Two new systems - one Vista and one Ubuntu

[martin1977]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to build two new systems, both 'quiet' non-gaming rigs, one running Vista as graphics workstation with Photoshop (and an expensive scanner not supported on Linux), the other a Ubuntu based development 'LAMP' webserver, also used as a desktop machine for internet browsing and general wordprocessing and spreadsheet applications.

I would like both systems to be identical for future maintainability but am not sure whether to go down the C2D route, where there are possibly some compatibility problems with Linux, or the AM2 route arguably more suitable for a Ubuntu rig (and all the previous systems I have built have been AMD based). Moderate overclocking only.

The WD Raptor is a personal preference for the operating system. These rigs may also include a second HDD or a mirrored RAID setup for storage.

So far the components I've been looking at are:

Antec Sonata III Piano Black Quiet Case - EarthWatts 500W PSU £75.19 inc VAT
Western Digital Raptor 36GB WD360ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache - OEM £70.49 inc VAT
OcUK GeForce 7300 GT SILENT 256MB DDR2 HDTV/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £35.24 inc VAT
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-5300C3 667MHz Dual Channel Kit £70.49 inc VAT
Noctua NH-U12F (Socket LGA775/754/939/940/AM2) Heatsink (maybe OTT) £38.76 inc VAT

Intel option:

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £76.36 inc VAT
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 "LGA775 Conroe" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - Retail £111.61 inc VAT

Total £478.14 inc VAT

AMD option:

Asrock ALiveSATA2-GLAN (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £43.46 inc VAT
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.60GHz (Socket AM2) - OEM £85.76 inc VAT

[Need to check the suitability of the memory for the AMD system?]

Total £419.39 inc VAT

My questions are:

1. Any views on the specification of the AMD system - every reply post I've found on these forums immediately proposed a C2D alternative?

2. Any experience of Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn on C2D?

3. Any comments on compatibility issues with Linux (I'm going to post a link here on the Linux forum)?

Thanks in anticipation.

Martin

 

[Will_3rd]

FYI drop the Raptor for a pair of WD AAKS drives, will get more space and better performance.

Also get the DS3P board, it is slightly better then the DS3

 

[martin1977]

I've decided to go for the 2/WD AAKS drives in RAID 0.

A quick follow up question - is it worth going for the Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Kit rather than the PC2-5300C3 667MHz - does this make overclocking easier?

I think I will stay with the GA_965P_DS3 rather than the DS3P - the additional features don't seem to be a benefit for my 'budget' systems?

Martin

 

[Will_3rd]

get the 667 stuff will run easily at 1000mhz+