This summer I will be upgrading most my computer (all the computing parts), and I am trying to make certaing that I don't buy the cheapo versions of anything (especially graphics) or buy something that will take tears and blood to get working under Linux. Here's what I plan on getting:

EPoX EP-8NPA SLI AMD64 Socket 754

AMD Athlon 64 3200+

eVGA Geforce 7600GT 256MB PCI-e

Patriot 2x512MB RAM Signature Series

And here's my current system for comparison:

EPoX EP-8RDA Pro
Athlon 2800+ Barton
Kingston 512MB RAM
Albatron 5700ep <- which garbles when it's cold and freezes the display randomly, ugh

Any thoughts?

Nice choice in video card It's not top of the range so you save a lot of dollars but it'll still blow you away with performance.

I would up the CPU though, not 100% sure when the Conroe core Intels are due out (if they aren't already) but I'd love one of those! The dual-core AMDs are nice, I'm very happy with mine but then there is the AM2 processors that have the instruction set for Xen so in theory you can run Windows and linux side by side, at the same time, both at full speed. I'm assuming the new Intel series would be able to do the same thing but I'm not sure about that.

I have a Nforce4 motherboard and everything works great in linux. The ethernet isn't supported under BSD yet but if you're sticking with linux that's not a problem.

Up the processor? Don't want to go with Intel and don't want to go with 939 Athlons because they are way too expensive (EDIT: for a dual core, single core 939 - why bother).

The most expensive 754 at newegg is a 3400+ Newcastle at $145,so maybe I will chose that one. That brings the price to 500.20 which is at the top of what I want to spend.

Thanks

You didn't mention you had a budget. In that case I recently built a system with a Pentium D 820 and I think it's great. The whole thing came in at around AU$430 so in US$ it would be cheaper. I used it in a box running Windows Media Center with a Hauppauge PVR-500 (dual-tuner) and a FusionHDTV (single tuner) and I don't think I ever saw the video skip, fantastic CPU. Plus if you buy a suitable motherboard and shell out for a top cooler you can try and replicate this

Got a valid reason for that? I have 2 AMD machines and 2 Intel machines here and I don't see a difference between brands. I just took a massive case fan out of my dual-core AMD machine and the average CPU temp jumped like 10C so the stock coolers obviously aren't that great whereas the heatsink that came with the Pentium D was pretty impressive and it idles at 30-35C where my AMD (minus the case fan) is at 39C.

if you try, you can find stuff a lot more high-end then that! Yet somehow, it's all just cheap junk that blows up no matter how much you pay! I upgraded way back in 2004...

Supermicro dual 64bit xeon board, dead in under 2 weeks!
3ware escalade 8500 raid card, dead in months!
Intel xeon cpu fans, dead in under a year!
Asus PCI-Express video card, died last january!
Western Digital stata drive, died a couple of months ago!

Luckily I've been getting good warranty replacements but sometimes it takes longer then they say. System was down a month waiting for a new video card but when I finnaly got it, I was thrilled! The Asus card was an ATI x600 and they back an nvidia GT7800 with double the memory and when I looked up the preformance charts on tomshardware site, they could not even be compared! It's so much faster!

So sometimes you get lucky on dead parts!

I don't want Intel because from what I've seen and heard Intel doesn't give you as much for the same amount of money. And Athlon 64s are supposed to be better for gaming.

The 754 boards are fine but there is very little upgrade from there except that AMD might continue to produce lower end chips for those boards.

Thanks everyone. I am glad I have so much time to figure this out (Summer job starts monday). Brianthegreat brings up a good point and after looking more I think I will go with:

EPoX EP-9NPAJ SLI

and

Athlon 64 3500+ 939

This new board has all the same features as the first except the soundcard is better and it supports the 64 FX series up to 60 which will give me more headroom.

Thanks

EDIT: That video card has just gone out of stock so I think I'll go with a slightly faster version of the same card: eVGA Geforce 7600GT "Superclocked"

I do believe that you will be better off going with the 939 board and it looks like a good board. I usually build with MSI but that is my preference. AMD will start pushing out more Sempron chips for the 939 boards which will allow for cheap upgrades. The Sempron chips are not bad considering cheap upgrades in the future. Plus, since AMd has supported the 939 board for an extended period of time. The will be a decent supply of chips in the future like the socket "A" boards. (Hell, I'm still using a socket "A" board and have been quite happy with it.)

The price of video card these days is a joke and really always has been. Hell that card is worht more than your processor and will lose half of its value in about probably six months but that is the video card world.

It's too late for me to say this, and has a total of about $580, but this is what I'd go with.

ABIT AW8 Motherboard $84.99

Intel Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz) 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core EM64T Processor $170.99


OCZ 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory $114.99

eVGA Geforce 7600GT 256-P2-N555-AX Video Card $209.00

I looked at all of ATI's cards, but were no where close to this card, c'mon ATI!

that's a good setup, but there's no need to get the 3500. get a 3000 and just overclock it. if you have decent ram a 3000 will clock as well as a 3500 would...

I'm not overclocking anything on my system. Call me a wuss, but I'd rather spend more to save burning out my system. I'll try overclocking when I have a career and disposeable income

I'm with you there considering the issue of over clocking. The procs are desinged to run at a certain speed and its best to not fool with your clock speed. Burning out a proc and what ever else is not worth the cash.

Berto,
You should consider waiting on purchasing any of your components for at least a month. Intel is promising 60% price cuts on some of their processors on June 26th area in combination with their new Conroe's. AMD is also planning on staying competitive with Intel's price cuts through also reducing the prices on their chips as well. By waiting a month or two you should be able to have a much better system for about the same price.

Wait a month? I'd probably go crazy, but 60% is nothing to sniff at. Maybe I will. Or maybe my video card will drive me crazy before then.