Linux geeks - review my hardware please

[gnomez]

I'm building a new computer and I want it to be compatible with Linux in case I want an alternative to MS!
Do these hardware specs look okay?

- Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Via KT333 Athlon W/ integrated Audio and Lan (note the integration)
- Athlon XP 2100+ CPU
- 512 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
- Plexwriter 40x12x40A E-IDE CD-RW Drive
- GeForce4 Ti 4600

I know this is all VERY new hardware but do you think Linux will have a hard time with this?  BTW the distro I plan to use is SuSE Linux 8.0

[Centurian]

Hey,

 

quote:Originally posted by Garden GNOME:
I'm building a new computer and I want it to be compatible with Linux in case I want an alternative to MS!
Do these hardware specs look okay?

- Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Via KT333 Athlon W/ integrated Audio and Lan (note the integration)
- Athlon XP 2100+ CPU
- 512 MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM
- Plexwriter 40x12x40A E-IDE CD-RW Drive
- GeForce4 Ti 4600

I know this is all VERY new hardware but do you think Linux will have a hard time with this?  BTW the distro I plan to use is SuSE Linux 8.0

My setup is very simular to yours.

Gigabyte GA-7VTXH ATX Motherboard
AthlonXP 1600+
256MB DDR 2400
Asus GeForce MX200 32 meg
Onboard Ethernet (Realtek 8139)
Onboard Sound Card (Creative)

So I would say your in good shape. I use Mandrake 8.1 and everything runs fine. Hell it also runs fine when I use W98. However W95 does not like my comp.

[ April 01, 2002: Message edited by: Centurian ]

[gnomez]

Great! I'm really confident now seeing how your setup is so similar.

I'm beginning to think all the talk I hear about Linux not supporting hardware is nothing but FUD  heck I even got my Kodak USB camera to work on it perfectly! (Something I cannot say for my win98 computer - it froze every time it tried to download the images)

PS thats funny about W95 not liking your hardware

[ April 01, 2002: Message edited by: Garden GNOME ]

[Centurian]

Hey,

 

quote:Originally posted by Garden GNOME:
Great! I'm really confident now seeing how your setup is so similar.

PS thats funny about W95 not liking your hardware

Yeah I think your in good shape from the sound of things.
That is strange. I install W95 just fine but once  it restarts the computer to do the final setup it will lock up every time. I guess it just can't concieve a processor being that fast or a hard drive being that large.  

[Centurian]

Hey,

My wife has a simular problem with her vivitar camera on her computer. It locks up sometimes under w98.

Unfortunately that camera isn't supported at all under Linux.
The camera cost more than her Celeron 600 computer did when it was new (1 year ago).  For that matter I think it cost almost as much as my new Athlon so we are definitely keeping the camera. Also she absolutely loves it. It takes great pictures just sometimes locks up her comp.

She has found a fix for it though. Believe it or not when she turns off the camera if she does not do anything (including move the mouse or touch the keyboard) until the camera has completely shutdown (about 15 seconds) then it does not lock W98 up.

[Calum]

no the odd hardware issue is justified by the critics of linux.
i have a suckM

[Brent]

Gigabyte is a good choice for a mobo.  I have built a few computers and the best all around board I have used so far is the gigabyte GA7-dxr.  I use ide0 and 1 for linux and have the raid/scsi for xp and 2000 pro. For some reason if I put linux on the raid set up as ata100, it wont load.. kernel panic.. Im using athlon 1700xp and it is lightning fast.  You probably wont be very happy with the integrated sound.  Im using soundblaster live platinum. The main drivers were recognised immediatly by mandrake 8.1, but the other little goodies for audio editing are another story.  I cant forsee you having any difficulties with your system at all.

[Mojo]

As an experienced overclocker - DONT GET INTEGRATED CRAP!

the integrated crap wont take as much overclocking (FSB) as the chipset - meaning you risk blowing the components. And integrated stuff is crap - the LANs usually dont mix well with other types of NIC - and the sound is PATHETIC. I 'upgraded' my AC97 codec integrated sound to an old SB16 and the difference was amazing!

And get Kingston 2700 DDR RAM (or crucial if they are in stock)

[gnomez]

I don't mind integrated components (except for video) that are of high quality (which the ones on this motherboard are, according to the reviews) but I found another gigabyte motherboard that is of the KT333 chipset but without the integrated components, so I think I'll go with that.  It costs 30 dollars less so I can buy a cheap sound card and put it in there anyway.