Another usual story, my old PC gave up, unfortunately it was motherboard. I'm thinking about new build.
Things that remain from old PC:
- Antec P182 case.
- ATA DVD RW permanently stuck in that case.
- Corsair VX450 PSU
- Scythe Ninja Copper (old one with LGA775 mount only, so useless now a days).
- Nvidia 9600GT, passive.
- Two 24” 1920x1200 displays, that require DVI-D connectors.
- USB Keyboard and mouse.
- Programmable 4 fan controller.
- Linux only PC
- 720p video playback, hardware decoding acceleration available on Nvidia GPUs only, otherwise it must be processed by CPU
- Optical SPDIF on motherboard is a must.
- I'll use this PC for programming, and all-round Internet usage. Nowadays dual-core, 1,2GHz mobile Celeron is sufficient for me performance-wise, but single core Atom is not.
- PC should by very quiet. I hope to make it low power (and cool) enough to get away with using four S-Flex 800RPM 120mm fans in that case.
- No gaming, nor 3D design, I'm database programmer, I usually work on remote servers.
- Athlon X3 II 400e (low power X2 is out of stock in Poland)
- Motherboard built around 780G Chipset
- Scythe Ninja 3 heat sink.
- SSD for local data (and more network attached storage in basement).
- 8GB of RAM (and no swap).
- Reuse old GPU.
- I already have decent case, and don't want to change it.
- I do not need quad core heater inside that case.
- I do not need lots of storage space, so there is no issue of vibration dampening.
- I need to drive two 24” displays, most IGP do not support two active digital outputs.
- I believe that computer should be fast enough to do whats needed and no hotter.
- I don't have loads of cash to build workstation around low power Xeon and Quadro NVS.