This page is for user AugustinMa. I wish to purchase a new computer, and I will put some notes here about suitable hardware. I could do this on a notepad on my own computer, but the interest of doing this publicly on a wiki is that this page may end up showing the thoughtprocess behind such or such hardware decision. The content of this page may later be rewritten into another more general page that will be useful to other users later. If you feel this page in inappropriate on this wiki, contact http:/www.masquilier.org/contact and I'll delete the page myself. Thanks.

Only Debian will be used on this computer :)

Contents

  1. CPU
    1. Dual core
  2. Mainboard
    1. msi k9vgm-v
      1. Reviews
  3. Memory
  4. Graphic card
  5. Case
  6. Power

misc. links

CPU

I want a AMD CPU: they are cheap, performant, and I find it healthy that Intel has a worthy competitor. Actually, if you look at the history of AMD, the company was created precisely to be a competitor of INTEL under an agreement between the latter and IBM.

Socket AM2 seem to be the mainstream and the only sane choice.

The socket AM2 family of CPUs is very large.

Question: The choice of CPU will affect the choice of kernel, no? What if I start with a cheap 32 bit / single core CPU but later upgrade to a 64 bit / Dual core CPU? Will I be able to boot into my system or I would have to install a new kernel?

Dual core

Dual Core Linux Performance: Two Penguins are Better than One http://www.anandtech.com/linux/showdoc.aspx?i=2463

Mainboard

list all the features to look at in a mainboard.

Do we need to pay attention to the chipset for linux kernel compatibility? If so what should we be looking at and how can we know beforehand if it is supported?

Are there any AM2+ mainboard yet? Prices?

AM3 is still for the future.

links:

msi k9vgm-v

I enquired 2 months ago about a low cost computer, and I was advised this board. Anandatech: "The K9VGM-V leads MSI's entry level products for AMD AM2 by combining the VIA ?K8M890 and VT8237R+ chipsets".

links

Reviews

Memory

1G DD2 800Mhz memory seem mainstream. Would 2G be too much for a desktop computer (development, personal web and SQL server, internet browsing, mail, no game, but some video and picture editing is planned).

What's the difference between DIMM and SO-DIMM. Does it matter?

Graphic card

Many mainboard come with an integrated graphic chipset, so we don't need an extra card. But are they good enough?

I want to run:

What is the video chipset on the mainboard?

If I need an external video card, I'll go with nvidia for its good linux drivers (albeit proprietary ones).

Case

Power

== Backups ==

I need to be able to backup the full system. I am thinking to use hard drives for backup instead of DVD. -> do I need to consider a RAID system? see for basic description of RAID: http://www.newegg.com/Product/CategoryIntelligenceArticle.aspx?articleId=193

links