Hi, This week received a HP Z420, 32G RAM, 1TB SATA, 3.0GHz 4 core. Nice machine! Well built / designed. Best $300 i ever spent. I asked them not to install an OS, but it came with Windows 10. Glad it did, the hardware I am looking at has tools that only run on Windoz. Last time I used Windows it was running under OS 2. Documentation says the Z420 runs Linux SUSE, RedHat et al.. The HP Z420 is very quiet running under Windows. It came with a FirePro VP3900 graphics. 2 days later got the MSI MAG272CQR.!! Amazing! got 1920 X 1080 60Hz up and couldn't believe it! Compared to the 19" DELL 1440 X 900 I have been using for 10 years, blew my MIND!! The MAG272 is a bit of overkill, but may want to cross over the gaming side a little, or not, but good to know it is there. Also the 16:9 on 27" is nice, with the 1500mm radius it really is a pleasure to look at from the right distance.. Need a better graphics card to drive the monitor to greater resolution. they are scarce!... But I think I see a rx5600 that could work. Havent tried to boot Linux yet but looking at Ubuntu 20. If they haven't messed it up much more that 18.04... but may have to swallow the mess to get better drivers or something. Will keep the Windows 10, and install Linux on another drive and will make a comparison Will post a summary of the LInux experience. Rumour is the fans may be problem under Linux.... -steve
On Tue, 9 Feb 2021 at 00:06, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
| From: steve--- via talk <talk@gtalug.org>
| Subject: Re: [GTALUG] HP Z420 + rx5600 + MSI MAG272CQR ?
Does HP support linux on its workstations? That would be nice.
For some reason AMD video support has seemed slow to settle. Is the rx5600 support solid?
I've never needed that much video horsepower. But plenty of people do.
| > Just looking at some stuff.. looking to replace my DELL Vostro | > 220S 4G machine with | > something.
I take it that it has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Yeah, it's probably worth upgrading. On the other hand, if you've lived with that, an middle-of-the-road current machine should be fine.
The z420 is probably expensive overkill. Is it old? I saw a review from 2013. Are you buying used?
If you don't want to fuss, I kind of like the Lenovo ThinkCentre M75q Tiny computer (but I am having a problem with the WiFi 6 driver): <https://forums.redflagdeals.com/lenovo-canada-lenovo-thinkcentre-m75q-tiny-gen-2-amd-ryzen-7-pro-4750ge-win10-4gb-500gb-hdd-570-2438949/> Or if you wish to choose things (like DVD burner) <https://forums.redflagdeals.com/lenovo-canada-lenovo-thinkcentre-m75q-tiny-gen-2-amd-ryzen-7-pro-4750ge-win10-4gb-500gb-hdd-570-2438949/> This second thread mentions a deal for the m75q, a Small Form Factor variant that allows more expansion.
The m75q has all mod cons. Since you're old too, you probably remember that term. For others: all modern conveniences. WiFi6, some magic USB-c stuff, HDMI (dongle, supplied) USB-3.x, 1G ethernet, support for gobs of RAM. NVMe. I think that it has a 2.5" bay but I'm too lazy to check.
Note that HP z series and Lenovo ThinkCentre are not cheap consumer junk. (I don't mind cheap consumer junk.)
Monitors are very personal. For me, a decent but inexpensive 40" UltraHD TV beats a 27" monitor every time. Gamers would disagree because the refresh rates can be better on monitors.
| > Cant go to Movies anyMore. | > | > GoTa bring the Movie to Me.
You will want quiet, then. Not guaranteed with a workstation.
You also need to take a little care with the video, depending on your monitor (the rx5600 would be fine).
For our household, a separate, non-computer solution is better for watching movies. Example device: a $65 Google ChromeCast with Google TV. We do have a dedicated tiny PC connected to our TV for viewing the few things that our Android TV device does not support.
| Ooops forgot Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver. | | This is my last upgrade ever, and the perfect place to stop.
18.04 is already 2 years stale. Surely 20.04 LTS would be a wiser choice. And more likely to support the rx5600 (just a guess).
And don't say never. Not a good way to think about computers. They are kind of disposable (not quite as badly as mobile phones).
Planning for the distant future is hard. Perfection is the enemy of getting things done. I know.
Going to add a few "me too" votes to a couple things Hugh said.
Are you a gamer? Because if you're not, the card and the monitor sound like overkill - expensive and not necessary for your declared use case (movies). Keep in mind that retro-gaming doesn't count as "gaming" in this context: retro-games don't require a high-end video card. I haven't purchased a specialty video card in 15 years, and I watch movies frequently on my built-in video cards - works fine up to 1080p, although I admit I see tearing and problems at 4K. The built-ins are also usually a lot easier to get running in Linux for a lower cost.
However, like Hugh, I do most of my video watching either on a first gen Apple TV (I got it free ...) that acts as a Netflix box, or on an Asus O!Play Mini, both of which are hooked to my TV.
I'd also like to back Hugh's recommendation of a larger and cheaper (or perhaps equally priced) 40" monitor over the 27", unless your eyesight is a lot better than mine. I'm finding larger monitors to be a huge blessing as I get older, and the properties a gamer monitor might provide aren't usually of any use to me.
-- Giles https://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr@gmail.com --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk