On Fri, May 18, 2007 at 09:51:46PM -0700, Alexandru Cardaniuc wrote: > So I decided to get a desktop. I need some advices. > > I use computer primarily for reading/writing emails, browsing internet, > occasional openoffice.org use, watching movies on dvds or any mpeg > movies. Most other times I spend sitting in emacs writing some code. I > don't play computer games or use any 3D graphics applications. > So I figured, I don't need a very fast and expensive graphics card, a > lot of memory, the latest CPU or biggest HDD. This Desktop Computer is > going to be used primarily for writing and compiling my code. > > So, my first question is: does it make sense to build my own Debian box, > or for my purposes it's not necessary? From what I checked on the > internet today some manufacturers offer prebuild computers for less > price than I think I will be able to build it using the same parts. Any > comments would be appreciated.
Hello Alexandru, I went through this six months or so ago. I looked at the cheap pre-build boxes and found that they were cheap for a reason, so I built my own. Get a good case with good cooling, a good PSU, a single good drive (I got a Seagate 80 GB SATA as the smallest I could find), and a $40 graphics card. Get an Asus board, any CPU, one stick of ram, and you're done. I only make a computer every 10 years or so. I went a little bleeding-edge at the time, and got a huge CM-Stacker case with all the extra fans, 600W PSU, two drives for raid1 and Athlon64 CPU. Cost $1K Cdn at the regular local business store. Would have been a lot cheaper over the internet. For what you need, any new CPU will work, 512 MB is fine and 1 GB is overkill (unless X starts hogging memory). The other thing to consider is a used computer. Just as an expensive example, IBM certified-used NetVista P4s go for around $400. I could do everthing except watch a movie and install Etch on my 486. I could do everything on my PII execpt that both were short on memory. If you get anything but a new computer that uses DDR2 ram, load it up with ram before it gets hard to find. Good luck, Doug. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
