Kerry Waldrip wrote:
>
> I have to upgrade! I'm running MD 7.0 on a Cyrix 166 chip and an antiquated
> video card. I'm going to purchase an Athlon processor, but have no idea for a
> good motherboard. I'd really appreciate some good suggestions. Not a techie
> just yet. TIA!
It is hard to beat ASUS. Rather expensive and worth the extra
cost. Four models are available to you. Choose one without
integrated sound. ABIT cards seem to be one of the Big Issues
for linux support on this and other mailing lists. Microstar
mainboards are OK, and FIC sems to have done a better job on
Athlons than on P-IIIs, but still FIC is at its above-average
best with Super-7 boards.
SB Live! is a great audio card and none can fault the SB PCI 128
either. Keep away from combined sound/modem cards and anything
Aureal/Voyetra/Turtle Beach if you want to avoid problems.
For video cards, I would advise distance from TNT2 and Diamond
cards. They just don't get the idea of open-source at all and
are offering binary drivers to obscure our vision of what happens
in the core of the operating system. There are many good cards
and some even support gaming in 3D. Avoid most built-ins (none
are offered on Athlon systems anyway).
Memory is an important decision. Buy the best you can afford,
and go for quality rather than quantitiy and for certified
memory. PC133 is a MINIMUM specification to seek. If anyone
ever compiles for Athlon code, you will need close adherence to
specs.
Disk Drives--If IDE type, get IBM or Quantum(not BigFoot), and
buy the better quality. Make sure you put cooling fans on them
and buy some extras to swap in when the original fans wear out
(15-18 months) IF SCSI type, almost any brand will do.
These answers are from my experience with over 400 systems in all
sorts of configurations. The mileage of others will vary widely.
Civileme
