teacher Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 This is it. I am buying a new computer. I know pretty well what I would buy in the w****** world, but I want to put together a system I can dual boot. I just can't quite get rid of W.... yet. I am thinking along the lines of an Intel motherboard such as the D845PEBT2 with the P4 HT processor and a decent graphics acceleration card. Sound: This one has it built in. Is it better or worse to have it built into the motherboard? I want at least 4 USB ports, with at lesat 2 USB 2.0.This particular motherboard has pretty much all of that as well as the lan connection. Any other ideas? I will put a DVD player and a CD-RW drive in. I probably will pull the CD-RW from this one and let hubby have the old one since he will be staying in windows. I will probably get a new case because I want to make sure I have a decent power supply and I am tired of the cases I have. They are not designed for the newer fans anyway. I want real recommendations on power because I do not want to scrimp here and trash my system.So, here is your change to give me your recommendations. One catch. I am a tight-wad. I don't want to spend a penny more than necessary to put the system together. This is not a no expense is too much operation but I want the best of everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Buying an Intel board should be no problem, although I'm not sure how well integrated LAN works with Linux (never tried)... I'd look at probably an Nvidia FX5600 (I think that's the right number) video card... It'll give you very good performance without breaking the bank. Shouldn't need more than 350W power supply (although if you find a good case with a 400W that works too)... At least 512Mb of RAM (more if you want to spend it). The sound issue depends more on how good you want it to sound... If you listen to quite a bit, spend $40 on a SoundBlaster Live. Easy to setup in Linux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nlinecomputers Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Linux will not care if any part is intergrated or not. They don't work any differently electronicly or logicly. As long as you've got drivers it will work. I would compare your hardware to what ever hardware lists exist for your distro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 One more thought (especially since you're money conscious): Maybe look at an AMD system? Find a motherboard with the Nvidia Nforce2 chipset (they have a Linux driver), and go that route? If you're an Intel fan, that's fine, but you can get an Athlon XP2800/3000 with board for quite a bit cheaper than you can get an Intel P4 3.0Ghz w/board. Just a thought. Nothing wrong with Intel (they just tend to be a bit more expensive). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peachy Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Julia,You can't go wrong with an Intel motherboard, stable and works with all operating systems. My preference is for ASUS motherboards, but they are more than you might want to pay. The onboard sound on the Intel boards is surprisingly good and Linux has no problems with it. Although, you can't beat a SoundBlaster Live! or Audigy2. Pretty much any NVIDIA or ATI card will work. Again, it all depends on your willingness to pay for high fps in First Person Shooter games. You'll probably get decent prices for NVIDIA GeForce 4200 cards or ATI Radeon 7500 cards at this time. Again my preference is Matrox and the Millenium P650 would give you great visual quality, although not as fast in 3D games as the other cards. As for power, I'd recommend getting a case/power supply combo that has an Antec, Vantech, or Enermax powersupply. Don't compromise on the power supply. Antec makes good cases. Ryan, the onboard Ethernet controller on the Intel boards is definitely compatible with Linux; all our P4 systems at the college have Intel boards and onboard Intel Ethernet and they work well in all our operating systems. In fact, Intel probably makes the most compatible Ethernet controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Thanks Peachy... didn't know if there were good drivers out there for the on-board LAN or not... Although if you don't go on-board LAN, make sure you look at the hardware list for cards and get one that's supported! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 25, 2003 Author Share Posted June 25, 2003 Thanks for the thoughts Ryan. I have done the AMD three times. I will never do that again. Every single one I have had developed problems, mostly I think due to overheating. I want this to be a system that lasts until I am screaming that it is time for it to die. Not that I would do that. You are right on RAM. Even this dog I have now has 3/4 GB in it. I just don't scrimp there.I put this particularly motherboard in my daughter's computer. I happen to like it. If I can do that for her, why not for me. Poor hubby has to use the leftovers. I might move him up to at least a P4, poor guy. All I have to do is tell him it is newer and faster and he will be happy. Solitaire will still play fine. Peachy, thanks for your thoughts. I prefer a separate sound card. In fact, I am not quite sure how I ended up with a built in sound card, sound blaster card, and a TV out in my current computer, but it definitely has made me think about sound. I know daughter's has decent sound. I am not picky about sound, as long as their is no static, background noise, hiss, squeal, or other things that are not suppose to be there, I am fine. Speakers usually are never turned up over 1/4 of the way on my computers. I listen to an occasional CD but I don't rip music and I don't play MP3s. Just an old fashioned gal. That reminds me, I need a new needle for my stereo record player. Maybe I need to ask Jeber if those still exist! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Hi Julia,What a great idea! I know you will do fine. Here's a good thought: you can go to these sites, look at all the available options/components, and then pick and choose, and surf around (using Firebird), to find the best deals. Falcon NWAlienwareVoodoo PCHave "mega-fun". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 25, 2003 Share Posted June 25, 2003 Hi JuliaI passed that board through Google/Linux and got a few worries, it seems that there were problems in combination with certain harddrives and you had to patch the kernel and get special drivers for it. Other info said : The answer has arrived! Mandrake Linux 9.1 (now in production release) supports the hardware! Woohoo! We were able to easily set up the new serverMeaning only the latest kernel versions are suited for this board.The Mandrake Hardware Database ( your main distro will be Mandrake ) does not show this board for 9.1. The: D815EEA,JN440BX, L440GX+, SCB2, SE440BX, SE440BX-2, T440BX and VC820 are listed, but not the D845PEBT2. ( which does not mean it 100% would not work )Best advice here is run the Knoppix CD on your daughters computer and see if you have internet and sound.On board sound gives good results in Mandrake as long as you don´t plug in an extra soundcard without disabling the on-board one. On board LAN is perfect, a nice midrange Nvidia video card tops it off nicely ( altough you´ll have to install the drivers for it yourself each time if you use the download version of Mandrake, the packed Mandrake installs them for you ).Peachy is right on the power supply, better get a good one that does not make to much noise aswell.The RAM: more then 1G can give problems at install, ( does not have to, but can )What I missed in your shopping list: the HD ! Get yourself a nice 60 or 80 G HD to be able to get some different distro´s next to the usual XP.NOTES:Always check the hardware database !Never buy anything that is just very recently available, Linux support is always a few month behind. Hardware makers are mostly only focused on Windows, only once the goods are on the market Linux devellopers get the chance to make the drivers and the support for it in the kernel. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Hard drives? Actually I was thinking of two hard drives - one for each OS. I thought somewhere in the 60 - 100 range, depending upon prices would do fine. Okay, I will keep the ram under 1 GB. I probably will start off with 3/4 GB and hope that will do well enough. Price shopping will have to come next I guess. Quint - it always fun computer shopping. I get teased around here about naturally steering towards computer stores and hardware stores. I know that is not your average gal, but it is me. I do girly stuff too though. Don't want to ruin a manicure putting in a card or whatever, but I know how to be careful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Hard drives? Actually I was thinking of two hard drives - one for each OS. I thought somewhere in the 60 - 100 range, depending upon prices would do fine.  Okay, I will keep the ram under 1 GB. I probably will start off with 3/4 GB and hope that will do well enough. Price shopping will have to come next I guess. Quint - it always fun computer shopping. I get teased around here about naturally steering towards computer stores and hardware stores. I know that is not your average gal, but it is me. I do girly stuff too though. Don't want to ruin a manicure putting in a card or whatever, but I know how to be careful! Hi Julia,My kind of woman...but don't the nails get in the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henderrob Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 You probably know this already but the big name computers may only give you your Windows OS as a recovery disk.. I've heard that their warranties don't like dual-booting either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Quint - those are wicked nails. Actually I keep mine just a little shorter than that! They can't hit the wrong keys on the keyboard, after all. Like the color of the knit though!Henderrob, I am not looking at a pre-built from a major vendor. I don't want all the excess baggage! I have spent too much time taking baggage off computers for folks. I want the most real computer for my dollar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Is there a Mandrake Live Distro? I know I have Slack and Knoppix on Live. Which one would actually be better to test the motherboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfProRM Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 No Mandrake live I would say either, but if you can get Knoppix to work, you'd definitely be set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 JuliaAs you have both the Debian and Slack CD, why not try them both and give us a nice little report on how they are doing ? Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tranquilo Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Is there a Mandrake Live Distro? I know I have Slack and Knoppix on Live. Which one would actually be better to test the motherboard?You can try MiniCD along with Knoppix and Slackware-live, since it is based on Mandrake.http://minicd.berlios.de/HTHtranquilo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Next question: I am searching various web sites trying to decide where to buy parts. I thought we had a thread at some point where folks listed their favorite places for hardware over in that forum, but am unable to find one. Since I am doing a lot of comparison shopping, what do you recommend?P.S. All you that build computers for a living, feel free to send me a PM if you want to try to sell me one. If it won't run Linux, don't bother! Someone called me a Linux Addict today. Won't say who the penguin is though. Just because I lamented about needing to boot into W**** for my husband for an hour today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Nice tip tranquilo, I will add that one to the list in the Tips for Linux Starters. ! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 You can try MiniCD along with Knoppix and Slackware-live, since it is based on Mandrake.http://minicd.berlios.de/HTHtranquilo Adding it to my collection now. Just wait until daughter goes to work on Saturday. Her computer becomes fair game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Adding it to my collection now. Just wait until daughter goes to work on Saturday. Her computer becomes fair game!Mom, how did Linux get on my computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Another great one Quint. Do you think she would be smiling at the discovery? Of course, you better add about 10 years to the age there! Once they get to be college age, they think they are pretty grown up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 All kid love Linux Julia . . wait till you start Linux at school ! You will get them just as fanatic as us here on the forum ! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quint Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Julia quote: Do you think she would be smiling at the discovery?It was Slackware 9.0 .Of course, you better add about 10 years to the age there! Once they get to be college age, they think they are pretty grown up!Was all I could find on Google...just deduct 10 years from your age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Quint - it is a real secret how old I am...... I would never tell. How would you know what is 10 years less? Is that what you thought the picture was? That must make me about 21! Oh, you mean just pretend I am 10 years younger. I must be a little slow.In May the school technies told me they would never allow Linux on any of their computers. Of course, they don't remember the two I did not send off to the surplus auction. Just as soon as I figure out how to use Linux with Novel. I know it is coming..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Quint - it is a real secret how old I am...... I would never tell.Quint, I´m sending you a PM right now ! :DB) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 Quint, I´m sending you a PM right now !Okay, who is telling whom? <quickly running to change profile> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 What about your hardware Julia ? Any progress to report to us ?? Bruno* quickly changing the subject Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teacher Posted June 26, 2003 Author Share Posted June 26, 2003 The hardware guide has a dismal list to look at. I am just going to go try one or two or three live CDs on daughter's computer to see how they work since I like her motherboard. There is a newer motherboard out there but I will try to stay away from the bleeding edge, lest I bleed all over my computer. Still trying to figure out where to get the best deals. I know what I want in a case and thought about starting there. Might have to finish there as I decide how much more money I am willing to spend.Was that a fast enough change back to on subject? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted June 26, 2003 Share Posted June 26, 2003 Julia,Found the right case for you: The Tux CaseB) Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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