PC Upgrade

[DaveG]

Building a new PC.
(XP and FU to f.v.comp.linux)

It's years since I built a new PC so I'm out of touch now with
motherboards and CPU specs.

Obviously, posting in the Linux group means I'll not be running Windows
on it :-)

So, I'm interested in suggestions for a m/b which is FreeBSD/Linux
friendly, ie the onboard hardware is properly supported. I'd prefer to
stick with Intel for the CPU and unless the onboard gfx is a supported
nvdidia chipset with dual head capability then onboard gfx is out (in
which case, a nice dual head nvidia GFX card recommendation will also be
appreciated).

Since this is going to be my new main PC I'm looking for fast, multicore.
CPU spec. are getting confusing now. It's not just clock speed anymore.

Do I want an dual core @ 2.99GHz or quad core @ 2.66GHz?

Do I want i5 3.2GHz with 4MB cache or i6 2.66GHz with 8MB cache.

I'm not really as gamer as such. It's general desktop use which will
include some serious photo scanning and editing at high DPI, video
editing and conversion, messing with emulators. I'll probably run WinXP
in VirtualBox for one or two apps.

Price is an object, but not much of a one. I'm not planning on spending
a grand here, but I'm also not looking at bottom end budget stuff. I'll
be building an entire system too. No re-use of old parts.

TIA

Dave

[Tom Gardner]

Post by DaveG
Building a new PC.
(XP and FU to f.v.comp.linux)
It's years since I built a new PC so I'm out of touch now with
motherboards and CPU specs.
Obviously, posting in the Linux group means I'll not be running Windows
on it :-)
So, I'm interested in suggestions for a m/b which is FreeBSD/Linux
friendly,

Choose your distro, look at that distro's hardware compatibility
database.
Dual core is wrth it. Quad core may be beneficial provided
that your key application(s) can make use of more than one thread.

For many cases the disk bandwidth is the limiting factor - so have lots of ram.

[DaveG]

Post by Tom Gardner

Post by DaveG
Building a new PC.
(XP and FU to f.v.comp.linux)
It's years since I built a new PC so I'm out of touch now with
motherboards and CPU specs.
Obviously, posting in the Linux group means I'll not be running Windows
on it :-)
So, I'm interested in suggestions for a m/b which is FreeBSD/Linux
friendly,

Choose your distro, look at that distro's hardware compatibility
database.

FreeBSD, possibly go with 8 rather than 7, so not technically a "distro",
and yes, I've done that. Hence the reason for asking for recommendations
rather than pick some random motherboard, search for the full tech specs
and cross multiple reference chipsets from each and every m/b with a list

Post by Tom Gardner
Dual core is wrth it. Quad core may be beneficial provided that your key
application(s) can make use of more than one thread.

...or are running concurrently with other applications.

Post by Tom Gardner
For many cases the disk bandwidth is the limiting factor - so have lots of ram.

I'm planning for 8GB of DDR3 1033 and 500GB SATA2.

I'm also planning updating the server box, probably 4 or 5 1TB SAS drives
in RAID5 or 6 but since that's basically a filestore with seconday
functions as print server, auth server and mail store/server it doesn't
need anything special although I think I'll upgrade to a gig switch since
the new kit is all gig ethernet anyway.

[Ericp]

Post by DaveG
Building a new PC.
(XP and FU to f.v.comp.linux)

(Snip pleading & begging)

Post by DaveG
TIA
Dave

Have you tried serious prayer on this one old boy???

[DaveG]

Post by Ericp

Post by DaveG
Building a new PC.
(XP and FU to f.v.comp.linux)

(Snip pleading & begging)
Have you tried serious prayer on this one old boy???

Nah. I don't "do" the Sky Pixie stuff :-)

[Mike Jones]

Post by DaveG
Building a new PC.
(XP and FU to f.v.comp.linux)
It's years since I built a new PC so I'm out of touch now with
motherboards and CPU specs.
Obviously, posting in the Linux group means I'll not be running Windows
on it :-)
So, I'm interested in suggestions for a m/b which is FreeBSD/Linux
friendly, ie the onboard hardware is properly supported. I'd prefer to
stick with Intel for the CPU and unless the onboard gfx is a supported
nvdidia chipset with dual head capability then onboard gfx is out (in
which case, a nice dual head nvidia GFX card recommendation will also be
appreciated).
Since this is going to be my new main PC I'm looking for fast,
multicore. CPU spec. are getting confusing now. It's not just clock
speed anymore.
Do I want i5 3.2GHz with 4MB cache or i6 2.66GHz with 8MB cache.
I'm not really as gamer as such. It's general desktop use which will
include some serious photo scanning and editing at high DPI, video
editing and conversion, messing with emulators. I'll probably run WinXP
in VirtualBox for one or two apps.
Price is an object, but not much of a one. I'm not planning on spending
a grand here, but I'm also not looking at bottom end budget stuff. I'll
be building an entire system too. No re-use of old parts.
TIA
Dave

When you get where you're heading, post up the final details.

Ta. :)