Planning a new PC

Suggested spec

[mack]

I am planning to build a new pc to run Linux on.

The distro I intend to use is suse 8.0

I curently have an HP Pavilion. It cam with XP pre-instaled. I eventualy removed xp and ran it pure linux. I have however had problems with sound and graphics cards and not to mention the win moden that came with the system.

I am wanting to build a machine that is talored to the OS as oposed to installing the OS on an existing machine. What I need is A fast pc (preferably AMD) with linux compatible modem, sound and graphics hardware.

This system will not be used as a server or anything like that, it will be a simple desktop pc used for web and email, games and general joe user functions. I do however want it to be fast and reliable.

Any ideas on the spec I should be aiming for :)

Mack.

[DaveAtIFG]

Currently the AMD XP2500+ w/333 front side bus (Barton core, 512K cache) is a steal at about $90 It's plenty fast coupled with an nVidia NForce2 chipset and it runs nice and cool, no sohpisticated cooling needed. I'm uncertain how Linux friendly the NForce2 is though. DDR333 memory is also a great buy right now.

[Macro]

mack, first dump the winmodem and parts that you can't get Linux drivers for.

Secondly, go 64 bit.

I've written some info on Athlon 64s and the FX-51 - do a Google for "The various AMD 64 bit and 32 bit processors".

If you want to go Linux go for a 64 bit mobo and processor. You don't get faster than that. At the above page you'll find a link to a page where I've collected some links to reviews of 64 bit processors at reputed technical sites. Some have tested them under the current 32 bit Windows and some have tested them under Linux. In 64 bit Linux they simply blow everything else away.

We have done our own extensive testing and I'll be posting the results in due course.

[DaveAtIFG]

64 bit computing looks like fun! But as an "early adopter" you'll face all of the usual problems, limited and immature drivers, applications that almost run as they should, etc.

Having survived the 16/32 bit transition (and being a cheapskate!), I'll wait a year before moving to 64 bitz.

[mack]

Thanks for the feedback guys :)

Mack