On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, Peter Clark wrote: > I am in the process of slowly putting together my owm box. Right > now, I am waiting for my tax returns :) so that I have some spending > $$$ to build the box I've always wanted. But in the meantime, I would > like to ask a few questions. > 1. What would you recommend for a motherboard? I want to get an > Athlon 1000, so that narrows down things fast. Furthermore, I recall > hearing something last week about a bug with Abit? motherboards. OR was > it just the VIA chipset? I don't know, but I would like to avoid this > if possible. For motherboard get an ASUS. Right now I would not go with VIA. AMD is more stable chipset. > 2. Same question regarding video cards. I don't need top of the > line...32 MB mem is fine. I'm not looking for 300 FPS in Quake 3, > either. I just want a card that is easily detectable under Linux, > commonly available, and won't cause grief because of buggy drivers. NVIDIA has problems with binary-only closed drivers. Ati has problems with crappy boards. Matrox boards are good but weak at 3D. Your pick. > 3. Any spots for buying keyboards and mice? Other than Best Buy and > CompUSA? I've gone over their inventory and haven't found much that I > like. A keyboard/mouse warehouse would be nice. :) I am very happy with Microsoft Hardware products. Get a M$ Natural Keyboard and a Intellimouse and you'll be happy. > 4. Where can I get some cool computer badges? (Those are the little > 1x1 plastic-covered stickers that go on the front of a computer.) I > googled and found a couple of companies, but most are either overseas > or only sell in bulk. A badge with Tux would be a step in the right > direction, I think. ... > 5. Oh, yes, my price range for the system is going to be $800-$900, > excluding monitor. (I'll deal with that later--for now, I've got an > older one that will do.) Try to get CPU + Mobo + RAM from the same place. They will usually test that they work and that they work together saving you a roundtrip... and also save on shipping. florin