Low on funds, can't really upgrade.

[Regulus]

Ok my soon-to-be system specs are listed in my sig.

Problem: The below parts cost me like $730 of my $780, and I still need an OS (XP Home). I'll have just about exhausted every buck I got. Everything is retail, so naturally it all came w/ the heatsinks/fans/other cooling junk. Will the included cooling stuff be ok for the time being until I can get better stuff n' junk? I don't know what the fan or heatsink types are. thnx in advance.

 

[bobojuice]

stuff n' junk eh? Sounds okay, although you could have saved some money going OEM instead.

 

[Nikkon]

The ONLY improvment that you might want to make is more ram. Lucky for you though, you can add more when you get more money. Other than that the system looks fine

 

[Regulus]

I didn't really want to go OEM 'cause this is my 1st PC and I wanted to be sure I had every piece w/out having to look and search all over for them.
I intend on getting more ram, Nikkon. It's just that, well, like it says, I'm low on funds.

 

[Musjunk22]

To save some money on the OS you can get a free linux distribution. I think my favorite is Knoppix, then Suse. They both are able to run from a cd and can run with a Windows partition on the hdd. Also those 2 OS's are the closest that windows and linux come and are as easy and user friendly as Windows XP Home.

 

[Regulus]

2 questions on Linux...
*How is it diff. than Windows?(like what games & apps can be played/used or is there a diff.)
*Where can I get this "free" Linux Distribution?

 

[Musjunk22]

1. It isn't based on DOS, I think its called Shell or Kernel.
Most programs are made for windows and don't work on Linux but there is a program called wine or winex that lets you run windows stuff on linux.

2. www.linuxiso.org (make sure u read the fine print before u go and burn a disc or install.

I just downloaded the SuSE 9.1 live-eval Editon. I'm burning the image to the disc right now, I can't wait til thats done.

 

[bobojuice]

I got a copy of suse 9.1 pro and installed it into an extra hard drive and it took 4 hours!!! After i finished i started playing with it but its damn confusing. Im gonna stick with microsoft at least till im done with my MCSE. It does look pretty though. And the install went really smooth.

 

[Musjunk22]

I think the one that runs off the cd is the easiest. It's like they designed it for people that used windows all their life.

 

[bobojuice]

I also tried the eval bootable, but it ran like sheeit, because it was constantly loading from the cd. At least it'll give you an idea of what it looks like.