[LAU] Advice needed: hardware vendors

In the past, I've sorta DIY'd my home machines -- sorta because it's been more integration than building. Most of the parts would come from some vendor like Newegg; but the processor+cooling/motherboard/memory would come from the now long-departed Monarch Computer. The part of building that scared me was doing a good job coupling the heatsink to the processor; Monarch sold processor/motherboard combos where they'd taken care of that, and tested the combo to make sure it was happy before sending it to you. And their prices were good and they were reliable. So, I'd do a little research on motherboards, pick a couple of candidates, then google to see whether other folks were using those motherboards with Linux and what experiences they were having. And if it all looked good, I'd order it all and do the final integration, and I've never had any problems, including with Linux/hardware compatibility. However, it's been quite a while since I did this the last time, mainly because the machine I have now has done me pretty good. But I'm ready to replace my machine, and apparently two things have happened since the last time: - Monarch became an unreliable company, then went bust; - I became insanely busy all the time, and less motivated (but not completely unmotivated) to build. So, I'm looking to find out about hardware vendors. Specifically, I want to know about: 1. folks selling fully-built machines with Linux in mind, so that there'll be no real worries about any hardware compatibility issues; 2. folks selling motherboard/processor combos that they test before shipping to the customer, like Monarch did back when they were still around and reliable. In case it matters, I tend to go for as souped-up a home machine as I can, and then ride it for a long time. The machine I end up with will be used for Linux audio, with an Audiofire 8 interface that'll connect to the machine by Firewire. So obviously it's going to need to have low latencies in mind. It'll also get used for gaming, and for code development for scientific computing. I dunno whether it's even an option anymore, but having one legacy PCI slot around would be nice, but isn't a dealbreaker if that's just too obsolete. Any suggestions on vendors to look at, or sources of information on build options (I used to start at Tom's Hardware and Anandtech years ago; dunno if they're still the best choices), would all be greatly appreciated. Thanks much! -c -- Chris Metzler cmetzler(a)speakeasy.snip-me.net (remove "snip-me." to email) "As a child I understood how to give; I have forgotten this grace since I have become civilized." - Chief Luther Standing Bear