Hey

Currently I have this powerhouse machine acting as my internet server and what not and a few other machines running all types of flavors of Windows...and i wanted to put up a Linux machine just so i can share my netconnection and play around with it...and junk

I'm looking for advice and guidance...I'm looking for a machine that would do the following:

- NIC - internet and file sharing (LAN party heh)
- Sound - obvious
- Video - gaming and DVD
- CPU - something basic that will get the job done
- Mobo - whatever the CPU is will determine this...
- HD - atleast 10 GBs
- CDRW and DVD drives as well
- Peripherals: mouse, speakers, keyboard...i have a monitor

All of my parts need to be compatible with whatever distro of linux you think will work optimally with whatever hardware you choose.

and thats about it. Email me your configs. I just want something that'll do the above mentioned and for the cheapest cheapest price, prefer. under 150 dollars...can it be done???

Thx.

why dont you just dual boot one of the windows machines?

i have dual booted...not all of my hardware is compatible...

i just want a machine that'll do everything i do on my Win. machines for as cheap as possible...just a dedicated Linux machine...the speed...the efficiency...its outshines Win. all the way...so i'm looking for something thats just straight virigin linux..in a sense

I have one that solves a lot of problems.

Let me prep. first. You want to game, you want sound, you want a good, cheap, CPU. But, its Linux. So, I doubt you will do extreme gaming here, since you have a Windows box. So, a simple solution is thus:

1. Mobo - anything nForce. nVidia already has a full linux driver solution that installs every chip on the mobo, including the built in GeForce2 MX (good for Linux) and the high quality sound. This one package makes the whole thing easy. You get built in LAN under Linux, built in Sound (great sound) and built in Video. All supported under one driver package, and being nVidia, thats a good thing.
2. CPU - Duron Duron Duron. You can get one for 30 bucks, at 800-900 Mhz. More than enough for Linux.
3. RAM - just 256 MB of DDR RAM, from crucial
4. The rest, is up to you. I've covered the hardest parts.

take all the best form all your windows boexs and make one good linux box for what you need, use slackware 8.0

if you could find a pc with all the things you mentioned for under 150 dollars LET ME KNOW WHERE YOUR GETTING THEM BECAUSE I'LL STOCK UP ON THEM!!!!

DUDE, under $150 are you kidding me, you might be able to get a cdrw for under $150

Lol. I didn't see that under 150 dollars thing. My B

Sorry to stop your dream, but I just bought an MSI-nfroce based
motherboard k7N420Pro.

Its a dual boot winXP/Mandrake linux machine.

The (closed source) drivers from nvidia just gets you an accellerated X server (which is very fast indeed!) but NO
sound or lan driver.... so the dolbydigital sound support will remain restricted to windows for some time.

Please notice that nvidia is also releasing new drivers for windows on a regular base. their linux effort since then hasn't been that great. Still a great MB but for linux one just needs another sound and lan interface installed.......

Hope some one will prove me wrong.......