Hi Jen, I also assembled my first desktop quite recently and I'm running Linux in it. My target specs were significantly higher than yours, but the cost of all the parts was around $650. If you want, I can give you the listing of want I built as a guide and you just remove or replace each part with something that fits your target goal. (Note that I'm living in the US; the prices and availability in your area may be different.)
Note that an alternative to assembling your own is to buy a barebone or small-factor PC from Newegg (under "Computer hardware"). These computers are usually sold without memory and disk, which is good because you can just add exactly what you want. The downside is that the CPUs are usually weaker or clocked down in order to fit into the small package and not run too hot. Another element to consider is that they might only support one output monitor. If you are assembling your own, you should decide which parts you will need and make sure that you have the appropriate connectors between them. Also, you should look at different places for the best prices on each part. I ended up buying parts some parts from MicroCenter and some from Newegg. In order to get the small form factor, you will most likely have to use a micro ATX or mini ITX motherboard. If you have a MicroCenter close to you, that's probably the best place to buy the motherboard and CPU. If you buy it as a bundle, you can get really good deals. I bought the AMD FX6300 with the ASRock Extreme and payed $170+tax for the bundle. (But, make sure to double-check all the prices at the register. In my case, the bundle discount was not applied automatically, for example.) You can get the same CPU with a micro ATX motherboard for $110+tax, and that's plenty of CPU... You will also need a case (make sure it supports the size of your motherboard), disk, memory, and maybe a graphics card (see below) and power supply. Note that if you buy a small factor case, some already have an integrated power supply, so check for that. The downside of the AMD/motherboard configuration I mentioned above is that you would have to add a graphics card. There are two solutions: you select a CPU with an integrated GPU, or add a graphics card. The "fusion" CPUs from AMD have integrated GPUs that are comparable to those of entry-level graphics cards but they are poorly supported in Linux, so you end up with basically the same thing as the integrated graphics on an Intel CPU. Alternatively, you can get basic graphics cards from Newegg for $30. For example, an Nvidia GeForce 210 costs $30 and has 3 outputs (note that the graphics card requires a power supply of at least 300W, which may be a problem with some of small cases). I'm suggesting Nvidia because it currently has much better driver support in Linux. Finally, note that although I pointed out AMD CPUs I'm not suggesting that they are better. I did so because, for the uses that you mentioned, they are cheaper and should provide more than enough compute power for several years. Hope this helps, Antonio On Sat, Oct 19, 2013 at 1:58 PM, Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum <bg271...@yahoo.com>wrote: > My current desktop has been having some issues lately and I think its time > to consider replacing it. Ive been having trouble finding exactly what I > want, even tho' this is straightforward, so i though I'd ask here to get > some advice, maybe even about building my own machine (which Ive never done > but am willing to learn). > > This is to run Wheezy for simple desktop use--web surfing, running home > music network, some videos, some coding, but no gaming, no video/sound > editing, no real storage needs. > > I DO want: > > Small or smallish form factor (currently using a slim tower), attractive > SSD (small capacity--everything impt is on a NAS elsewhere, i just want > the system to run fast) > Ability to have two monitors (currently using VGA and HDMI 'cause that's > the ports i have) > Optical drive > Lots of USB ports (3.0 not really necessary but wouldnt hurt I guess) > Gigabit Ethernet > Relatively quiet, energy efficient > 8 GB RAM (for future-proofing, don't normally need much) > > I DON"T want or don't care about: > > Massive speed and 16 cores (but want enough that I wont need to replace > in a year) > Fancy video card (built-in has always been fine, if I can watch movies > that's all i need) > Fancy sound card (I use USB into a DAC for serious things) > Massive mechanical HD > > When i look at computers from HP or Lenovo, it looks like it costs a > fortune to add a SSD (and i dont want to buy a separate one from Crucial > and then have the original one in a box on my shelf) and memory. The > cheaper machines seem to be worrisomely basic, like in a year they won't be > able to run YouTube, and the more expensive ones still need upgrades of SSD > and RAM. And in particular the smaller form factors tend to be pretty > spendy. > > But i have literally no idea how to assemble a machine from scratch, and > in trying to browse i dont even know how to find a smaller form factor--i > cant find an elegant slim case, just huge fancy gaming ones, or dull ugly > boxes of various sizes. > > All advice appreciated, thank you! > > Jen >
