with 3D applications. If you're wanting excellent 2D, I've heard that Matrox G450 and G550 cards are well supported in XFree86.

Hope this helps, and sorry I can't do much to help with PSU or HSF recommendations. I got a Thermaltake Purepower PSU (360 watts), and a Thermaltake Volcano 7 HSF. Both work fine for me, but I doubt they'd be quiet enough for your tastes (not saying they aren't quiet, but I don't think I'd feel comfortable having the units 2 feet from my head as I try to sleep at night), so I'll leave the job of making those recommendations to someone else.

Edits in italics.

 

[Confused]

THinking about it...the new Antec line of PSUs, the TruePower have been getting rave reviews, so that might be something to check out. Tho, if prices over there are like they are in the UK, they'll be pretty expensive

N/M what I just said about gfx card here


Confused

 

[CyGoR]

Confused, you forgot about the videocard.. Or is it onboard on the Epox?

 

[Confused]

Originally posted by: CyGoR
Confused, you forgot about the videocard.. Or is it onboard on the Epox?

Nope it's not on the motherboard. But he said he's got a PCI one if needed, and what I suggested was trying to keep under the budget, and use what he's already got


Confused

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: CyGoR
Confused, you forgot about the videocard.. Or is it onboard on the Epox?

Epox 8RDA+ has no onboard video. If you're going to be working in a UNIX OS, and your working habits in said OSes are like mine, you'll have your screen filled mostly with terminals much of the time. Thus, I would advise him to stay well away from Nvidia Geforces, especially older ones, as the 2D quality on those GF2s is terrible. Get an ATI or Matrox; your eyes will thank you.

 

[D1vine]

I love Newegg. I try to buy from them as much as possible but they can be a little pricey sometimes. Some of the best support in the biz I think. They've called me preemptively before about a possible shipping problem 2 days before i would have ever known about it. Damn good IMO.

Will be going with the Matrox or ATI for the vid I think. I've had bad luck with Nvidia cards in an Unix environment so far...especially older GF2 cards. I'm definitely upgrading from my 8MB PCI if possible though, since its definitely slower than slow can be

 

[Confused]

If you're gonna be doing primarily 2d sstuff, I'd go with the Matrox stuff.

Can't really beat them for 2d quality


Confused

 

[D1vine]

Well,

Thanks everyone for the advice.
I'm going to spend the night pouring over the stuff you recommended and find the deals for them.
Again, much appreciated!