I got a new desktop computer the other day. Actually I got the parts to build my new desktop the other day. I ordered online from Canada Computers in Toronto. I bought the parts to build my mom's computer there a couple years ago and that worked out well so I trust them. They're kind of small compared to some online retailers so I wasn't sure how well they'd handle shipping the parts but I ordered Wednesday after midnight and things showed up on Tuesday so that was fine with me. They were out of the hard drive I originally asked for so they emailed me & I specified a better Seagate Barracuda drive. They gave it to me at the same price and got things underway. Here's what I ordered from Canada Computers and why.

• • AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU
  • Details: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core Socket AM2 Windsor 2.2GHZ, 2000FSB, 2X512KB Cache, 90NM process, 89W
  • $214.19
  • I've been using AMD ever since Intel tried that thing with Rambus years ago. Now I just have too many parts to switch. As far as the specific CPU choice, I like to get the latest big features - 64 bit instructions and a dual core CPU - but every feature has a price. So I look for the major features then go for the model with a price that's in the sweet spot. The "sweet spot" is the price point where you start seeing a big price increase for minor speed or benchmark improvements. I looked at prices at several places and the price of the 4400+ seemed to be significantly more than the 4200+, but the 4200+ was just a little (around $10) more than the next lower speed model. The same logic applies to hard drive sizes and RAM prices with price per gigabyte of memory. The only thing about this CPU that I would've liked better is if they'd had the 65 Watt version available for nearly the same price like Newegg does.
• • Socket AM2 Motherboard
  • Details: Asus M2NPV-VM Socket AM2 nVidia GeForce 6150 + nForce 430 Chipset Dual Channal DDR2, Integrated GeForce6 GPU, DVI-D & RGB Output, 4x SATA connectors, Gigabit Lan, HD Audio, Firewire, micro-ATX form factor
  • $107.09
  I knew I'd need a socket AM2 motherboard and I knew I'd want onboard graphics, sound, and LAN this time around. The M2NPV-VM also includes my other critical features: SATA2 (300GB/s with NCQ), and PCI Express x16 for future graphics improvement. I also wanted expansion slots for PCI cards to do video capture and plug in a couple phones (there's a Digium card people use with Asterisk). I don't have those cards today or know for sure what's eventually in store, but I like to have room. There are two PCI expansion slots on this motherboard, I'd have liked four PCI slots, but it seems that all the motherboards with four slots were lacking on-board graphics. I guess that's just because of my price range (if I were willing to spend more I could've bought a graphics card now). I picked the Asus M2NPV-VM because it also includes some other niceties: two 1394a Firewire ports, RAID support, HDTV video output, and even headers for 2 COM ports (if I ever connect them).
• SATA2 Hard Drive
• Details: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA with NCQ, 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache (ST3320620AS) (link is a PDF - sorry)
• It looks like 320GB is the best place for price per GB today when you're shopping online. This Seagate hard drive also supports the faster SATA 2 and native command queuing that I was looking for. According to the specs at Seagate, it's pretty quiet too. Some drives still include only 8MB for cache memory, so 16MB is a feature. The access times for this drive aren't listed at some of the sites I was shopping at, so I assumed the worst when I first looked at it. Checking Seagate's site showed that the drive access times are actually very good.
• • 2GB of DDR2-800 Dual Channel RAM
  • Details: OCZ (OCZ2G8002GK) DDR2-800, PC2-6400 Gold XTC 2GB (2x1024MB) Dual Channel Kit
  • $305.99
  • When it comes to RAM I'm normally downright stingy. I won't pay more for a name, for pretty gold wrappers or for camo spray paint. A chip is a chip. I also usually go for quantity at the cost of speed. I think the fact that my old computer seems to be bottlenecked somewhere between the CPU and hard drive made me decide to look for the fastest RAM that the motherboard will support. I noticed after receiving the parts that OCZ isn't in the Asus "Qualified Vendors List" but I call BS. OCZ is one of the few names I've heard as being consistently high quality. They were also the cheapest for my combination of requirements. I installed one 1GB RAM DIMM in each of the two black slots on the Asus M2NPV-VM and when it boots they're recognized at full capacity, full speed in a dual channel configuration. I haven't benchmarked but I see no issues. Hopefully when I come up to a point where 2GB of RAM doesn't cut it anymore (I guess just a few years from now) I'll be able to pick up a couple of 2GB sticks at the same speed. I'd have more issues doing that when the time comes if I'd chosen a slower speed.
• • Minimum 450W Power Supply
  • Details: Thermaltake TR2 470W Power Supply (W0090RU) ATX 12V 2.0, PCI-Express, SATA, Low Noise 12cm Fan
  • $76.49
  • I've learned the hard way not to skimp on the power supply. I tend to keep my computers for a long time and upgrade over time. Upgrades generally use more power. I had a 250W power supply in an old system with two ATA drives and two optical drives. I didn't realize the power supply was so small (it came with the case) and eventually I just started having stability issues, especially when burning CDs. My old desktop is also really loud, so I hoped the 120mm fan would reduce the noise.
• Keyboard and mouse
• Details: Logitech (967398) Premium Desktop - Corded PS2 Keybaord & Cordless Optical Mouse, Black, (OEM)
• $25.49
• One of the things that sucks about building a whole new computer and keeping your old one up is that you have to really have all the parts. I don't keep a lot of new keyboards and mice around that I'd actually want to use. Sure I have some that I use for testing on client's computers, but nobody actually uses them for any length of time. It's surprisingly hard to find a normal keyboard these days. I'm happy with this Logitech combo (I'm typing on it now) but I wouldn't call it perfect. Absolutely nothing I touched in Best Buy the other day felt decent, so I'm not going to complain much about this one. Oh, and thankfully it doesn't have a F-Lock button. Those things drive me insane.
I picked up the case locally at Orange PC Tuesday morning. It's their standard black case with a pile of drive bays and two case fans. The case fans are 80mm, don't believe anyone that tells you a cheap 80mm fan is quiet. I'm thinking of just unplugging the case fans for a while. The case suits my needs, I'm not in to case-modding or blinking lights. Then the parts showed up around 2:30 so spent the afternoon building. I love putting stuff together. I'm just a constructive person. This is also one of the higher end systems I've built for myself so I'm pretty geeked about loading up some stuff and putting it through the paces. By the end of the night I had OpenSUSE 10.1 installed and running on it. I partitioned the drive to allow room for two more concurrent OS installs. One I'm thinking of is an Ubuntu (or Kubuntu) install and the other will be my next OS upgrade or beta test (after all OpenSUSE 10.2 is planned for next month). I've been doing some playing around on it so far, but nothing major. I'll make some notes as I go on installing my software and dealing with my network of two Linux desktops and a Windows XP laptop.
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