Rikona,
I'm replying in-line.
rikona wrote:
DL> Asking this question is like asking to start a flame war.
Didn't mean to do that.....
No, I realize that you didn't mean to, I just figured that all the
lurkers would jump in on this thread and voice their opinions, which
would lead to an argument. It happens for the strangest of reasons.
DL> I suppose having a lot of info would give you a good basis for
DL> your choices.
It helps a lot.
DL> First, go with Asus and try to pick a board that doesn't use an
DL> SiS chipset... There have also been some problems with NVidia
DL> chipsets,
Thanks for the heads-up. I've been looking at Via chipset boards. They
have had good results in the past, but the info on the wiki is about 2
generations old. The MD hardware info seems to be about 1 generation
old, and I can't seem to find anybody still selling those boards. Of
note is that the MD site does NOT list any Via chipsets for 2006. Is
there something that makes them not work with 2006?
Either MD forgot to mention them or they just work so well that it
wasn't worth putting on the site, but I have absolutely no problems with
Asus motherboards, Via chipsets and Linux.
I also like Asus, other than their somewhat anti-linux stand....
DL> Second, If you decide to go with an Intel CPU (my personal
DL> choice), make sure that the board supports Pentium D or Dual Core
DL> CPU's.
I'm getting over my beef with Intel, and would consider it. Whatever
works easily and reliably.... :-)
I didn't know you had any beefs with them. I'm an AMD fan from way back,
but my clients make the choices most of the time and the Intel's have
been flawless for me over the last 7 or 8 years. In all that time, I've
only had one that was bad and that was due to shipping damage.
On a side note, do yourself and your friend a BIG favour. No matter
which CPU you go with, buy a tube of 'Arctic Silver' thermal paste and
put a layer of it between the CPU and the heat sink on the CPU cooling
fan. It is made of a combination of ground silver and lithium grease and
does a much better job than the standard stuff the factory uses.
Also, you should be able to get your supplier to mount the CPU and Ram
before you take it with you and they can do a test boot to make sure
that everything works before you take it home. It might cost you a few
dollars (more often than not, they won't charge you anything for that),
but you'll know that they work and there won't be any question about
whether you damaged anything during the assembly.
DL> If she goes with a Pentium D (dual-core) CPU (Or if she decides to
DL> upgrade to one later), she'll be able to run a lot more intensive
DL> apps at the same time. The Pentium D essentially has 2 CPU cores
DL> on board, each with 2MB's of CPU cache and each one is capable of
DL> handling Hyper-Threading, so it really means that she can run
DL> twice as many apps at the same time, if she wants to.
She's not (yet) an intensive user, but seems to be getting into it
more and more. Perhaps watching the first few DVD's will do it. :-)
Yup. Very true. I recommend a P4 at least, with 1 MB of CPU cache as a
minimum. That way she won't be in a hurry to upgrade and the system will
do a very nice, smooth job of DVD playback. Multimedia apps can suck the
life out of a system almost as fast as onboard video adapters, so get
her a decent CPU and save yourself some hassles.
DL> Using a SATA drive shouldn't be a problem as long as you stay away
DL> from the SiS and NVidia chipsets (as mentioned above).
Will do. It seems as though SATA is taking over.....
Definitely. Faster and usually equipped with onboard raid for the same
price as a normal board? Not a hard decision when you look at it that way.
DL> I also recommend a PCI-X video slot and the NVidia video cards
DL> seem to be great in Linux. Not many people are having issues with
DL> them, while the ATI ones are really a PITA to setup.
Thanks....
DL> Don't waste your time with an onboard video adapter.
I wasn't thinking of that solution, although she was using an S3 card,
IIRC, and doesn't complain. Without gaming, it would seem as though it
is ok - but when video comes, it might be a rather different story.
Trust me. It will become a major issue when she tries to do more and
more with this new system. It's a natural thing when you see your new
computer running much faster - you just gotta try it out and push the
limits. Video is where a lot of the work on a PC takes place, more than
most other things. A cheap NVidia card with 128 MB's of ram will run her
about $60.00 Canadian and will make a huge difference in how fast the
system runs, especialy when she's running several apps in the background
while watching a DVD or working with Gimp or something similar.
DL> This set of hardware should last for at least 5 years
This is the time scale we have been talking about - you're right in
step...
You have no idea how many of my clients ask me that question! Grin! The
lifespan of a PC has a lot to do with the quality of the parts.
DL> and she doesn't have to worry about replacing the whole system if
DL> she decides to upgrade
That will probably be my job. :-))
Yup! Grin!
DL> Last thing to note - If you change the case, make sure that the
DL> Power Supply supports P4's and has at least 450 to 500 watts
DL> available. A good power supply will go a long way towards having a
DL> stable system.
True. Thanks for the estimate of what is required.
That was a very nice short summary. Again, many thanks....
NP Rikona. Glad to help.
DL
____________________________________________________
Want to buy your Pack or Services from Mandriva?
Go to http://store.mandriva.com
Join the Club : http://www.mandrivaclub.com
____________________________________________________
