Building a computer..
 

Just need some suggestions on computer parts for a build I want to do in a couple months. I don't do any gaming but do want decent graphics for some photo and video editing. I run Slackware Linux so i would need parts compatible with the OS. I am looking at the Intel I5 and maybe a Gigabyte motherboard. not sure which model. also what video card and power supply? liquid cooled or regular air?

thanks guys for all responses. I will be checking on the thread later tonight.:D

An Nvidia card will likely give you less issues than an Ati card. I like Ati, but Nvidia just has better binary drivers. The open source Ati driver is improving really well though. I like where that's going, but if you don't want to have to tinker with drivers now and then, an Nvidia card is a better option.

I prefer air cooling, but I kinda like the hum of a pc fan I guess. :)

If you need wireless, grab one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833704045

They're really fast,cheap, and work well with linux. Plus, I have always found it handy to have a usb wireless device around so as to be able to perform wireless installs of linux on different machines.

Can't see any reason for considering liquid cooling, unless you intend to overclock or try to stuff lots of high dissipation stuff into a small case. For me, quiet would be something that would have some value, so I would be including a quiet, third party, processor fan. Also, ensure that the power supply is a decent quality item - the very cheap ones don't even meet their claimed specifications and are noisy.

I'm taking for granted that if you had unusual requirements, you would have told us...

i5s are nice, but are you going to get the value that you would get from a cheaper processor? Your call.

I'm not sure that you need anything particularly special in the way of a graphics card, provided that you aren't going to run 3d games. For this use, you should concentrate more on quality than speed.

No special graphics card needed for that. The integrated graphics of the Intel CPUs are more than sufficient for something like that.

Good choice, the i5 is a fast CPU and Gigabyte is a brand with good quality boards. You may also want to consider ASUS, they offer the same quality. Which board you want to choose depends on some factors:
- Your budget.
- The functions you need.
- How many add-on cards of which specification (PCI, PCIe) you want to use.

The functions and the number and type of add-on cards are somewhat interchangeable. If you want to use Firewire than you can choose to either buy a board with Firewire onboard or buy a board without it and an add-on card.

For the video-card: I would choose the inbuilt chip of Intel, if I don't want to play games on that machine.
For the power supply: The PSU is a critical part of your machine. Do it right and don't go for a cheap overpowered PSU, buy a good one from a brand with a known good quality. A 400-450W modell of a good brand should be sufficient if you don't use a big "gamer" videocard. A much bigger power supply from an unknown brand may be cheaper, but you will regret that decision, if you buy it.

No need for liquid cooling if you don't want to overclock your system. I would go for a silent cooling system, may be something like the Scythe Katana 3 or something similar, together with a silent PSU and a 120mm case fan.

For photo and video editing get more RAM. The video card doesn't matter for this, only for playing HD videos (usually 1080p causes problems).

Wow, thanks everyone for their quick responses. I appreciate it.

Ok then, so I will go with air cooled since I don't do heavy gaming or overclocking. But I do want to be able to watch 1080p HD movies without the display being jittery or whatever. I dont really care about 3D. Also, I forgot to mention, that I do want to have dual 23" led HD monitors to extend my desktop. Does this change anything in regards to needing a video card or not?

IonSilverbot, thanks, yeah thats the same thing that a friend told me. He also recommended Nvidia over ATI

Salasi, I was led to believe that the I5 was a really good processor. What would you recommend then? an I7? Also, when you said, "should concentrate more on quality than speed.",could you elaborate a little on this, please? Maybe some brands that are better than others? thank you

TobiSGD, my budget for the overall build is about 800 dollars, but if I see that good quality parts added up is costing more than that, then I will up my budget. Some of the functions I need are gigabit LAN Ethernet, plenty of USB ports(4 or 5), I guess 2 HDMI or 2 DVI ports, or 1 HDMI and 1 DVI, because I will be running dual HD monitors. Not sure about the add on cards yet, I will have desktop speakers and a sub but those can probably be plugged into the mobo. I definitely dont want to buy parts just because they are cheap, I want good quality stuff. I will look into that cpu cooler and look for a good psu. Can you recommend me a good brand PSU? thank you.

H Texmex H, yeah i figured I would need plenty of memory. I am thinking maybe 12Gb is sufficient, if not overkill for my application. Or should i consider getting more?

Thanks again everyone. I cant wait to get out of the computer I have now. Its a Compaq from 2005. I have to have the Desktop Effects turned off because it will slow everything down. LOL....anyway thanks guys

12 GB is a lot, but it depends on the stuff you are editing.

The i5 is a great processor, and cheap too. It should be good as long as it is one of the higher level models. The i7s are expensive, I don't think you can stay in budget and get a decent i7.

I have a Chieftek PSU and it has been working great. I bought a Foxconn one and it broke in a few months. Just get something reasonably priced, and from a brand that you have heard of.

Yes, not all motherboards have the adequate connectors to run more than one monitor. I would recommend to get a cheap videocard in this case.

I just changed from Nvidia to AMD on my desktop machine and use the inbuilt AMD video chip of my laptop for quite some time. I always had the exact same amount of problems, regardless if I were using AMD or Nvidia: None. I think the the "Nvidia is better than AMD/ATI for Linux" thing is a leftover from past times and not valid anymore.

The i5 is a good processor. Of course you will get faster ones from both AMD and Intel, but the i5 does a decent job.

Any modern motherboards will have that, if you don't go for the really cheap low.cost boards.
Go for a cheap videocard, but make sure it does have the type of connectors you need before buying.
Nothing to do with add-on cards, just plug them into the audio-connectors of your motherboard.
I personally use a BeQuiet PSU, other good brands are Antech, OCZ, Corsair, ... .
RAM is pretty cheap now, I would go for 16GB. But while much RAM has a lot of benefits a fast disk subsystem will have more impact on video editing. I would recommend to have at least 3 harddisks, one for the OS (may be a small SSD), one for the video files you want to edit and one for the output of your video renderings.

By the way, any cheap videocard and any modern integrated graphics chip should be able to play HD videos, regardless of the resolution.