Hardware Noob

Forum: Hardware Talk
Topic: Hardware Noob
started by: Jared

Posted by Jared on Dec. 25 2005,23:45

I am thinking of building my own computer soon and I am wonder what parts do I need?

I know I need a
Mother board
Hard Drive
CPU
Case
CD drive.

Anything Else?

Posted by mikshaw on Dec. 26 2005,00:02

Lots of RAM (make sure memory and cpu are compatible with your board)
Video card (nvidia tnt/geforce is well supported in linux)
Heatsink and fan for CPU (might be included with the cpu)
Power suppy (i'd say 300w or more is best)
Sound card and speakers or headphones if you want to use sound
Monitor, keyboard, and mouse =o)
Network card/modem

You might consider checking out some motherboard/CPU combos to make shopping a little easier. The prices are not much different than buying separately, and you can be assured that you're getting compatable hardware.

Also, it's a good idea to do a little research to make sure that the hardware you are getting is known to work without trouble in Linux.

Posted by newOldUser on Dec. 26 2005,14:05

I think a lot depends on how you are going to use it.

Is this going to be a game machine or is just something to surf the net and do some word processing?

The hardware rule of "More is Better" is true but it's not always needed. I've been very productive with some low end equipment. If this is the first machine you've built then hacking it together with some cheap, used, closet components might be a better way to go till you gain experience.

Just my two cents....
Good luck

Posted by Jared on Dec. 26 2005,17:25

Thanks everybody.

Posted by doobit on Dec. 26 2005,19:55

If you build a mini-itx system and use DSL as your OS, then you don't need a hard drive or a CDROM drive. All you need is a USB pen drive, the mini-ITX motherboard, about 256MB of RAM, and a case with powersuppy and start and reset buttons.

Posted by Jared on Dec. 29 2005,21:09

I have another question if you could help.

Would there be a problem with using a laptop Hard Drive (Toshiba 60GB SuperSlim MK6026GAX Hard Drive) inside of a desktop computer? And if I do use this HD is there any special powersupply/proccesser/ect I would need

Thanks in advance. If your wondering I am trying to fit it inside of a VCR case, which is quite abit smaller than the tower my feet are resting on, so need to stay small (Mini ITX).

Posted by doobit on Jan. 09 2006,14:58

You may need an adapter for the IDE cable, and power, but you can make it work.

Posted by Breadman on Jan. 12 2006,22:17

You generally can use notebook components in a desktop system.

e.g. Using a intel centrino cpu is on the one hand quite expensive but on the other hand it does not produce so much heat as a pentium IV (more quiet), does have a similar performance, does not need a big power supply (120 watt for a system are enough, compared to more than 300 of a P4)....it's the same with the hard drives: smaller, quieter, need less power.

@Jared: that is quite important for your small machine: you do not have enough space for a proper cooling system. so spend a lot money for heatpipes, fans...etc or stay small with the cpu frequencies (much more smaller than 3 GHz).

If you want to have a cheap system:
- AMD Duron 1800 Mhz (or AMD 2800pro System as it may be called) in a bundle with a mainboard (also itx) for $50 (ATX) $90 (ITX) on e-Bay.
- 256 MB DDR266 RAM (If you use some kind of Windows as well: min. 512 MB, if possible: 2x256 MB). they cost app. $100 for 512 MB
- Case with power supply

- optional : cd /dvd -drive, floppy, hard-disk....

I installed such a system half a year ago it cost about $300 with a 250GB hard-disk (normal desktop hdd) and a nVidia FX5600 graphics adapter and a multi-format dvd-drive.

Breadman.

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