Best hardware?

jesse.silva · 2008-09-19 20:12:49

Skip to the bold if you don't want to read my story
Hello everyone. Well I been using linux cautiously on my laptop to see if it could replace my windows system. Well tried several distros and what not and became more intune with linux. before i knew it, I was hardly using my desktop other than gaming! So this is where my conclusion ends. Build a new system with linux to do everything, and build a new system with the latest hardware only for gaming! lol..

Where here is my question. Is there certain specifications you need to look at when buying hardware for Linux?

For example, Buying a CPU would i go for the quad core or for dual core? Ram would i go ddr2 or ddr3 800 or 1033? 4 gigs of ram or 8? video should i go for nivdia or ati. 512 gfx card 256 what?

Stuff like this. What I manily use this desktop for is:

Watching Videos
Web Browsing
Converting videos to all kinds of formats
IM chating
IRC
Torrent Download
Ripping my dvds
Web development (php css html)
Homework(lots of this right now :S)

Again, I want the fastest possible with our running into hardware or driver issues Also i like the desktop effects using compiz-fusion.

So give me your thoughts!

Thank you!

Last edited by jesse.silva (2008-09-19 20:13:25)

Daenyth · 2008-09-19 20:16:12

You'll need 64-bit capable cpu to run more than 4GB of ram. I'd recommend nvidia, they currently perform the best for video. Aside from that.. all up to you, I would think.

jesse.silva · 2008-09-19 20:25:12

I read a few forums saying that you can compile your 32 bit kernel to use upto 64 gb of ram is this true?

ornitorrincos · 2008-09-19 20:35:04

you can, it's called PAE (Physical Address Extension) but there's a slowdown in the system(as it does some artificial tricks to archieve it)

jesse.silva · 2008-09-19 20:37:13

SO I am assuming it wouldn't be worth it for the slowdown?

Alright I guess this pretty much answers my question Guess i thought too much into this lol!

Thank you!

pelle.k · 2008-09-19 21:15:51

As much intel on the mainboard as possible. Nvidia for gfx. Not the most recent stuff. It's not supported. Use the ubuntu HCL or something like it to confirm everything works.
The most critical component is the mainboard, so be careful with that. Make sure you can find someone that reports is runs linux ok. (suspend / hibernate / fan issues comes to mind).
Dual core runs cooler and performs better in most (i said most, not all, and not by much) applications. However, video editing/encoding will surely benefit from a quad core cpu.
Avoid nvidia 8600 series, go for 9xxx (at least 256 mb ddr3, preferable 512). (btw, you dont need much for compiz-fusion, far less than what i suggested).
Theres no need for anything more than 2 GB of ram, on linux, but since you're gonna game on this rig, go for 4 GB RAM.

jesse.silva · 2008-09-20 19:23:04

Actually i am not gaming on this rig, this would be my work station I do multi-task a lot so i will definitely get the 4gigs of ram.

Thank you i was going to get a 8600 gfx simply because its cheap and it was a 512mb, more then what Linux needs

Again Thank you!

EDIT:

So this is what I had picked out, Anyone want to comment on this build?

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySa … ID=7045154

Last edited by jesse.silva (2008-09-20 19:29:34)

pelle.k · 2008-09-20 20:57:10

I guess that url is specific to your firefox session, or maybe youre logged in, because i cant access your "build".
Btw, the 8600 is not a bad card, it's just that it has a reputation of failing more often than other cards. That said, i have two myself actually. I bought them before i knew that. Works good with linux though!
Can you just give us the name of the mainboard?

I myself have been thinking of buying a asus p5k mainboard for my next desktop. It presumably works very well with linux.

Try these sites out;
http://www.linux-tested.com/results_server.html
http://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatlistcat20.html

Last edited by pelle.k (2008-09-20 21:02:05)

AD28 · 2008-09-20 21:56:00

pelle.k wrote:

As much intel on the mainboard as possible.

Hmm not sure why you say this.. I haven't had any problems with amd+linux from personal experience at least. I haven't used an intel board since my slot 1 P3 in high school. Currently running 3 amd systems with various linux distros just fine.. asus athlon xp, dfi athlon 64 x2, and biostar athlon 64 x2. Go intel if you want max performance, but I haven't found it to be necessary as far as compatibility goes.

@8600gt.. it should be fine. I'm still using one on my older dfi system.. just try to get a gddr3 card if possible. The 8600 series just gets a bad rap from enthusiasts who play games like crysis and do intensive graphics work. It's kinda underachieving compared to their other *600 series, but it's fine for casual use.

Ruckus · 2008-09-21 00:44:37

AD28 wrote:

pelle.k wrote:
As much intel on the mainboard as possible.
Hmm not sure why you say this.. I haven't had any problems with amd+linux from personal experience at least. I haven't used an intel board since my slot 1 P3 in high school. Currently running 3 amd systems with various linux distros just fine.. asus athlon xp, dfi athlon 64 x2, and biostar athlon 64 x2. Go intel if you want max performance, but I haven't found it to be necessary as far as compatibility goes.
@8600gt.. it should be fine. I'm still using one on my older dfi system.. just try to get a gddr3 card if possible. The 8600 series just gets a bad rap from enthusiasts who play games like crysis and do intensive graphics work. It's kinda underachieving compared to their other *600 series, but it's fine for casual use.

You can use an AMD processor, and still have an Intel based board, see: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6813131323 it's an amd cpu socket, but still uses intel north bridge. Now, I'm not sure if pelle.k meant to avoid AMD processors or not, but I think they are just fine, if a bit more power hungry than the modern intel processors.

pelle.k · 2008-09-21 01:03:08

Hmm not sure why you say this.. I haven't had any problems with amd+linux from personal experience at least.

I say this because intel have a long history of supporting OSS, and linux in general. I'm not dragging AMD in the dirt here. I couldn't care less about whether its an amd or intel CPU actually.
It's just that *mainboards* for intel CPUs are more often than not equipped with intel north/south bridges, and that means that it'll be supported, just as long as the mainboard manufacturer doesn't throw in any odd component should they feel like it.
I imagine that as long as you choose a nvida north/southbridge on any given AMD mainboard you should be OK, but stay away from SIS, ALI etc.

AD28 · 2008-09-21 01:13:05

Well just for reference, my socket A board does use nforce, but I haven't had any problems with the amd 790fx/sb*00 chipsets either.

SiC · 2008-09-21 04:47:39

My main desktop specs are below. I do a lot of CPU and memory intensive matlab simulations on it and the performance is fine, I think the argument between AMD/Intel is pretty much neither here nor there. AMD will get you more performance/£ but Intel will get you more performance for the same clock speed (as a general rule). With regards to graphics card, I find nVidia to be better, for example I can do things like run vlc when compiz enabled, whereas with my ATI card I have to change to metacity or something otherwise I get tearing.

The best thing you can do is look at your budget and get the best components you can afford, pick your CPU type, then get the best motherboard you can, then get your graphics card. After that throw in as much memory as you can get.

kevin89 · 2008-09-21 10:30:20

Just a suggestion: if you use this rig as a workstation, put a silent gfx card inside... like a 8600GT Silent. It's much quieter and should be sufficient for your needs

tigrmesh · 2008-09-22 01:35:26

Not all sound cards are supported in linux. My suggestion is to look for a sound card that is, even if you think you won't be playing music on your box. My sound card is not supported (laptop), and I mostly don't mind. Every so often a kernel hacker will speak at google, and I'll want to watch the video, but I have to watch it in Windows...

skottish · 2008-09-22 02:21:55

A while back I needed a new motherboard and read somewhere that Gigabyte boards were really good and didn't cost too much. I ended up with a GA-M55PLUS-S3G board (AMD). It was inexpensive and has performed flawlessly since the day I built the machine. I will definitely look at Gigabyte boards when I build my next machine.

zenlord · 2008-09-22 14:09:42

If you won't be gaming on the desktop, then don't bother buying a graphics card. Buy an onboard solution.

I personally prefer Intel since they OS'ed their drivers. I am still working on an AMD myself, but once this one dies, it'll be Intel all the way for me.

The new G45 is a very good chipset and has a lot of capabilities in video processing. The drivers have not been finished completely (optimization is still ongoing), but are workable.

My suggestion:
- Intel, Asus or Gigabyte G45 Mainbord (with passive NB and SB)
- Intel C2D 8xxx or 9xxx
- 4GB or more DDR2 RAM (cheap as hell nowadays)
- 1 raptor + data disk OR several disks in RAID

The HD is a serious bottleneck in today's desktop. So do yourself a favour and shelf out a little more for a decent hard disk or a RAID setup (the Intel ICH10-R southbridge is not a hardware RAID-solution, but will perform good enough - if you have around $200, you could buy a hardware RAID-card).

Zl.

funkyou · 2008-09-22 17:03:34

I second that. Just updated my main machine with...

- Intel C2D E8500
- ASRock G43Twins-FullHD (Intel G43)
- 4GB Ram

... and it was a good investment. Everything works perfectly and is pretty fast , and it wasnt that expensive too... The intel X4500 is my fastest "KDE4 2D experience" so far, although there are still some problems with 3D accelleration... But hey, its a new chipset and will take some time until its working perfectly.

The ASRock board is pretty nice, although its made by one of these "cheap" manufacturers, and it has a good bios with a sh*tload of options and is pretty solid... I did some recherche on G43/G45 boards, the Asus boards have a special soundchip which isnt supported by alsa (and maybe never will be supported, because its some "special Asus stuff"). The gigabyte boards were not very nice in terms of memory compatibility and had lesser features than the ASRock board...

To conclude this... If you need some fast stuff that works perfectly on linux, go with intel. The board/cpu/ram combination i listed above is pretty cheap currently, has a lot of power and supports all new fancy CPU's too. Also, if you arent a gamer, go with intel onboard graphics - most new stuff in Xorg will be implemented in the intel drivers at first, which is pretty nice... And if you really need a fat graphics card, you have always the option to use one, as most boards have a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot anyways...

Ah, and if you need a fast hdd, check the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3320613AS (320GB, SATA2, 16MB Cache). Its the second fastest one out there, after the velociraptor, but pretty cheap too

skottish · 2008-09-22 17:48:59

funkyou wrote:

Ah, and if you need a fast hdd, check the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3320613AS (320GB, SATA2, 16MB Cache). Its the second fastest one out there, after the velociraptor, but pretty cheap too

I have a pair of Barracuda 500GB drives and they work flawlessly.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-09-19 20:12:49

Best hardware?

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