Delilah (my Dell 8100) has served me faithfully for nearly 3 years now, but I'm almost ready to move to a desktop. This time I want to go the DIY route, because I don't think they
make computers the way I want them.
In preparation for this project, Jeff and I sat down a few days ago and blocked out the specs of my ideal box. The list starts with a pair 2.4 GHz AMD Opteron 850 processors (~$1,500 each) and goes downhill from there. (I won't describe the whole system, but it was remarkably similar to Ars Technica's latest GodBox.) Needless to say, I won't be going with that option; it would cost about $5,000.
After we got our lusting out of the way, Jeff and I blocked out options for a box that I might actually be able to afford. This brought us down to between $1,200 and $1,500, depending on whether I get 32-bit or 64-bit processors. Still not cheap, but it will be a heck of a system. It will also be somewhat of a milestone for me, because I am not planning to put Windows on it at all. (64-bit processors will ensure that.)
The new box has to wait, though. No new geek toys for me until I find a permanent job.
[P.S. I already know what I'm going to call the new box: Samson.
]
Jeff says:
By Ideal, of course, she means that will still fit in a normal sized ATX case and not need more than a 700W power supply.
Jeff