[GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC;

[Steve Petrie, P.Eng.]

Thanks to GTALUG Members,

for the last series of emails I fetched on this thread.

Many useful ideas and much interesting info. Copious snippets have been carefully collected into a text file.

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I have reviewed the quotation I received from NCIX, and can report:

1. Contrary to my earlier assertion, NCIX in fact has included an item for:
   Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition 64Bit DVD SP1 OEM
   Price C$187.99 [Reg. C$214.98]

2. And the the (now corrected) NCIX total price for hardware components alone, seems reasonable:
   NCIX: $1593.13   PCPartPicker: $1517.98
   Caution: NCIX has made some hardware substitutions, so the total prices are only generically comparable.

I compared the sum of component prices, NCIX versus PCPartPicker, and NCIX is acceptably close to PCPartPicker.

Here is a summary of the component price comparison (all prices $C):
  -----------------   NCIX*   PC PartPicker**
  ----------------- --------  -------------
  CPU                $269.99    $249.25
  CPU Cooler          $92.98     $79.95
  Motherboard        $289.99    $228.98
  Memory              $44.99     $75.98
  -----------------            
  Case               $144.99    $129.99
  Power Supply       $214.98    $159.99
  -----------------            
  Solid State Drive  $135.70    $156.99
  Hard Drive          $67.99     $81.95
  Optical Drive       $92.98     $86.98
  -----------------            
  Video Monitor      $167.98    $167.92
  Keyboard            $15.98     $40.00
  Mouse              (incl.)     $10.00
  -----------------            
  Dialup Modem        $54.58     $50.00
  -----------------            
  -----------------            
                               
  TOTAL1:           $1593.13   $1517.98
  -----------------
  -----------------

  MS Windows 7       $187.99
  Assemble & Test     $49.98
  Environ. Fees       $16.65
  -----------------
  -----------------         
                               
  TOTAL2:           $1897.73
  -----------------
  -----------------
Not an inexpensive PC. And not a souped-up gamer's PC. But one that I believe will run plenty fast and stay cool under 24/7 duty. With lots of expansion capacity for additional hardware, that will not stress the power supply or the cooling apparatus.

My plan now is to revise the Linux PC specification, taking into account the avalanche of advice I have received from GTALUG members. (e.g. increase RAM to 16 GB from 8, drop the dial-up modem and source later, change HDD to Western Digital Black, etc.) 

Then I will ask NCIX for a revised quotation, confirm with NCIX a number of picky details (e.g. is the WIndows 7 DVD SP1 OEM at the latest SP level?, etc.) and get NCIX agreement on technical details of HDD partitioning (GPT) and boot setup (multi-boot, with Windows 7 installed; ready for a Linux (debian 8) drop-in installation.

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I'm probably not going to be able respond to many more individual posts to this thread, but I will read any that follow with interest.

Will report back, upon conclusion of my negotiations with NCIX. The self-build option for the new Linux PC remains open, should NCIX be unable to satisfy the requirements.

Many thanks again to GTALUG !!

Best Regards,

Steve

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Steve Petrie, P.Eng.

ITS-ETO Consortium
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
(905) 847-3253
apetrie at aspetrie.net
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