I chose to buy a new machine, mainly because I am sick of the high noise level of the old PC which I used till now for experimenting with Linux. But as I already told, you can use almost any old PC to install Linux on it.
As noise level was an important factor, I chose the following computer :
- Mainboard : Gigabyte EG31M-ES2L / Intel G31 Chipset, FSB 1333, DDR2, SATAII, GLAN
- Processor : Intel DUAL-Core E2220, 775P, 800MHz, 1MB, 65nm, Fan, BOX
Conroe, 2.4GHz, SpeedStep, I64bit, NX - Memory : 2048MB DDR2 PC-6400, (1x2048MB Max. 4GB), 240Pin
- Harddisc : 320GB, SATA-II, 7200rpm, Samsung (possibility to put 3 more disks)
- Graphiccard : Intel GMA 3100 Integrated Graphics (on Board), up to 256MB Shared
- Network : Gigabit-LAN 10/100/1000 Realtek 8111C
- Card Reader : Yeong-Yang 33-in-1, USB 2.0 (which is useful for configuring the CF card for the Alix board)
- Tower : Yeong-Yang Midi-Tower YY-5704 Silver, 350Watt, ATX
This is a very quiet computer which is what I wanted. It should also be very low on energy consumption, which is good. And it is quite cheap, too (around 350 US$).
I installed Debian Linux 5.0, which is the latest stable one. I will not explain how to install it. You will find a lot of informations here. The easiest way to install it, is to download a CD image and to burn a CD with it. Then you just have to put this CD into the computer and follow the onscreen text. There is a detailed installation manual here. This should be easy (the proof : I was able to do it).
After this, you should have a running Debian Linux 5.0 system in front of you.
