New 2009 computer, final buy + links + after purchase comments:

    - Case: COOLER MASTER COSMOS 1000 RC-1000-KSN1-GP Black/ Silver
      Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail   $190
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119138
        Score: 8
            A great case in terms of:
                - acoustic isolation,
                - keeping cool while quiet, 3 big 12" fans included
                - easy to work with (room, toolbox included,
                  swappable disk trays)
                - Front USB eSATA and firewire connectors all there
        Doesn't get 10 because:
                - It is huge (too big, double the normal size of a big case)
                - Could be simpler and more aesthetically elegant, black box
                - Side panels have trouble locking in place

    - MOBO: ASUS P6T ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131359
        Score: 10   Never seen a motherboard with so many options/connectors
                    and so nice and well built. SLI3, eSATA, more...

    - CPU: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor - Retail
        130W   45nm    L2: 4x256KB    L3: 8MB   QPI: 4.8GT/s
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115202
        Score: 10   Very fast and at long last the standard cooling
                    (heatsink+fan) is really quiet
                    Price performance is reasonable             $290

    - Hard disk: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 1TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102
        Score 10:   Great price per capacity ($99/Terabyte), quiet, just works

    - Memory:
        OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
        Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365
        Score 10:   Great price per capacity, just works

    - DVD R+W drive:
        SAMSUNG 22X DVD+/-R DVD Burner with LightScribe
	Black SATA Mode SH-S223Q - OEM
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173
        Score: 9:
            - Great price, SATA (not IDE) just works perfectly
            - Doesn't get a 10 because it comes with a CD of proprietary
              (Windows) software / landfill

    - Video Card:
        ASUS GeForce 8400 GS EN8400GS SILENT/HTP/512M Video Card - Retail
        http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121235
        Score 9:
            - A silent (fanless) video option
            - Just works with Linux
            - Compact and well-built/nice
            - Not getting 10 because NVidia drivers/software aren't open source.

Total cost: including tax and shipping: $1205

Running Ubuntu: 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) w/ a 64-bit MP kernel