New Linux PC

[Ron Wilson]

Currently I have a dual boot WIndows 7/Kubuntu 11.04. I get sick of having
to dual boot so have dumped the Linux and left the PC to WIndows 7 and are
now looking for a reasonably spec'ed computer to run Kubuntu on.
Ideally just a bare PC don't need monitor, mouse or keyboard and ideally no
O/S though I am expecting I will have to purchase WIndows just to get a box.
Any suggestions of a suitable vendor in the Auckland/North Shore area?
Preferably one with a web site that I can peruse their products
Thanks

[Volker Kuhlmann]

On Tue 31 May 2011 18:29:42 NZST +1200, Ron Wilson wrote:

Vendor is easy: pricespy.co.nz
Select something close and discard any with fewer than say 7 stars.

Are you looking at assembling bits? I always do that because it gives
me best flexibility to select the parts I want, without some brandname
thing swapping an nvidia for an ati under warranty when I don't want
that.

One would these days expect pretty much any generic PC parts to work.
However if you are after specifics ask google, or I can vouch for this
to work flawlessly:

Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H
AM3+, 4 mem slots, USB3, 6Gb/s SATA x6, heaps more of everything (incl
floppy connector, but no parallel port connector, although the mobo
chips have it). AMD 880G / SB850 bridges.
3x PCI, installing a graphics card wastes a PCIe x1 slot.
This was the only mobo I could find that has a PCIe to the left of the
graphics slot, not a PCI. Depends on what you need more.

You don't get single slot graphics cards any more, you will waste the
slot to the left. The only fanless graphics card still available is an
nvidia EN210 based one, said to be not quiet sufficient for good video
decoding. The next up are GT220 based ones, but N/A fanless in NZ. Any
manufacturer will do. I selected one where the fan sits on top of the
heat sink so I can replace it if necessary (which it prob will be, as
fans on graphics cards are notoriously cr*ppy).

Gig Ethernet, USB, SATA, all work fine. IEEE1394 untested due to lack of
devices. SATA disk hotplug works, with both AHCI and IDE mode (you want
AHCI, but IDE will be default in bios - fix this *before* installing).

I've had some stability problems with hard lockups at times but am
unable to blame the hardware. It's probably something to do with 3G
graphics, nvdia, and gimmicky desktops and I don't see how to avoid that
(other than by turning 3D off altogether, or dropping the nvidia driver,
which practically means the same thing).

Whatever you buy you won't get anything without a crap raid chipset for
'dozers. Make very sure you turn that off in the bios before you
install. Do not activate any dmraid stuff. Use the md driver and its
raid instead. Waay more performant.

This mobo's chipset has integrated ATI graphics, so I thought why not
test that out. It worked very well with the open source radeon driver,
frame rates were nothing to boast about (50-90/s glxgears) but it
worked. After I stuck the GT220 card in I thought I test the nouveau
driver. Complete junk - start glxgears and wait 1-2s for the mouse
pointer to jump.

HTH,

Volker

[Ron Wilson]

Thanks that will give me something to think about.
Cheers

Post by Volker Kuhlmann
Vendor is easy: pricespy.co.nz
Select something close and discard any with fewer than say 7 stars.
Are you looking at assembling bits? I always do that because it gives
me best flexibility to select the parts I want, without some brandname
thing swapping an nvidia for an ati under warranty when I don't want
that.
One would these days expect pretty much any generic PC parts to work.
However if you are after specifics ask google, or I can vouch for this
Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H
AM3+, 4 mem slots, USB3, 6Gb/s SATA x6, heaps more of everything (incl
floppy connector, but no parallel port connector, although the mobo
chips have it). AMD 880G / SB850 bridges.
3x PCI, installing a graphics card wastes a PCIe x1 slot.
This was the only mobo I could find that has a PCIe to the left of the
graphics slot, not a PCI. Depends on what you need more.
You don't get single slot graphics cards any more, you will waste the
slot to the left. The only fanless graphics card still available is an
nvidia EN210 based one, said to be not quiet sufficient for good video
decoding. The next up are GT220 based ones, but N/A fanless in NZ. Any
manufacturer will do. I selected one where the fan sits on top of the
heat sink so I can replace it if necessary (which it prob will be, as
fans on graphics cards are notoriously cr*ppy).
Gig Ethernet, USB, SATA, all work fine. IEEE1394 untested due to lack of
devices. SATA disk hotplug works, with both AHCI and IDE mode (you want
AHCI, but IDE will be default in bios - fix this *before* installing).
I've had some stability problems with hard lockups at times but am
unable to blame the hardware. It's probably something to do with 3G
graphics, nvdia, and gimmicky desktops and I don't see how to avoid that
(other than by turning 3D off altogether, or dropping the nvidia driver,
which practically means the same thing).
Whatever you buy you won't get anything without a crap raid chipset for
'dozers. Make very sure you turn that off in the bios before you
install. Do not activate any dmraid stuff. Use the md driver and its
raid instead. Waay more performant.
This mobo's chipset has integrated ATI graphics, so I thought why not
test that out. It worked very well with the open source radeon driver,
frame rates were nothing to boast about (50-90/s glxgears) but it
worked. After I stuck the GT220 card in I thought I test the nouveau
driver. Complete junk - start glxgears and wait 1-2s for the mouse
pointer to jump.
HTH,
Volker
--
Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header.
http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
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[Zed]

Post by Ron Wilson
Currently I have a dual boot WIndows 7/Kubuntu 11.04. I get sick of having
to dual boot so have dumped the Linux and left the PC to WIndows 7 and are
now looking for a reasonably spec'ed computer to run Kubuntu on. Ideally
just a bare PC don't need monitor, mouse or keyboard and ideally no O/S
though I am expecting I will have to purchase WIndows just to get a box.
Any suggestions of a suitable vendor in the Auckland/North Shore area?
Preferably one with a web site that I can peruse their products Thanks

I can recommend ETC Computers in New Lynn. I think they sell without an OS,
too. Go to http://www.etccomputers.co.nz/shop/main/main.asp

Zed

[Bruce Clement]

Post by Zed
I can recommend ETC Computers in New Lynn. I think they sell without an OS,
too. Go to http://www.etccomputers.co.nz/shop/main/main.asp

I'll second ETC computers New Lynn branch. My PC, Tessa's PC & my Mum's PC
are all from there. Mum's & Tessa's PCs were Linux packages and came with
Ubuntu pre-loaded and they will pre-load Ubuntu on their other PCs for a few
dollars. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they pre-loaded Kubuntu AMD-64 for
me (Can't remember if they loaded Ubuntu or Kubuntu).

I can't tell you what their after sales service is like as I've never needed
it, but my Aunt has been going there for years and is happy with them.

HTH

Bruce
--
Bruce Clement

Home: http://www.clement.co.nz/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bruce_Clement
Directory: http://www.searchme.co.nz/

"Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good
appreciation of everything that already exists in this field." Mikhail
Kalashnikov
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[r***@gmail.com]

Thanks. I see they have a mt eden branch might go there and have a look
--
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

Bruce Clement <***@gnuzealand.com> wrote:

On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 8:15 PM, Zed <***@zed.net.nz> wrote: > Ron Wilson <***@gmail.com> wrote: > > I can recommend ETC Computers in New Lynn. I think they sell without an > OS, > too. Go to http://www.etccomputers.co.nz/shop/main/main.asp > > I'll second ETC computers New Lynn branch. My PC, Tessa's PC & my Mum's PC are all from there. Mum's & Tessa's PCs were Linux packages and came with Ubuntu pre-loaded and they will pre-load Ubuntu on their other PCs for a few dollars. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they pre-loaded Kubuntu AMD-64 for me (Can't remember if they loaded Ubuntu or Kubuntu). I can't tell you what their after sales service is like as I've never needed it, but my Aunt has been going there for years and is happy with them. HTH Bruce -- Bruce Clement Home: http://www
.clement.co.nz/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bruce_Clement Directory: http://www.searchme.co.nz/ "Before attempting to create something new, it is vital to have a good appreciation of everything
that already exists in this field." Mikhail Kalashnikov_____________________________________________
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[Jaco van der Merwe]

Post by Ron Wilson
now looking for a reasonably spec'ed computer to run Kubuntu on.

What are your requirements?

Do you need a grunty machine to do grunty work, or just a basic systems to learn the ropes & try out new stuff?
Have you considered running your (K)Ubuntu in a VM? VMWare & VirtulaBox on windows works well; will work even better if you use a less resource-hungry desktop-manager like GDM rather than hoggy KDE.

If you're just looking for the basics, TradeMe is a great place to look; otherwise we have a stack of old P4's (around the 2GHz mark) @ TB that should be OK with a bit of love & attention (& a few spare parts).
You can have one for around $100.

- Jaco

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