I've found CPU and mobo that I really like: 1. Intel Celeron G1820 Haswell Dual-Core 2.7GHz LGA 1150 54W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646G1820 ~ $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116974 2. Gigabyte H81TN Thin mini-ITX ~ $90 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductL...

If you need FreeBSD and Windows7 (won't recommend 8.1, personal dislike) then the most logical way would be install one and virtualize the other. It doesn't matter which one you pick as a host, AFAIK there are pretty good solutions for either. If you want to play a game or two, I'd install Win7 and...

quest_for_silence wrote:

dbuff wrote:what would be the best OS?

To do what?

For very small, functional (Netflix, Evernote, some Python/PHP, etc., no serious gaming), very cheap PC. Mostly as an emergency/secondary PC (as for example when I'm working on the other PC that has to be turned off).
Thanks

Now, after all that trouble trying to find something suitable for FreeBSD, I realized that I may change my approach, and install FreeBSD on another machine, so now there is another question - what would be the best OS? Thanks you so much.

washu wrote: There is a fanless 1037U board, the Gigabyte GA-C1037UN-EU..

I had a difficult time to find this board. I like it but if it's so rare isn't that suspicious?
Thanks

Well I should've mentioned specifics. My budget - initially thought $200 (don't laugh). I think you should point out where you are from, to let us be aware of what could be actually available to you. P.S.: I would add that any FreeBSD HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) wil be welcome, as it should b...

Here what I think I thought: 1. BIOSTAR AM1ML AM1 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard $32.99 2. AMD Athlon 5150 Kabini Quad-Core 1.6GHz Socket AM1 25W Desktop Processor AMD Radeon HD 8400 AD5150JAHMBOX $49.99 3. MI-008 Tower Black P4 Chassis with 250W Itx Psu+sata Power Supply $47.99 4. Wes...

With a 1037U board (BSD should have drivers for that I assume), you may be able get everything under $200 by cutting corners. I have FreeBSD on a 1007U board (same as the 1037U with a lower clock) and it works very well. I don't run a GUI on it, but the GPU is the same as any other Ivy Bridge chip ...

[quote="Abula"][quote="dbuff"
HDD = Western Digital WD AV-GP WD5000AVVS 500GB 8MB Cache SATA2 (3.0Gb/s) 3.5" Internal Hard Drive $50
/quote]
I would be willing to buy sdd. Any suggestions, please. Thanks.

Well I should've mentioned specifics. My budget - initially thought $200 (don't laugh). Here's the detail: ASUS AM1I-A AM1 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard AMD Athlon 5350 Kabini Quad-Core 2.05GHz Socket AM1 25W Desktop Processor AMD Radeon HD 8400 AD5350JAHMBOX Or something a bit c...

Well I should've mentioned specifics. My budget - initially thought $200 (don't laugh). Here's the detail: ASUS AM1I-A AM1 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Mini ITX AMD Motherboard AMD Athlon 5350 Kabini Quad-Core 2.05GHz Socket AM1 25W Desktop Processor AMD Radeon HD 8400 AD5350JAHMBOX Or something a bit ch...

I want to build (rather than just buy - for fun and learning) a PC. Here's what I want: 1. I want my PC to be as small as possible. (I want to use an external DVD, bluetooth keyboard and mouse (strong preference), and of course monitor (VGA? USB? don 't know what will be cons and pros) and speakers/...