Parts for a New Computer
A friend is giving me Fedora Core 3 Linux on CD, a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 chip with a processor fan, a GeForce4 AGP graphics card, many disk drives, another thing called a RAID controller that harnesses several drives together and increases access speed, and a device which will let me share my other computer's monitor, mouse and keyboard.
I already have several ancient computer cases, ethernet cards, case fans and CD/floppy drives that might be eligible for this build.
To make this a complete computer, I need to obtain a real Intel P4-compatible mainboard to connect all this to, a 400 watt dual power supply (the kind with one cord for just the processor and another for everything else), and an undetermined amount of RAM. Which type of memory chip depends on which mainboard I get. So, I expect it to be a long time before I can use my new Linux box.
This is why I am very grateful for eBay. Yesterday I used it to buy a car charger and 32 MB memory card -- both incredibly cheap-- for my brand-new Palm Tungsten E handheld. Any day now I expect to get Fitaly Stamp in the mail. My PalmOS device will once again become my most customized, reliable, and easy computing platform.
P.S. I love Ars Technica's Complete System Building Guide. With all the help out there, building one's own computer has the kind of learning curve with a great ratio of work to reward. The rewards are quick compared to other computer-related expertise. And there's not so much of a risk of frying an expensive component these days.
Comments
phecda on Jan. 5, 2005 10:39 PM
pricewatch.com is your friend. Plus there's a bin of stuff in the basement. But you'll still need to buy the motherboard.
matt-arnold on Jan. 6, 2005 4:50 PM
www.pricewatch.com led me to this page, which is $44 and they take PayPal! I think I'll buy it.
phecda on Jan. 6, 2005 6:11 PM
The motherboard looks OK. When you buy a case, remember the micro-ATX formfactor, and remember that you have a raid card and a bunch of hard disks to plop in there.
cosette-valjean on Jan. 6, 2005 2:47 PM — Yeah!!!!
Much happiness for you, cutie. I'm glad everything is working in your devious schemes (to rule the world of course).
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