Building a new Computer System. Need some advice.

... In simplest format / description.

Already have an empty full tower.
Want a good, reliable, mid - range full A.T.X. mother board.
Want a "Toyota Camray" mother board. Not a Premium Gamer "Catalac Superem" mother board.
The mother board can be an older model from a few years ago.
I will be using this new computer system for two tasks. ...
A. Just surfing the internet.
B. Purchasing and downloading music.
WILL NOT be using WIFI. Will be using a standard wired modeum.
The Operating Systems used will be Linux. ...
Xubuntu - Lite Linux - Linux Mint - Arch Linux - an older stable version of Debian - OpenSUSE Linux.
Prefer an INTEL Central Processing Unit.
Prefer a Corsair Power Supply. (720 watts or higher)
If a Modular Power Supply is available ... WONDERFUL!
Want to MAX OUT the Ramm / DIMMS. What brand name do you recommend?
DON'T want the On-Board-Internet-Functions. Rather use an Internet Card. Which brand name do you recommend?

...

After installing all the basic components, what extra goodies do you recommend I install?
... To fill up my card rack - empty slots.
... A fan card, of course.

I await your response.
Thank You, RedFoxx25j.

To surf the internet and purchase/download music I would recommand not the max out the ram with the current price, your regular 32GB amount should be perfectly fine, speciallly with a nice lite Linux type OS, you do not need that much power, an used Laptop would do. On board ethernet is also perfectly fine.

You do not need a fan card or any of this, but of course if it is for the fun of doing it, forget those advices and have fun build it.

For the extra goodies I would go in the audio side of things, a nice external DAC, speaker/headphone for that use case, monitor/keyboard/mouse, for the use case you describe those are probably were the money is worth it, middle end 5 years old Laptop is good enough for this.

I wouldn't fear onboard Network/"Internet" ports. I've used onboard cheap, Realtek, network ports for probably over a decade at this point. For consumer level internet, it's more than sufficient.

LukeTbk said:

To surf the internet and purchase/download music I would recommand not the max out the ram with the current price, your regular 32GB amount should be perfectly fine, speciallly with a nice lite Linux type OS, you do not need that much power, an used Laptop would do. On board ethernet is also perfectly fine.

You do not need a fan card or any of this, but of course if it is for the fun of doing it, forget those advices and have fun build it.

For the extra goodies I would go in the audio side of things, a nice external DAC, speaker/headphone for that use case, monitor/keyboard/mouse, for the use case you describe those are probably were the money is worth it, middle end 5 years old Laptop is good enough for this.

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Thank You for your advice. Signed RedFoxx25j

OFaceSIG said:

I wouldn't fear onboard Network/"Internet" ports. I've used onboard cheap, Realtek, network ports for probably over a decade at this point. For consumer level internet, it's more than sufficient.

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Thank You for your advice. Signed RedFoxx25j

Vegas P11 said:

View attachment 796220

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I actually remember the T.V. commercial you are referring to. HA ! HA ! HA ! signed Redfoxx25j.

RedFoxx25j said:

I actually remember the T.V. commercial you are referring to. HA ! HA ! HA ! signed Redfoxx25j.

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Where are you located? If in the US do you have a MicroCenter nearby as they have great bundle deals on motherboard, CPU and memory.

Vegas P11 said:

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A+ !!

my first and only dell 2003 got the shiiii played out of out, bridge commander, every red alert game and variant, star craft, return to castle wolfenstein. just to name a few

now back on topic;
Without knowing your budget and websites/stores you can or cannot go to its pretty hard to give advice.

now generically, I can say, IMO that if you have way more money than time then buy it from ABT, CDW or Best buy with extra warranty. Assuming USA.

If you have way more time than money then we'd need a more specific budget.

StevenJamesBorchard said:

stores you can or cannot go

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I am not sure there is many music store your average old laptop would not be powerful enough to do and by now I would imagine same for website in general.

The conversation do feel a bit like if it was 1997-2003 (will be rare for someone to mention ethernet connectivity for a standard computer now, it is a fixed affair)

But here it is more like in the late 2010s, as long it has an ssd and a corei5 it should be quite good.

Vegas P11 said:

Where are you located? If in the US do you have a MicroCenter nearby as they have great bundle deals on motherboard, CPU and memory.

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There is a MicroCenter about five miles from me. I will go there next week and see about "a bundled deal". thank you for your advice. RedFoxx25j.

StevenJamesBorchard said:

A+ !!

my first and only dell 2003 got the shiiii played out of out, bridge commander, every red alert game and variant, star craft, return to castle wolfenstein. just to name a few

now back on topic;
Without knowing your budget and websites/stores you can or cannot go to its pretty hard to give advice.

now generically, I can say, IMO that if you have way more money than time then buy it from ABT, CDW or Best buy with extra warranty. Assuming USA.

If you have way more time than money then we'd need a more specific budget.

Click to expand...

I have a Best Buy straight down the road from me. Its about two miles away. I'll walk in next Friday and talk to a salesman. Thank You for your advice. Signed RedFoxx25j

Just walk into microcenter and make it happen. It will be better then best buy haha. They have amazing deals on intel and amd motherboard combos. Honestly, amd is slightly better now but you could certainly go with intel.

Do not worry about ethernet card. The port on the motherboard will work flawlessly.

They will have good quality 750w moduler psu.

You do not want to max ouf the ram. Ram is super overpriced right now. Get 16gb minimum or 32 gb max. You will not need more.

You will need a nvme ssd they are so fast. Also kinda overpriced rn. 1tb is best.

You will need cpu with integrated gpu or will need to buy a dedicated one. I take it you do not game?

You can build a good computer for your needs just walking into microcenter with 1k in your pocket. Is that inline with your budget?

Are you upgrading from something ancient? Honestly if money is tight I bet you could build a usable computer out of used parts for around 300.

cdabc123 said:

Just walk into microcenter and make it happen. It will be better then best buy haha. They have amazing deals on intel and amd motherboard combos. Honestly, amd is slightly better now but you could certainly go with intel.

Do not worry about ethernet card. The port on the motherboard will work flawlessly.

They will have good quality 750w moduler psu.

You do not want to max ouf the ram. Ram is super overpriced right now. Get 16gb minimum or 32 gb max. You will not need more.

You will need a nvme ssd they are so fast. Also kinda overpriced rn. 1tb is best.

You will need cpu with integrated gpu or will need to buy a dedicated one. I take it you do not game?

You can build a good computer for your needs just walking into microcenter with 1k in your pocket. Is that inline with your budget?

Are you upgrading from something ancient? Honestly if money is tight I bet you could build a usable computer out of used parts for around 300.

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O.K., I'll go to MicroCenter and get a combo deal on a CPU and Motherboard. Also, I'll use the on-board-internet-function. Thank You, for your advice. signed RedFoxx25j.