Ah, what's a newbie to do in searching for the best box :-)). Thanks to Randy, Sridhar, Tom, Charles and Civileme for quick responses to my query about some boxes being offered by Cyclox Computers. OK, I've calmed down on the RAID configuration. Clearly I'm not ready for RAID (or RAID's not ready for me). I'm confused on the Socket A 'standard' configuration choice, though. Back in June I asked about the Asus A7A266/Ali MAGiK 1 chipset combo. Civileme's assessment is appended below (you'll recall that, at the time, there was [still is?] some bugs with some of the VIA chipsets). I read it as quite positive. Charles suggests, however, that the AMD Socket A/Ali performance is not good. Tom made the excellent suggestion that I review what AMD was recommending. They reccommend 4 Asus boards three of which use the VIA KT133 chipset and the other the AMD-761/VIA-686B. The only recommended board that uses the Ali chipset is one offered by EliteGroup. How do I interpret this info? Tom (in a note in June) and Charles both suggest rolling my own. That may be wise but I've never done it before (well I did hand modify my Kaypro - cutting some traces on the mobo -soldering in a new clock - but that was a long time ago!). If I do assemble the pieces where do I start for system recommendations? The Duke of URL? Thanks. Terry Smith Woods Hole, MA civileme wrote: > > On Wednesday 27 June 2001 17:38, Terrence Smith wrote: > > I'm still a relatively new 'newbie' but making steady progress! > > > > I value the list, am delighted to be learning a new way to compute > > (back to my roots so to speak), etc., etc. > > > > I've got a brain-damaged Compaq box at home that barely manages to > > run LM 8.0 and so have been looking about for a 'genuwine' linux > > box. > > > > The motherboard/chipset discussion is most valuable and I thank the > > list and especially Civileme for their advice. > > > > I'm currently looking at a box put together by an outfit called > > Cyclox (www.cyclox.com). > > > > They have a 'workstation' model thus: > > > > Asus Mobo (must be the A7A266 AliMAGiK 1 DDR) although they don't > > say so. It has > > the AliM1647 Northbridge and ALIM1535D+ SouthBridge controllers > > 266 mhz FSB > > 2 DIMSS for DDR SDRAM > > 3 DIMMS for PC133 DDRAM > > C-media CMI-8738 audio chip (onboard) > > AGP Pro slot with AGP 4X support > > 5 PCI, up to 6 USB, 2 ser, 1 par > > Dual channel bus master w/ ATA-33/66/100 support > > ATX form > > > > My two questions: > > > > Does this mobo/chipset set have the problems with linux > > performance/stability that we've been hearing about? > > Nope. It is a hot box right on the bleeding edge. Equip it properly > and clock conservatively and you should have good service. Been a > while since I saw an ALi chipset, but they were very good in > everything but Acer Compuers, and those folks made enough money to > buy Texas Instruments. I haven't seen the TI/Acer Notebooks lately > either, but then I am living in France. > > Civileme > > > > > Anybody dealt with this company? > > No, but I would be concerned about something in their Ads. They are > selling VULNERABLE IBM Notebooks with RH installed. RH installs > lm_utils by default and anyone who uses them to check battery power > on most IBM Laptops will be sending it back to the factory for a new > Motherboard. George Staikos of kde.org provided information to us > and to RH about the threat to certain models of IBM notebooks. Our > lm_utils are excluded by default. You have to hunt them down. > Anyway, cyclox is selling those notebooks with RH and may find itself > in financial difficulties with warranty matters. Other than that, > their page seems a bit on the glitzy side, but more intelligent than > most "sell-a-brick-and-call-it-an-ATA-733-brick" operations. > > > > > TIA. > > > > Terry Smith > > Woods Hole, MA-
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