Hello Don,

My dying tower has 16 GB RAM. I almost never check the RAM usage.

Here is the output of the free command I ran just now on the tower:
...
user@debian:~$ free -m
               total        used        free      shared  buff/cache   available
Mem:           15874        2753         333        5081       12788        7710
Swap:              0           0           0
user@debian:~$ 
...

I don't know much about linux memory management. But I have read that linux live will put some dynamic stuff in RAM.

When Debian 11 live crashes, the LED on the USB flash drive stick with the Debian live on it, keeps flashing forever.  And the mouse becomes unresponsive. Maybe this has something to do with swap file activity ??

The 2 TB SATA drive on the dying tower is already at 51% usage.

* * *
* * *

I decided to go with 32 GB RAM on the new Dell tower as a way to pamper myself. Likewise for the 4 TB disk drive.

Might as well spend the money on myself, rather than leaving it to my heirs :)

Steve Petrie

apetrie@aspetrie.net
416-233-6116

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: Re: [GTALUG] Thanks For Responses -- Buying A Dell Optiplex Tower PC And A Dell Monitor.
Date: 2025-02-17 13:36
From: Don Tai <dontai.canada@gmail.com>
To: GTALUG Talk <talk@gtalug.org>


My laptop has 12G ram, but I notice I hardly ever go above 6G. Do you think you need that much? 4T disk is..eye rolling for me.

On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 at 13:31, Steve Petrie via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

Hello GTALUG,

Thanks to GTALUG members: William Park, D. Hugh Redelmeier, Ron / BCLUG and Howard Gibson for your responses to my message subject "Seeking Recommendations For New Desktop PC -- To Run Debian Linux;". My apologies if I missed any names.

* * *
* * *

I have settled on a Dell Optiplex Tower Model 7020 Plus and a Dell Monitor:

Dell Tower:
-- 32 GB RAM
-- 4 TB SATA Hard Drive
-- No Windows 11

Dell Monitor:
-- 21.4 inch
-- HDMI

Prices before taxes:

Dell Optiplex Tower: CAD $2,021.89
Dell Monitor:            CAD    $119.99
                                =========
                                CAD  $2141.88

No doubt GTALUG members will be choking on their Cheerios, at the pricing.

* * *
* * *

The Asrock motherboard on my present self-built (7 years ago) tower is dying. And I am never going to build another PC. So, I have decided to pillage my bank account, buying a new PC with twice the RAM and twice the disk capacity on my dying tower.

Only downside is Dell's predicted delivery date for the tower: Tuesday, March 18, 2025. But could be sooner.

So, I just have to hope that my current dying tower survives for another month. The motherboard problems show up at boot time. I'm keeping he Debian 11 running 24/7 and only powering down if / when Debian crashes. Which it occasionally does for some mysterious reason.

I already have a USB flash drive with Debian 12 live ready to boot on the Dell.

* * *
* * *

I will report my experience with the Dell tower in due course.

Steve Petrie

apetrie@aspetrie.net
416-233-6116

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