Soliciting hardware recommendations

[Stephen Powell <zlinuxman@wowway.com>]

I have decided to buy a 64-bit system for myself for Christmas.  But before I
go out there and buy something, I thought I would solicit some advice.  I want
a 64-bit system (amd64) on which I plan to install Debian.  I will use it
primarily for two things:

(1) As a host system for Hercules.  Hercules is an open source program (packaged
for Debian in package "hercules") that can emulate a 64-bit IBM mainframe.  And
of course, I plan on installing and running a 64-bit version of Debian (s390x)
under Hercules.  The Hercules emulator adds a lot of overhead.  The speed of
Hercules is nowhere near the speed of a real mainframe, so I want to get the
fastest and most powerful host system I can afford.  But I don't want a system
with lots of cores on it.  The kind of software I will run probably can't exploit
more than two cores effectively, so I'd rather have a two-core system with a
fast clocking rate than an eight-core system with a slow clocking rate.

(2) This system will also double as a desktop system.  I'm not a high-end graphics
user.  I use the graphical desktop mostly for web browsing (including the use
of a web-based e-mail client) and watching Youtube videos.  I'm not a gamer.

I'd like it to have a usable CSM, so I can continue to run my favorite boot loader,
LILO.  And I plan to partition the disk using the traditional MS-DOS disk
partitioning system, so I don't want the hard disk to be larger than 2T.
RAID is not necessary.  I don't run a business.  Although data loss is undesirable,
it will not be catastrophic.

I'd like a new monitor too.  All my monitors are old CRTs, and I've run out of
spares as old monitors die.  I think I'm ready for a digital flat screen.
I have plenty of USB mice and keyboards.

I don't plan on running Windows at all, so if it comes pre-installed with Windows,
the first thing I'm going to do is to delete the Windows partition.  If I can
get a system without a Windows license, that will save me some money.  Due to
preload agreements between Microsoft and hardware vendors, this may not be
possible unless I buy separate components and integrate them myself.  And that
is fine.  I don't mind doing that.  I live in the US and will probably order
my system, or its components, online.  I might buy the monitor locally, though.

Does anyone wish to contribute any opinions?  Anything from general advice to
specific hardware recommendations is welcome.  And feel free to ask follow-up
questions.

-- 
  .''`.     Stephen Powell    
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