Re: Hardware questions

Conrad Knauer wrote:
> Some questions for the group:
>
> I'm interested in building a 64-bit machine to try out 64-bit Ubuntu,
> but I'm on a limited budget; I have a spare old case with a power
> supply, a spare optical drive, I can reuse my HD and all the
> peripherals including monitor. So, to get started I'd basically just
> need a new motherboard, RAM and a CPU.
>
> I have heard that lately Intel is doing better than AMD; that a
> Core-based CPU is the way to go. Is this correct? :)

The core2 processors are excellent. So are the AMD equivalents. At the
value end there probably isn't much difference.

> I was looking at the OTV PDF
> (http://www.otvtech.com/pricelist/otvpricelist.pdf) and they have an
> Intel board, the DG31PR, which as far as I can tell should be able to
> run compiz, etc. with the onboard video without any proprietary
> drivers :) Are the Intel-branded motherboards considered 'good'
> quality though? Does anyone have this board and recommend for/against
> it?

Intel boards are generally quite good, but often lacking in "enthusiast"
features like overclocking, fine-grained bus speed control, etc.

> For the CPU I would like to get something cheap now and use it until
> I've saved up a bit and the prices of the higher-end ones (e.g. the
> quad cores that would be really nice to have :) come down.

I've only ever upgraded a CPU once. Usually what happens is that
everything else changes at the same time, and by the time I'm ready to
upgrade processors it's tempting to get a new motherboard/RAM as well.

Chris
Received on Fri Sep 5 07:31:16 2008