I'm a newbie and I need help choosing new hardware.
 

I currently have a 10 year old PC running Mandrake 8.2. I had a friend help me set this up long
ago and I'm now having some unusual problems with it. I really think it's time to upgrade, the
problem is that my friend is not around any more or WKB, if you are still around and reading
this please give me a call. Otherwise, I'm asking those of you "out there" for some advice. I
really don't want to run Windows at home, my Linux system has really performed very well and I see
no reason to do Windows. I don't like to constantly upgrade things so I'd like to buy
something as large/powerfull as possible so that it might last me another 10 years before I need
to change. I understand that I will probably be buying a "naked box" of some sort I just don't
know what components I need to buy. What will work with most Linux installations. Should I buy
a 32 or sixtyfour bit processor? What if I want to mess around with music recording and editing things, what kind of sound card do I need? What about CD/DVD etc. etc.
CDaniels

Linux Online has some good resources for finding hardware including complete pre-built systems. Dell is now shipping systems with Ubuntu, thats another easy way into a prebuilt linux box. If you want to build your own you can start by clicking the "HCL" link at the top of this page, that is the "Hardware Compatibility List" here at LQ and these forums offer a lot of good information. Hope this will get you started. Good luck, have fun and welcome to LQ. :)

well, Mandrake Linux is now Mandriva. You might find some upgrade option there for the old PC.

If you are getting a new PC I would get as much as I can afford. e.g. 64 bit dual core, or the new AMD Barcelona 64 bit quad core (AMD Fenom (? )).
Yes, I would have a look at the "Linux HCL" here. In terms of sound cards, I think most machines you buy comes with a basic onboard (built into the motherboard) sound card. This is fine for most use and I think you should be very unlucky if it doesn't work with linux. Again check the HCL for more high-end sound cards.

Mons

Everything, except for a low end processor, these days, is a 64 bit processor, so my vote is very definitely for a 64 bit processor, but there is still an argument for running 32 bit software on it, until the 64 bit market gets a bit more mature.

A harder decision is Intel or AMD and how many cores. I guess I'm an upgrader, so I'd buy something where I could upgrade the processor after a while. That means I don't have to buy a mega-expensive processor now, provided that I can still upgrade it - to something currently unaffordable - in, say, 18 months time.

Currently I'd go for an Intel Core2Duo system on an Intel-chipset motherboard...there are some areas in which AMD still makes sense, but not as many as there once were. (AMD mobos tend to be cheaper than Intel ones, and some of the AMD processors are close to fire sale prices, so there is certainly an argument for AMD at the 'low price, still pretty decent' end of the market. Still wouldn't buy a Celeron or a Sempron, though. I'd say that you should look at the cheaper dual-core Athlons or the cheaper core 2 duos for real value today. While you could make an argument for buying a Celeron or Sempron today and upgrading in say a year, that doesn't sound like what you want to do.)

It would be good to buy a motherboard which is compatible with Quad parts, but it doesn't yet seem cost-effective to get a quad processor if you don't have heavy-duty requirements.

Also watch out what memory your motherboard supports and how much. 1 G sounds like a reasonable amount today, but I'm guessing for not much longer. Also at the moment DDR3 is excessively expensive, but DDR2 doesn't have much more life as a living standard left in it.

I'd also try to go for an all SATA system - PATA CD/DVDs are still rather more common, but the PATA standard is, very slowly, dying out, so for 'futureproofing' I'd rather have SATA, as it doesn't cost much more.

If your budget supports you go for IBM hard drive.Invest only once and stay secured.

Can't see where you are located, but if you have few computer shops in your area there would be a good chance you could find one who could build something suitable and install linux for you.

If you want to DIY main thing is to get a good motherboard/video combination. www.phoronix.com is a good linux hardware site with lots of reviews. Motherboards with integrated Intel graphics are a pretty good bet for compatibility, which would mean using an intel processor. Even the very cheapest Celeron 420 single core would probably make you very happy after your current setup, but if you have spare $ dual core is also great value.

If you want to do serious sound recording an add-in board might be good, but that's a separate decision and probably worth a separate post.