Grant <emailgr...@gmail.com> [11-07-03 01:12]: > >>> The most important thing is reliability and Linux compatibility but I > >>> also need HDMI and I figure USB 3.0 is a good idea. The system is for > >>> playing music and movies, no gaming whatsoever. If you're familiar > >>> with the current hardware scene, where would you go from here as far > >>> as a motherboard and other components? Any features a Gentoo'er > >>> should look for? > >>> > >>> - Grant > >> > >> Is Nvidia still the way to go instead of ATI? > > > > Yep. Unless you have old ATI hardware. Current hardware doesn't work well. > > Since he wants to buy new stuff, NVidia is recommended. > > That's what I was afraid of. The fact that Nvidia has stopped making > onboard video will pose a problem. I could install an Nvidia video > card but I'm trying to keep temps low and I don't want a third fan in > the case. > > - Grant >
Hi Grant, half a year ago my motherboard lost its blue smoke and I had to buy a new PC (the rest of the old one was outdated). One of my thoughts was: No graphics card with a fan! But the guy in the store said, that graphics cards without a fan has a problem: Either they are to slow (less heat) to be bought by the people or they are fast enough to be bought, but they will die sooner/easier due to a too hot GPU. He gave me a card with fans and said: "If you hear something too loud -- bring it back." I tested the card and: Nothing. The only thing I hear is the very quiet fan of the PC case. The card is a: MSI N430GT PCI Express 2.0. It has two fans, which means lesser noise since both fans can run at lower speed. You said, you will not need a gamer graphics card. But if you are a fan of rendering (Blender,Luxrendere etc...) you may consider a card with more muscles since GPU based rendering is the way to go. BUT: When reading the driver informations from nvidia I found that the sections saying "Added support for...." are still missing the GT 430. I dont know whether this has any impact to you work -- the card runs well with Linux and the OpenGL-based Blender does not have any problems (its GPU based render engine is currently under development so I didnt test that...) If you are intereseted in the setup of my PC, post me a mail! Best regards, mcc
