By the way, if you never assembled a computer, you should take a look at Carey Holzman videos on youtube. For example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCohS0guaDE He's a little long winded for my taste, but he has videos that walk you through the whole process from start to finish. Those were the videos I used to guide me through my build.
Best, Antonio On Sun, Oct 20, 2013 at 8:00 AM, ken <geb...@mousecar.com> wrote: > Jen, > > First, congratulations on going about this the correct way, i.e., > delineating what you want to do with the machine before going shopping. > Most people buy a computer first, then try to do things with it that the > machine will do only poorly, if at all. > > Next, though I admire your enterprise in wanting to build your own > machine, I hope you aren't too wedded to the idea. I've gainfully worked > in the computer field since the late '80s, messed around with them pretty > seriously for many years before that, and started using Linux in 1992. I > decided to build my own machine once, and it was a nightmare. (I should > inject at this point that at the same time I was building my own PC, at > work I had a $1.8 million budget to put together an entire UNIX lab > consisting of over 50 pre-spec'd boxes, with four co-existing networks each > using entirely different technologies, different UNIX vendors, a SAN, and > several Windows boxes. Putting all that together was easier than building > my own PC at home.) I did get that PC together eventually and got > everything working and used it for a lot of years, but my sense of > satisfaction at the accomplishment was buried under the number of very > frustrating hours I spent getting the correct and functioning components > and getting all of them to work together properly. If you would like to > learn a lot of deeply technical details that you'll never need to know > again, if you don't mind spending lots of time on lots of technical > details, if you don't mind having a few parts left over which you'll never > use, if you don't mind spending time with vendors who insist that you prove > to them that the component they sold you is bad, then you might enjoy > building your own PC. > > I'd recommend instead as a general strategy to buy an already-built > computer... what just about everybody does. Take your specifications > (pretty much what you emailed to the list) to your local computer outlet > and have the salesperson actually write down which machines they sell which > satisfy those specs. Alternatively, you could email your specs to an > online salesperson and have them reply to your email with machines they > sell which satisfy the specs. > > If you can't find a ready-made machine that's what you want, then you'll > have to fill in the gaps by installing cards in slots. It should be, for > example, fairly easy to buy a card which gives you a couple more USB ports. > Note though that the card you buy has to match the slot. This might be > especially critical if you need to install a second video card. Don't > actually buy the machine until you're certain that all the cards you're > going to need to install will fit-- physically and technically-- into the > slots on the motherboard. This goes of course for the RAM too, though this > is hardly ever as problematic. > > Re: gigabit ethernet: Are all the other nodes on your local networks also > running this, including your router? If not, then it's a questionable > feature. > > > That's enough for now. > Good luck, > ken > > > > On 10/19/2013 02:58 PM Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum 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 >> > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to > debian-user-REQUEST@lists.**debian.org<debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org>with > a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact > listmas...@lists.debian.org > Archive: > http://lists.debian.org/**5263d3f1.7030...@mousecar.com<http://lists.debian.org/5263d3f1.7030...@mousecar.com> > >
