Jen,First, congratulations on going about this the correct way, i.e., delineating what you want to do with the machine before going shopping. Most people buy a computer first, then try to do things with it that the machine will do only poorly, if at all.
Next, though I admire your enterprise in wanting to build your own machine, I hope you aren't too wedded to the idea. I've gainfully worked in the computer field since the late '80s, messed around with them pretty seriously for many years before that, and started using Linux in 1992. I decided to build my own machine once, and it was a nightmare. (I should inject at this point that at the same time I was building my own PC, at work I had a $1.8 million budget to put together an entire UNIX lab consisting of over 50 pre-spec'd boxes, with four co-existing networks each using entirely different technologies, different UNIX vendors, a SAN, and several Windows boxes. Putting all that together was easier than building my own PC at home.) I did get that PC together eventually and got everything working and used it for a lot of years, but my sense of satisfaction at the accomplishment was buried under the number of very frustrating hours I spent getting the correct and functioning components and getting all of them to work together properly. If you would like to learn a lot of deeply technical details that you'll never need to know again, if you don't mind spending lots of time on lots of technical details, if you don't mind having a few parts left over which you'll never use, if you don't mind spending time with vendors who insist that you prove to them that the component they sold you is bad, then you might enjoy building your own PC.
I'd recommend instead as a general strategy to buy an already-built computer... what just about everybody does. Take your specifications (pretty much what you emailed to the list) to your local computer outlet and have the salesperson actually write down which machines they sell which satisfy those specs. Alternatively, you could email your specs to an online salesperson and have them reply to your email with machines they sell which satisfy the specs.
If you can't find a ready-made machine that's what you want, then you'll have to fill in the gaps by installing cards in slots. It should be, for example, fairly easy to buy a card which gives you a couple more USB ports. Note though that the card you buy has to match the slot. This might be especially critical if you need to install a second video card. Don't actually buy the machine until you're certain that all the cards you're going to need to install will fit-- physically and technically-- into the slots on the motherboard. This goes of course for the RAM too, though this is hardly ever as problematic.
Re: gigabit ethernet: Are all the other nodes on your local networks also running this, including your router? If not, then it's a questionable feature.
That's enough for now. Good luck, ken On 10/19/2013 02:58 PM Dr. Jennifer Nussbaum wrote:
My current desktop has been having some issues lately and I think its time to consider replacing it. Ive been having trouble finding exactly what I want, even tho' this is straightforward, so i though I'd ask here to get some advice, maybe even about building my own machine (which Ive never done but am willing to learn). This is to run Wheezy for simple desktop use--web surfing, running home music network, some videos, some coding, but no gaming, no video/sound editing, no real storage needs. I DO want: Small or smallish form factor (currently using a slim tower), attractive SSD (small capacity--everything impt is on a NAS elsewhere, i just want the system to run fast) Ability to have two monitors (currently using VGA and HDMI 'cause that's the ports i have) Optical drive Lots of USB ports (3.0 not really necessary but wouldnt hurt I guess) Gigabit Ethernet Relatively quiet, energy efficient 8 GB RAM (for future-proofing, don't normally need much) I DON"T want or don't care about: Massive speed and 16 cores (but want enough that I wont need to replace in a year) Fancy video card (built-in has always been fine, if I can watch movies that's all i need) Fancy sound card (I use USB into a DAC for serious things) Massive mechanical HD When i look at computers from HP or Lenovo, it looks like it costs a fortune to add a SSD (and i dont want to buy a separate one from Crucial and then have the original one in a box on my shelf) and memory. The cheaper machines seem to be worrisomely basic, like in a year they won't be able to run YouTube, and the more expensive ones still need upgrades of SSD and RAM. And in particular the smaller form factors tend to be pretty spendy. But i have literally no idea how to assemble a machine from scratch, and in trying to browse i dont even know how to find a smaller form factor--i cant find an elegant slim case, just huge fancy gaming ones, or dull ugly boxes of various sizes. All advice appreciated, thank you! Jen