New PC build

[charvelguy]

AMD vs Intel. I've been using AM2's for the past few months and I've been pretty happy with their stock performance and OC ability vs cost but I'm not gaming much-just running music software. So far they have been running cool and stable with mild OC's. I did some research and am going to do a cheap build going with an E2180 (allendale 2.0) with an Asus or Gigabyte board (intel P35) vs a AM2 Brisbane 3600+ 1.9 build which given the difference in L2 should be interesting to see where these OC and how they perform. Overall though, it looks as tho Intel has been given an edge.

[Soap]

ECS makes a inexpensive board that supports the Phenom and Vista (right now at Newegg for about 77.00 and it also has a 10.00 mail in rebate)
I've been considering on going for it if I don't overclock.
Those are good components, the DFI boards are well touted and the lanparty are popular. The OCZ PS is covered for years.

I'd go for it bud....and if you need any help post or PM me, I'll gladly share and help as much as I can.

Mobo's:
Contrary what you will hear ECS makes decent affordable boards.
To have a board thats Vista ready out of the box is good thinking and ECS will serve you well. They aren't known for OC but are known for stability, which is very important.
I've used Abit, Gigabyte, DFI, Soltek and a couple other brands over the years and ALL served me well regardless of my needs. So the mud slinging of brand name wars with me anywhere is pointless. Every mobo I've used has been a good experience.

PSU's (power supply units):
OCZ PSU's and Memory are top notch and more importantly the warranty is stellar, life time.
I have had good experiences with Antec's PSU's too.

Memory:
I have used Crucial, Corsair and OCZ memory, all are good memory and never gave me any problems. I'm a DFI user and have learned from personal experience OCZ memory works really well with DFI boards. With that said, any of those brands(Crucial, OCZ, Corsair) will do you fine.

Video Cards:
I've used MSI, Ecs, Abit, BFG, Evga........
I prefer only three brands for video cards, MSI, BFG and XFX, and out of those three
MSI is top dog, but thats just me based on my expereince.

CPU's:
I'm not a hater of either intel or amd.
I prefer amd because I know these processors really well and they are alittle more affordable.
When you appeal to my wallet you automatically get my attention.

[charvelguy]

the reason why I came on today was to research any posts about Linux actually. I'm doing a dual boot build and am trying to decide as to which flavor linux is going to end up opposite windows. I'm not running a server app though, just a day to day OS with some power user stuff. I've been looking at Debian, Ubuntu and Mandriva as options with Grub as the booter.

[Soap]

Gonna chart the open source waters.
Well, good for you and you'll be glad you did.

I'm not an authority on linux by no means, but I have ran several flavors of it periodically over the years.
Mandrake, Redhat, and Suse all perfomed fine and worked out well.
I personally prefer Redhat or Suse but thats me.
I don't mind buying a redhat or Suse flavor as some do, its one sure way to support the open source community. With that said, the flavors you mentioned a couple I have heard of and the others I haven't.

Hardware:
Regardless of which flavor of linux you choose just make sure the one you choose has good hardware support and compatibility. Meaning, it supports all your hardware....video card, audio, scanner, printer, mobo chipsets. It may not be that big of an issue today, but some 6-8 yrs ago it was. Then, Suse had the better hardware support and compatibility, Redhat running real close. I'm sure this concern has improved today and may not be a concern. If thats the case, that will only make the transition smoother and easier.

Learner curve:
Its not as bad or as tough as some claim.
Desktop environments, like windows, are very identical in the sense everything you can do with a windows OS, aside from gaming, one can do the same things, have the same functionality with linux.
The learning curve is very minimal if really any at all.

[charvelguy]

Thats helpful, thanks. I've noticed some Linux packages will not have all the support for drivers unless you buy into it and others like Fedora are all free as it is written as such.
I've eresearched some Red Hat stuff in the past and thought about going that way for a server app to when I eventually go to start out in that area.

[Spivonious]

Intel currently owns the performance crown at all price levels. I'm not biased towards one company or another, but that's the truth. The E2000 series Allendales are the way to go for a budget proc. ECS makes perfectly good boards, albeit very simple boards. Even if you're not in overclocking now, you may want to get a board with those features because in a few years when your hardware starts to get a bit slow with the current software you can add a little boost.

Phenom is a bust (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...oc.aspx?i=3153)Unless you are a diehard AMD supporter, go with Intel.

[charvelguy]

If anyone has any liquid coolers running on their systems, please post what you use and your experiences with it.

I chose to try the Ubuntu 7.1 GG version of Linux..so far so good. Best part about it is that its free! I need to have a swappable drive loaded with an OS to test builds with as I can't keep asking Microsoft for a new key when it detects I change hardware.

As far as AMD vs Intel, .. apples and oranges, republican-democrat. I'm not partial to either party as each has its niche..whatever is the best performance for the buck and that has so many variables based upon hardware. I did get the Allendale 2.0 but I have not decided on a board...tho I have a 775 test build I could throw it in to try it out. It certainly has to be overclockable. The MCS has good features for the $ and the AMD version is looking more like the one I would choose based upon features than the similarly priced 775 vers.

I decided to do a build with an Asus M2M-SLI version, (Lifestyle series..not a cheap board-by far the most expensive for me to date) and the AMD black edition 2.6 brisbane..which is said to have unclocked multipliers but it seems to cap around 3.2. I'm also thinking on a Gigabyte or MSI board. I think Gigabyte really has some good boards with alot of advanced features for a decent price, especially for AMD builds. The MSI P6N and P9 series look good for the Intels.
Abit too is somewhat gathering an interest from me as well..reviews seem to be the same as Gigabyte (as far as a aftermarket company) but the price is typically higher..in Asus range..kinda a toss up on the 775 board right now.

The Phenom just isn't looking as attractive for a quad as it should for the price and it seems buggy but then again, some of the intel quads are IMO, too expensively priced to just 'try' or experience a quad.
I not trying to incite a debate as this has been hashed about on many forums.
AMD has released some competitive (price and performance) processors, and will likely continue to do so of that I have no doubt.

[charvelguy]

double

[Soap]

I need to have a swappable drive loaded with an OS to test builds with as I can't keep asking Microsoft for a new key when it detects I change hardware.

There a couple ways to do this and I will share with you what I do.
I do it two different ways, which both will do exactly what your inquiring perfectly.

1. A mobile rack....very simple and effective.
There are a number of brands, I chose Vantec's mobile rack and its never let me down.
Link provided below.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...53&name=Vantec
I have the black SATA version and have no problems.
Yes, there is a IDE version of it as well.

Buy an extra rack to be able to switch back on forth on the fly.
Turn PC off pull the rack out and load up another rack that has a HD in it ready to go.
Bam, effectively and simply changing HD's back and forth without the fussy microsoft concern you spoke of.
Have one HD with a microsoft OS on it and use another HD for whatever other OS you decide to play with.
Whenever you decide to go back to the microsoft OS pull the one rack out and put the microsoft back in.
Very simple and very effective.

2. A virtual desktop........"Vmware."
I love it and use it regularly in the IT field and it makes part of my job a whole lot easier.
What is it? Its a desktop inside a desktop. Meaning install vmware and once vmware is installed, open vmware up.
One can load/install inside of vmware multiple OS's accessible from the desktop at the click of a mouse button.
NO dual booting or the frequent switching back and forth of HD mobile racks.
I have 98, 2000 pro, opensuse and vista ultimate all installed inside of vmware accessible at a click or two.
XP pro is the host/main OS.
As already stated, I can't begin to tell you just how much simpler and easier it has made my job at times.
PM me if you are interested locating a copy of vmware as well as asking questions how to use the software itself.

Cough, cough............"torrent." Cough, cough......"vmware 6." Cough, cough.........."key generator."

[Spivonious]

There a couple ways to do this and I will share with you what I do.
I do it two different ways, which both will do exactly what your inquiring perfectly.

1. A mobile rack....very simple and effective.
There are a number of brands, I chose Vantec's mobile rack and its never let me down.
Link provided below.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...53&name=Vantec
I have the black SATA version and have no problems.
Yes, there is a IDE version of it as well.
Buy an extra rack to be able to switch back on forth on the fly.
Turn PC off pull the rack out and load up another rack that has a HD in it ready to go.
Bam, effectively and simply changing HD's back and forth without the fussy microsoft concern you spoke of.
Have one HD with a microsoft OS on it and use another HD for whatever other OS you decide to play with.
Whenever you decide to go back to the microsoft OS pull the one rack out and put the microsoft back in.
Very simple and very effective.

2. A virtual desktop........"Vmware."
I love it and use it as regular in the IT field and it makes part of my job a whole lot easier.
What is it? Its a desktop inside a desktop. Meaning install vmware and one load and have multiple OS's accessible from their desktop at the click of a mouse button. NO dual booting or the frequent switching back and forth of HD mobile racks. PM me if you are interested locating a copy of vmware as well as asking questions to use the software itself.
Cough, cough............"torrent." Cough, cough......"vmware 6." Cough, cough.........."key generator."

Or just use VirtualPC 2007...it's free direct from Microsoft.

[charvelguy]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments btw.. I'm checking all of these out as I do wish to have a flexible boot from system to system as well as a multi boot option to switch between various combinations of partitioned OS's on one drive.