Building a new computer

[linux r]

Bruce,  
 A few thoughts for what it's worth.  

1.  Most of the problems are going to come from wanting to run really
new and old hardware together.  For example, a DVD burner with older
hardware will likely give you some issues that are real time-wasters. 
Sounds like you are on board with good hardware though.  That'll be
good, since M$ operating systems drain system resources like (fill in
analogy here)....

2.  The other thing is cost.  For example I was going to build a box
for someone a while back but I (as an individual) was unable to buy
parts and assemble a box for as cheap as just going out and buying a
Dell or something.  Determine what dollar figure is too much, say,
$500 or something, and make sure you stay within.  I have seen someone
spend $1200 on building a box with all the latest and greatest---real
macho but stupid when you can buy a heck of a machine and just
customize the order without ever getting your hands dirty.

3.  Talk to some LUG people about what they have seen and done.  Maybe
you will luck out and someone in your LUG will have or be able to demo
a machine for not too much.  I haven't spec'd out this machine, but it
really helps to see what people have done already.

4.   sites:

walmart.com  (look under pc's without Os-es for about $250 i hear)
http://www.tomshardware.com/
redhat.com  (search for hardware compatibility list-- HCL)
linuxmigration.com   (highly recommended - also site has good burner
tutorial etc.)
http://www.xandros.com/

5.  If you are able to convince your wife that she could still run
windows apps in a linux environment, you could set up a very
businessline Xandros environment that is windows-friendly.  Then,
instead of shelling out hundred$ of dollar$, you could just buy an
application called 'crossover' that will basically supply the windows
api's for windows apps.  Openoffice.org will do most everything else
you want for free.  Then you solve the best of all worlds - get a
windows- looking gui, that is more secure than windows, still runs a
linux kernel, and just wind up shelling out about $60 for the
application.  Whoops!  just checked the xandros site -- looks like you
would get that for free.

6.  If all else fails, at least hardware wise, you can get a lot of
questions answered by talking to a linux vendor about a system. 
NON-RETAIL sales guys deal in the hardware every.single.day and they
would be in the know specifically regarding compatibility.   You could
buy identical hardware.  You could also try buying a 'server' that is
a couple of years old, but still a decent speed machine (with whatever
specs you decide that is).  That might be a happy medium of
not-too-old and not-too-new.  Also the bus is important.  Sometimes
with higher throughput, you get a faster box because of bottlenecks. 
Again, these guys know the hardware a lot better than many people I
know in the Linux world since most of us probably focus on the OS.

7.  I don't see any other hw issues with the parts you mentioned, at
least not off the top of my head.  One other idea might be to get a
machine that is a couple of years old, and rely on the USB for
external DVD burner usage.  In other words, you could treat the DVD as
an 'add on' device.   Out of everything you mentioned, the DVD burner
is probably the newest and least supported thing out there.  If you
could get the system going without it, all you would have to mess with
would be USB support and whatever kernel or driver issues that may or
may not exist for that hardware (or other hardware you could swap if
further problems existed).

Hope that helps

linuxr









On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 10:42:45 -0800, Bruce McDonald
<brucemcdonal at mindspring.com> wrote:
> Hello,
> 
>     I am hoping to build a computer that I can dual boot Linux and Windows
> (Sorry, my wife has programs she uses to assist her in writing that are
> only windows).
> 
> Does anyone know of hardware that has no trouble with Linux, or a good
> source of info about it.  I probably didn't follow google far enough, but
> the sourceforge articles it pointed to were not entirely relevent.
> 
> I would like to use an AMD 64 bit processor Socket 754 (or Socket 939 if it
> doesn't break the bank),  will probably get an ATI All-in-Wonder 9000 Pro
> graphics card, a SoundBlaster Audigy 2ZS, US Robotics 56K Modem, and some
> sort of DVD +-R +-RW drive.
> 
> Any wisdom on if any of this works or doesn't work with Linux would be
> appreciated.
> Also, I may have to step down to a 32 bit processor depending on the overall
> cost of the system, so feel free to comment on those too.
> 
> I am also a bit confused about what I should be looking for on the power
> supply to make sure I am getting one that supports software shutdown.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Regards,
> Bruce
> 
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