Since its been awhile since I've built a new machine and since I wanted a taste of 64-bit and dual core technology, I purchased this last night:
ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A v5.1 Socket 775 Barebone Kit / Intel Pentium D 830 OEM / 250GB SATA HDD / 18x DVD±RW DL / 1GB DDR2 PC4200 / CPU Fan / ATX Mid-Tower Case / 500 Watt Power Supply
Additionally, I bought an EVGA GeForce 7300 GT video card with 512MB PCIe, DVI, and HDTV, since the new system will require a PCIe video card, which I don't have.
I think I've accounted for everything when buying this system, hardware-wise. I'll utilize a KVM, so I won't need another keyboard/mouse for it.
Software-wise, I'll most likely be putting some form of Windows on this system. This system will be using newer technology that *nix may or may not fully support and my troubleshooting time is limited. So, I guess I'm in the market for a 64-bit OS. I don't trust Vista yet, so I'll see about getting the 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional.
This WILL be a gaming rig, but I'd also like to try my hand at 64-bit Linux when I've a bit more free time available, so eventually, it may turn into a dual-boot system. What flavor of Linux? Something that won't take long to get running and will be low maintenance, so it won't be Slackware-based, most likely, unless Zenwalk or something similar supports 64-bit Intel dual core CPUs. Hopefully Pat can look into either factoring in 64-bit support in Slackware or sanctioning and supporting Slamd64 in a way that will make it easier to use.
So, I guess I've a 1 to 3 week wait for all these parts to come in, so I can build this system. The case and power supply are on the way now, but the other parts are still in the queue with no update, with the exception of the RAM, which is on back order. Hopefully, they'll get 'un-backlogged' soon.
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The power supply died today. It is an Ultra X-Finity 500-Watt SLI Ready power supply. I was gaming, playing COD5:W@W when I got a BSOD and the system died. I felt the top of the case of the computer and it was HOT. I opened up the case and attempted to turn the computer on again. It would turn on for maybe 2 seconds then die again. I let it cool a bit (5 min) and it powered up. I was able to log into XP but didn't see any alarms in my temperature monitoring tool. I put the turned-on unit in my lap so I could see under the PS and saw that the PS fan wasn't turning...uhoh. I immediately turned it off. There is also a burned or hot-cooking smell. Looks like I'll have to buy another PS, as this one is toast and is no longer under warranty. I'm wondering if my new choice in vidcards (an eVGA 9500 GT) overtaxed this machine's PS (I doubt it, as the PS was a highly rated supply).
I may be able to pick one up tomorrow locally @ http://www.affinity-usa.com. Most likely, I'll get this one: http://www.affinity-usa.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=83
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135026
http://www.ecsusa.com/ECSWebSite/Products/ProductsDetail.aspx?detailid=678&CategoryID=1&DetailName=Specification&MenuID=1&LanID=9
OK. Apparently when the Ultra PS died, it may have taken the motherboard with it. The machine has been blue-screening ever since the PS replacement, just not as frequently as before.
I also noticed that the HSF on the Northbridge isn't working. When searching Google for issues with the Northbridge, I found that this is happening to others and that it actually signifies a motherboard failure. The Northbridge gets HOT and I'm assuming that over time, the heat has killed the motherboard.
This is the time to upgrade, I guess. I'll more than likely buy a new motherboard/CPU combo and it'll more than likely be a quad-core CPU that I'll be getting (Phenom):
(Intel) http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.152153
or
(AMD) http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.150323
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