Long overdue for a new computer.

S

Signal

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Messages
295
First let me start off by saying I'm looking to build a new computer that is Linux friendly. The only thing that keeps me from running Linux on my current desktop is the ATI video card I have in it refusing to let me use my dual monitors. From what I understand, that's pretty much the general situation with ATI cards and linux.

Usage will be web browsing, image editing, word processing, and computations in Octave, Scilab, and -- depending on compatibility and/or me renewing my student license -- Matlab. The heavy number crunching is the main reason why it's time to upgrade from my Pentium 4 3ghz with 4gb ram (it's been a while :(). My research at school involves me manipulating decent sized data sets (3E6 x 25 and larger) and doing quite a bit of plotting with that data. I'd also like the option of doing some video editing in the future.

I don't do any gaming on PC, but I do watch movies while I'm working on one monitor from time to time. Which leads me to a big point - dual monitors are a necessity. So I need a video card that's going play nice with linux and let me run a pair of 23" monitors.

My budget for this is around $500-$600. That's for the power supply, motherboard, cpu, ram, video card, dvd burner, hard drive (500gb or more), and a case if it fits in the budget. I don't know if that's reasonable or not, hopefully it is.

I'll be buying this next month. I plan on ordering the parts online and the budget is for the parts, if shipping goes over a bit, that's ok.
 
do you deal in pre-defined applications for a field un-related to actual computer software development (like computational fluid dynamics or biology) or are you competent at custom code/dealing in hand-crafted code?

if the later, grab a graphics adapter which runs CUDA and watch it tear your numbers apart

otherwise, basically any DC/QC package you put together will be fine, you probably will be re-using your case and a number of other components (you'll need a new PSU for sure)

and you'll want nVidia graphics if you want a discrete card under *nix, otherwise Intel onboard should be alright (but I much prefer nVidia's drivers....)
 
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive $55

SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C - OEM $27

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL - Retail $94

XFX GT220XZNF2 GeForce GT 220 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail $70

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail and Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W Continuous Power ATX12V / EPS12V 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail $85

Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 - Retail $200

GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 LGA 1156 Intel P55 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $105

Total before S/H $636

while over budget but this will give you the best performance for the money.
 
you can get a GT 240 or 9800GT for $80 AR, or a GT 220 for $60 AR or a GTS 250 for $100 AR

if you dropped the fancy pants "gamer" memory in favor of something a bit cheaper, like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148262
or this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227346

you'd have enough money leftover to grab at least the 9800GT, if not the GTS 250
which is a fairly considerable savings

also, if you can re-use your existing case, you can save a decent bit of scratch as well, and just grab a decent PSU for ~$50
 
obobski said:
do you deal in pre-defined applications for a field un-related to actual computer software development (like computational fluid dynamics or biology) or are you competent at custom code/dealing in hand-crafted code?
Click to expand...

I work in predefined applications. Matlab and Octave mostly. I've heard Scilab is better in some ways and I've been testing it out, getting used to the differences. I process a lot of data from acoustic doppler velocimetry sensors and conductivity temperature depth sensors.

I noticed everyone recommended Intel, is that the way to go? I've always built Intel systems but I have a few friends who have told me for years AMD is the best bang for your buck. I'm just curious.
 
AMD's for gaming may very well be the best bang for the buck (motherboard + cpu cost), but if you are not primarily gaming, they are significantly slower in many other intensive tasks and may actually be worse bang for the buck.
 
For $750 systems and under, AMD has better bang for buck. At the $800 pricepoint, a Core i5/i7 is attainable, and therefore better bang for buck, since it outperforms any of AMD's offerings in all tasks that are CPU intensive (gaming is GPU limited). Phenom2 performs on par with Core2. It took AMD 3yrs to catch up to Core2, and they have nothing to compete with Core i7... its been a year since i7 was released.
 
lt_shiro said:
Ripjaws have proven for their low voltage, performance, stability and overclockability.

CUDA support for type of apps, he uses is none. So it would be a waste to spend more money in the video card.

Intel Xeon X3440 Lynnfield 2.53GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Server Processor - Retail $240

might be worth the extra cash to him also for the HT support.
Click to expand...

so that means all other RAM is somehow not going to work? I'm not saying the G.Skill is bad RAM, I'm questioning the point of the price

and yes, lets yell at me for suggesting a better videocard for the same money or *SLIGHTLY* more, because we all know you gotta be the big man on campus, and bang for the buck somehow stops mattering

seriously, just because it wasn't your suggestion doesn't make it wrong

also x2 to what MJZ/enginurd said
 
lt_shiro said:
you are taking what I say far too personal.
Click to expand...

what you're saying is basically that your way is the only way
seriously, for $10-$20 more he can have considerably more compute power, even if he's not using it for his coding applications, he can use it for other things (like HD video playback, gaming, god knows what else, is more processing power ever a bad thing?)

and I wasn't trying to insist that he *must* make the extra purchase, simply to provide some other options to the "this is the best performance for your money, period." post (really, if you're already over budget, whats $10-$20 more, especially if you can make that cash up elsewhere? (which I provided suggestions for: cheaper RAM (I've yet to see any reason against this, other than "I said get the G.Skill, so get the G.Skill") and re-use the existing case)
 
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