Linux PC for 500$ ?

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Thu, Oct 28, 2004 at 02:33:04PM -0700, Lloyd D Budd wrote:
> What would you buy and from whom if you had 500$ for a
> Linux PC ? -- and already had some components , see below .
> 
> I want to buy a new (to me) desktop Linux PC.  Probably, the
> biggest issues for me buying a PC is cost , and
> getting a completely Linux friendly system
> ( , supporting Linux friendly companies) .  When I did have
> money ;-) , my last two computers have been Macs , and
> a factor was it not being MS and that they have integrated
> hardware .
> 
> I would like to spend less than 500$ (no monitor), and I am not
> particularly interested in spending as close to that amount .
> Like everyone I am looking for the best value .  If best value
> is 400$ or some other amount then that is excellent .
> 
> My use will be desktop computing and hopefully some
> development .  Other considerations :
> *  I have a Hauppauge! PVR-250 card looking for a home .
> * Video card likely is not as important as for now I will access
> from my iMac using X Window / VNC .
> * I have quite a bit of 100 and 133 RAM , can that be used for now ?

Not on anything new that's for sure.  Only DDR333 and DDR400 is really
of use on modern mainboards.  Also much cheaper to buy (and hence
expand)

> * I have quite a few large IDE hard drives

Do you have a video card?  cdrom?  dvd?  Do you need any of those for
the machine?  How about an ATX case with a 300W or so power supply?

If I was building a new machine I would probably go for something like
this:

For a tried and true known to work but very much becoming obsolete fast:
Mainboard: Asus A7N8X-E-DX (has everything onboard except video just
     about) $114
CPU: Any 333MHz FSB AMD Athlon or Semptron Socket A such as XP 2700+ at
     2.2GHz for $155 or Semptron 3000+ (2.0 or 2.2GHz (not sure)) for $167.
Memory: 2 * 256M ($51 each)
Vide: MSI FX5500 $130 or similar (5200/5500/5700 are decent cheap video
     cards).  DVI + VGA + S-video outputs for multi monitor and/or tv
     support.
Total for Socket-A: $501 (plus a case and floppy/cdrom and such).  A
     cheaper video card can be found for around $85 or so if single
     monitor is enough for a FX5200 card.

For something with future potential for upgrades although never top of
the line:
Mainboard: Asus K8V-X $106 (or add another sata/ide controller with
     K8V for $127 or also firewire with K8V-SE-DX for $151)
CPU: Semptron 3100+ 1.8Ghz Socket 754 (can later be replaced by Athlon64
     socket 754 CPU) $169
Memory: 512M DDR400 ($102)
Video: Same as above
	Total for Socket 754: $507 (plus same as above).

Case if you don't have one can probably be had for around $40-60 for
something with a decent 300 to 350W power supply.  Mouse and keyboard is
about $10 each for logitech or similar quality.  With a slightly cheaper
FX5200 video card you could get the case and such and still have the
total (before taxes) come into around $500.

Well that's my suggestions for budget upgrades.  I think I would
personally go for the socket 754 which has new CPUs coming out over the
next few years rather than Socket A which is end of line essentially.  I
know every part of rh A7N8X-E-DX works with linux (except the dolby
digital encoder DSP).  From what I have read everything on the K8V
chipset works fine too.

Lennart Sorensen
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