Hello Giles, Thanks for your response. My comments are inline below. Steve ----- Original Message ----- From: "Giles Orr via talk" <talk@gtalug.org> To: "GTALUG Talk" <talk@gtalug.org> Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 11:49 AM Subject: Re: [GTALUG] Advice -- Building Debian 8 PC To Replace Win XP PC;
On 25 July 2016 at 10:47, Steve Petrie, P.Eng. via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
Warm Greetings To GTALUG,
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----------------- ----------------- CPU Intel 4-Core i5-4460 3.2GHz Processor, 64-bit, 6 MB cache, max 32 GB RAM, HD graphics; CPU Cooler Noctua NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler, height w/fan 158mm, clears RAM & PCIe, PWM control; Motherboard ASRock Z97 EXTREME6 ATX LGA1150 Mainboard, PCIe: 2x 3.0x16, 1x 2.0x16, 2x 2.0x1, 1x mini, Ultra M.2 Gen3 8Gb/s x4 (uses 4x PCIe 3.0 CPU socket lanes), extra large heat sinks; Memory Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracer 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 RAM, 1.35 volt, timings 8-8-8-24; ----------------- Case Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case, 3-speed fan control (max 3 fans), bays: fan 9, drive: 2x5.25", 8x3.5", 2xSSD, CPU cooler height max 180mm, 2 dust filters; Power Supply EVGA SuperNOVA P2 850W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply; ----------------- Solid State Drive Samsung SM951 128GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive, AHCI PCIe Gen3 8Gb/s x4, 256 MB cache, P/N MZHPV128HDGM; Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue Internal Hard Drive 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM 6Gb/s SATA 64MB cache; Optical Drive LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer, SATA, 2/3/4 layers (128GB), 4MB data buffer; ----------------- Video Monitor LG 22MB35DM-I 21.5" Monitor Full HD 1080p 1920x1080 IPS LED Back-lit, DVI-D, D-Sub, contrast ratios: (static 1,000:1), (dynamic 5M:1), reader mode, flicker-safe; Keyboard Dell SK-8110 PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Interface, Black, DP/N 07N242, 104 keys, cable with purple 6 pin mini-DIN male (PS/2 STYLE) connector; Mouse Logitech SBF-96 PS/2 Wired Optical Mouse, 3 Buttons, wheel, cable with green 6 pin mini-DIN male (PS/2 STYLE) connector; ----------------- Dialup Modem US Robotics USR5638 56K* V.92, internal dial-up faxmodem card, (PCIe) PCI Express x1; ----------------- ----------------- Multi-Boot Main Host OS O/S Debian 8 LXDE Linux -- x86_64 (QEMU / KVM host o/s to Win7 x86_64 guest o/s); ISO on DVD (standard Debian installation ISO **NOT LIVE installation ISO**); Guest OS Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Full, 32/64-bit, from ISO on DVD (guest o/s of Deb8); Emergency OS Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Full, 32/64-bit, ISO on DVD (emergency multi-boot); ----------------- ----------------- Cables @@@??? Power Bar @@@??? ----------------- -----------------
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My suggestions: - build it yourself. If you're comfortable mucking around inside a PC, you already have the skills. From my first build I think the only thing that got somewhat alarming was having to get and apply thermal paste to the main processor, and getting the clips on the processor in place. It's a very good way to get to know the PC, and you'll do a better build than any paid tech because it's _yours_.
I understand your point. If I were 40 years younger, and could treat the new PC as an experiment, I would build it myself. However, this is probably going to be the last computer I ever own. And I'm going to be dependent on it for all personal and business uses, so I prefer not to get into the pleasures of building it myself.
- if you really need the dial-up modem, install it (although I suspect Linux support is poor - check it thoroughly). Otherwise, don't bother with it.
I have already done some research and as you say, Linux support is for dial-up modems is not strong e.g. linmodems.org Since I don't use the Internet for music or videos, the slow modem speed is not a big problem for me. Email works fine. Web browsing is often painful, but I just multitask while slow bloated pages load. I do recognise that dial-up is obsiolete. My plan is to upgrade to a DSL service. So dial-up modem support is not essential for the new Linux PC, but I would like to try to get dial-up working, more out of curiosity than necessity. My dial-up ISP performance with the existing PC (Dell Win XP) has deteriorated over the past couple of years. I am interested to find out if dial-up works better on Linux.
- you didn't mention a video card. If the motherboard has one onboard and you're planning to use that, the power supply sounds like overkill (even given the later addition of SCSI stuff ... which I'd suggest avoiding if you can, it's another justifiably dying breed like the modem). Buy a smaller capacity (500W?) and better power supply ... although I admit I'm going on years-old memories, EVGA wasn't one of the best suppliers "back in the day". Something for you to research a bit more perhaps.
Yes, the power supply is overkill for the PC config as specified. I estimate the power load at around 300W so a 500W power supply should be plenty. I'm planning to use the video support on the Intel chipset. But I want spare power in case I decide to get a video card later. Or add other cards e.g. SCSI. The main reason for the 850W power supply is extreme conservatism. I prefer not to operate the power supply at more than 50% of its rated maximum output (after allowing for extra load from later upgrades). But frugality may make me take your advice. I am satisfied that EVGA is a good quality product. It does come with a 3-year warranty.
- BluRay support on Linux is ... limited. You can probably use it for backup, but you won't be able to play back commercial movies. You might use it under Windows.
I don't watch movies. I never owned a TV in my entire life. As you guessed, I need the BluRay optical drive for data purposes e.g software installations, data exchange and maybe backup.
- go with 16G of memory if you can afford it: it's not critical, but you'll probably enjoy it - and it will help a lot with running VMs. But it's also the easiest thing to upgrade later.
I suffered for a few years with slow WinXP speed on my existing Dell PC, because when I bought it, I had let frugality overrule valuation of my time. I almost wept with joy at the much snappier speed, after I installed the Dell memory upgrade :) So I will probably take your very good advice and upgrade the spec to 16 MB RAM.
-- Giles http://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr@gmail.com --- Talk Mailing List talk@gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk