Giles, thanks for reply.
My remarks, questions below.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: Giles Orr
To: Steve Petrie, P.Eng. ; GTALUG Talk
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: [GTALUG] New Deaktop PC -- To Run debian Linux - PCPartPicker
Recipe;
On 27 March 2018 at 09:08, Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk <[email protected]>
wrote:
Greetings To GTALUG,
At long last I have created a final build recipe for my new desktop PC to
run debian Linux. Replacing an ancient Dell PC running WIndows XP:
a.. https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Steve_Petrie/saved/#view=krFNNG
The configuration is an Asus LGA1151 socket motherboard with Intel i5-6500
CPU and 16 GB DDR4 memory..
A dialup modem remains to be added: US Robotics USR5637 V.92 USB Faxmodem
Comments welcome.
* * *
* * *
My plan is to be ordering the parts by Friday 30 March or or Monday 2 April
at the latest. The HP PS/2 keyboard and HP PS/2 mouse are already ordered (from
PC-Canada) but that order is still on hold, pending addition of items to the
order..
It's probably too late to convince you of this (as I suspect it would
strongly imply a move to a newer and more expensive processor) but getting
USB-C and USB3.1 on the motherboard would be good. You can _probably_ get a
PCI-E card later, but I wonder if it will fully support USB-C's relatively
complex alt-modes and etc. Of course, it may not support them on the
motherboard either, but I think it's worth a try.
***Good points. I will look into a possible motherboard upgrade to add USB-C
and USB3.1.
I'd also encourage you - fairly strongly - to not get PS/2 accessories.
You're already encountering one of the problems, trying to plug two devices
into one port - I suspect that won't go well for you. Not only is USB much
more versatile, it's much easier to "split," and add more ports.
***
*** I know that PS/2 is an ancient interface. I only chose PS/2 because it is
my understanding that a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combination is better supported
and earlier, during the actual Linux boot process, than a USB keyboard and
mouse combination. So PS/2 keyboard and mouse offer more liklihood of
functionality when there are Linux boot problems.
*** I also understand that USB keyboards and mice, take far more and more
complex software drivers to be loaded before keyboard and mouse functionality
appears. So a non-bootong Linux may not offer a functional USB keyboard / mouse
service, whereas a PS/2 cpmbination might already be alive and functional.
*** If I'm wrong on this PS/2 versus USB keyboard / mouse boot-friendliness
business, I will happily switch to using USB keyboard / mouse.
And finally, I'm in awe of your memory strategy. But I totally agree: max
out every slot - when you can afford it. That's the way to go. And 16G is
already a decent baseline.
*** Confession: Actually, the choice of a single 16 GB memory DIMM came about
at the end of an arduous and desperate search for ANY memory available in
Canada at reasonable price, that is listed on the Asus motherboard's memory QVL
(qualified vendor list).
*** But yes, I'm not unhappy to be keeping the full 64GB address space open.
*** Is it just a superstition that I read somewhere, that there is there a
memory access speed advantage, to using more DIMMs to get the desired total
memory size ?? For example, that a dual-DIMM 2x8GB configuration provides
faster memory access than a single DIMM 1x16GB ??
--
Giles
https://www.gilesorr.com/
[email protected]---
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