Re: Building computer

On Sep 25, 2013, at 12:52 AM, Stan Hoeppner <stan@hardwarefreak.com> wrote:

There's a huge amount of what we call "channel" or "DIY" hardware out
there that works fine with Linux. The only real issues are

1. What's available in your local market and at what price point
2. Choice of integrated GPU

For 'seamless' integration with stock Debian it's usually best to buy a
GPU that's a generation or two older than the bleeding edge. Same goes
for the system chipset to a degree. The newer the GPU the more time
you'll spend fighting with installing experimental kernels, modules,
x.org settings, etc. If you need good 3D support you may have to do
some of this anyway, unfortunately.

Reply, and CC me, with your basic requirements/needs and your locale,
and I'll see if I can come up with a suitable parts list for you, and
vendors where you can purchase them. The more "remote" your locale the
longer this will take as I have to first 'discover' vendors in your
region. If you have a preferred vendor and provide their web address,
that'll make this quicker obviously. If you're in the US, it'll be very
quick indeed, as we have Newegg.

Stan, I thank you. I want a machine that has the capability to run World of Warcraft in Wine. So, I need decent graphics. Here is what I was thinking:

Haswell quad-core i5

MSI H87-43G motherboard

8 gig DDR3 1600 ram, Corsair (should I get 16 and use all 4 slots?)

onboard sound, Realtek ALC892

onboard NIC, Realtek 8111E

Radeon 7870 video card with 2 gig of video ram, probably Sapphire, - avoiding the bleeding edge here. My Linux experience may be old and rusty, but I remember recompiling my kernel to get Soundblaster support. Use hardware with known drivers!

750 watt power supply (Coolermaster GX)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO cpu cooler

Lian Li PC-9N case

I have speakers, keyboard, mouse, monitor.

Please let me know if you think using the Haswell chip is unwise; I would rather buy the first chip that uses the new socket than the last chip, Ivy Bridge, using the old socket, for the potential of upgrading in the future.

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: Message signed with OpenPGP using GPGMail