Hello. I am looking to build my own computer and am utterly confused. I went to NewEgg looking to add some things to my cart with a list of what I thought I needed, and I never could tell if part A would work with part B, and if all the parts together would work seemlessly as a whole. Not to mention if they'd even work well with Ubuntu as the only/primary OS. I don't want to spend a whole lot, but I do want one that's nicely equiped for gaming, media, etc. Can anyone help? I'm pretty sure I want a dual core Intel processor, nVidia video card (maybe around 8600), at least 2GB RAM, and at least a 250 or 320GB hard drive at 7200rpm. I know what primary parts I want, I just get lost when finding cases, and power supplies, motherboards, and the like. Whatever bits of insight anyone could provide would be most appreciated.

(Oh, and to note the only things I have to really go toward a new system would be a monitor. In addtion to what I mentioned above, I'd still need a sound card, DVD RW drive, DVD/CD drive, and a USB and Ethernet card. I think that's what I need anyway. I should probably just buy one prebuilt, but it's so hard to find decent one's built around Ubuntu/Linux.)

Well, forget gaming on Linux. If you want to game, Windows is the ONLY OS for gaming.

i hav ubuntu and it does not run exe applications

Ubuntu/Linux really supports a TON of hardware. Chances are if you build a system all the hardware will work without an issue. My current computer which is just made of parts that I could afford without any thoughts about compatibility. I decided to install Ubuntu 7.10 and the only I had to install was the graphics driver from NVIDIA.

Quick note here NVIDIA has better driver support right now for Linux. Save yourself some problems and make sure to get an NVIDIA card. Do a little reading about uninstalling the basic NV driver and Install the linux driver from nvidia's web site.

It really depends on the game..... I play a few older games with no issues at all on Linux.
http://www.winehq.org/

You can run .exe files, just not natively. You need WINE.

Also for sound and ethernet... most current kernel builds will include built in support for most hardware. (USB, sound and ethernet are built in to the motherboard). Ubuntu will probably need a connection to the internet to download nvidia drivers (it can install the latest ones automatically for you). So just keep that in mind.

You should probably forget about gaming on linux, especially if your a noob to linux. Consider dual booting linux and windows (just use windows to game).

My suggestion:
Get a cheap AMD or Intel processor and mobo
corsair 450vx power supply
2gb of ram
8600gts
get a good case, coolermaster makes good ones for ~$50
Samsung S203B SATA dvd drive (its awesome)

So yeah, its not too difficult... hardware support is very good in current linux builds.

Tips: stay with nvidia video cards, pick a decent case, and dualboot with windows for gaming.

Stay away from the 8600gts, it's the biggest ripoff of the century. You may aswell spend a few bucks more and get the HD3850, or spend a few quite a lot less and get the 8600gt.

You should look at the Antec Sonata III, it comes with a 500 Watt truepower PSU and is a great looking case. Only around £60.

I second Skittle's approach. Other than Quake Wars, the newer games will not run on Linux until the DRM cracks come out. The games themselves would actually run under Wine, but the DRM software will not. This usually takes a year or so. You'll still have to buy the game, install it under Wine, and then apply the crack.

I have played most of the previous version FPS games under Wine with no trouble on a stock E4300, 7600gt, and 2gb ram. Somebody gave me a copy of Vista Home Basic, so I run that now for the newer games, and use a separate Linux box for everything else.(see my HW profile)

I have found Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS 2007 to be compatible with just about any hardware around. I would do your homework before buying a printer though.

Only one problem. No Linux drivers for the HD3000 series yet. Even the 2000 series and older drivers are still problematic at best. Right now, Nvidia is the only sensible approach for Linux.

AMD keeps promising improvement, but none yet.

Actually installing the Nvidia driver in Ubuntu 7.10 takes just a couple of mouse clicks right after install.

obviously you have never tried running linux before... or you would know that ATI cards are a massive headache. Also, whats with people bashing the 8600 all of a sudden? the 7600 used to be a sweet midrange card... and the 8600 is quite a bit better than it in most games.

I never liked the sonata, and that corsair PSU is much superior than that bundled psu

does it still need to download them? I know it used to.

Yes. The difference is you do not have to navigate through the Nvidia web site as you would in Windows. Ubuntu goes out and gets it itself from the repositories.

the ones that ubuntu gets be itself are open-source and ubuntu techs say it themselves that the open-source driver for graphics is slower than the closed source you can get from Nvidia/Ati

This tool is also a good option. I have not tried it on 7.10, but it worked great on 7.04. http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html