# A well-balanced system for Gentoo/Linux: Specs??

## tomkamphuys

I'm thinking to buy a new computer. I really like Gentoo/linux and I read some information about what hardware-configuration is best (for an amount of money).

I read people were extremely happy with a 2-processor system discribing it as snappier/more responsive. I also read Linux is more memory dependant (because programs stay in memory so they can be started quickly) and harddrive dependant, so you shouldn't spend your last dollar on the fastest processor. To make things even more confusing, I also read that Windows is a big memory eater and Linux a lot less.

So the question:

What part(s) should be emphasized????

Some additional question:

1) Although technically appealing, is the Hammer what I'm looking for?

2) Should I buy 2 harddrives so I can use them in a RAID0 config?

3) Is 512MB RAM noticibly better than 256MB RAM?

I _occasionally_ play games, don't use heavy, graphical applications, but I just like a 'snappie' computer. I don't want the best computer out there. Just the best for my situation and about $1000. No monitor, no DVD, no CD-RW, no soundcard, no ethernetcard and no OS  :Very Happy: 

Currently I have a Athlon 500MHZ, 128MB RAM and a harddrive which reads @ ~13MB/s (according to hdparm), so I hope/guess it would be a big improvement!

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## pjp

You can likely get a decent system today instead of waiting for the Hammer.  I've read the 'snappier' response regard the dual-proc systems as well.  I've also heard that it will be little benefit to most users.  For $1K, a dual setup may set you back in other areas.  RAM is an area most people skimp on.  I would spend as much as you can on RAM.  Figure out what motherboard and proc you want.  That won't likely set you back too much.  Depending on how much video/music data you store, a 20-40G HD should be plenty, and reasonably inexpensive.  The rest can go to RAM.

I'm personally waiting for a dual-Opteron with Serial ATA drives and as much memory as the board will take  :Wink: .  I don't upgrade often, so I like them to last.

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## tomkamphuys

Well, I've read some more and I think it's going to be something like:

AMD 1800+

2x 40 GB 7200rpm

512MB PC2100

Cheap AGP 3D card

52x CD-ROM

Keyboard + mouse

Chaintech motherboard

Total: 900 euro ~ $900

Think I replace the motherboard with a Soltek SL-75DRV5. Read a few good reviews about it. Reason it didn't come out on top was some features I didn't need (on board sound, RAID and ethernet). Very solid and fast.

Maybe some 333MHz DDR SDRAM.

I know this is not the cheapest but this company has never let me down. That's also worth a few bucks!!

A good choice???

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## carboxylman

Well, I've got a dual 1.2ghz athlon mp with 512mb ram, and it runs smoother than it would with 256mb, I feel sure.

I like dual proc systems for linux; you can just do more per second.  It's especially handy for compiling, and it's not too much more expensive than single.

Just some advice: if you get a cheap graphics card, get a matrox.  Their 3d sucks, but you get no ghosting/mysterious lines like you do with nvidia cards!

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## Pigeon

 *Quote:*   

> but you get no ghosting/mysterious lines like you do with nvidia cards!

 

 :Question:   Not sure what you mean by this.  None of my nvidia cards have ever had any problems, unless I'm using the (broken) riva frame buffer.

I agree with you though, Matrox's are quality cards if you are uninterested in 3d performance.

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## pjp

 *carboxylman wrote:*   

> Just some advice: if you get a cheap graphics card, get a matrox.  Their 3d sucks, but you get no ghosting/mysterious lines like you do with nvidia cards!

 Your not referring to the wire hangers found in Trinitron monitors are you?

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## Sequentious

 *carboxylman wrote:*   

> Well, I've got a dual 1.2ghz athlon mp with 512mb ram, and it runs smoother than it would with 256mb, I feel sure.

 

Just to throw in my opinion. THis is my system:

- Athlon-Thunderbird 1.2GHz

- 384MB pc133 ram

- NVidia Geforce2 mx200 (havent had a single issue except when using the "nv" X driver -- i dont use framebuffer, also). I also had to disable AGP in X due to the athlon/agp issue

- 60Gig 5400rpm hard disk

- MSI k7t-turbo (kt133-a chipset)

- I'll leave out the stuff you said you dont care about (NIC, cd, etc)

My system, when running, is great. Once programs are loaded they run great, the only game i play enough to be considered regular is Unreal Tournament, and i get excellent frame rates (70+).

But, as i said, "when running". Loading times for the first mozilla window, boot times, starting evolution (granted my mailbox is 100MB), and some other programs can be fairly lengthy. Once they are loaded they fly though.

I'd reccommend:

- definately a 7200rpm drive, but take note of transfer speeds. Just because it spins at 7200 rpm doesnt neccessarily mean it will kick the pants off a 5400 rpm disk (generally, yes, but not neccessarily). A good cache on the disk is also a good idea (mine is 2MB, there are some that are 8 now i hear). 

- over 256MB of memory is reccommended, and make sure you get some decent speed memory. Having only used the pc133 memory, i cant say much about speed comparison, but switching from 256 to 384 really made a difference (going to 512 may as well, but im not there yet).

- I'd consider a cheap nvidia card simply because nvidia develops their own drivers (closed source, though, if thats an issue go with matrox)

- Another reccommendation that you may not have considered is get some decent cooling. My 1.2 sits *IDLE* at 55 Celsius, and peaks at about 70 under load. My bios allowed me to tell it to automagically shut down if it hits 80 (this motherboard has hardware sensors), and afaik it burns out around 95. I'd get a good heat-sync/fan combo (bigger not always better, there are some weird designs that are very efficient, but costly -- i went for big  :Smile: ), and get a case fan. You dont want to know what my temerature was before the fan....

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## vash

This is my Gentoo box, its also running Win32 for the myriad of games that I play.  

Dual Athlon XP1800

512 Megs of ram

Geforce3 Ti500

Adaptec 2940u2w

1X 7200rpm drive -- SCSI

IDE DVD drive.

For all intensive purposes, this system screams with Linux, even with KDE3.  If you want a fast Gentoo box, get a fast cpu (compiles fly!), losts of ram, and at least a 7200rpm drive.  For the video card, you can easily get by with a slower card, especially if you don't play games.  If you aren't a gamer, pick yourself up some older Matrox G450s, or even Geforce2 cards.    If you are a gamer, pony up for a Geforce3/4 (NOT MX) level card, Quake3 runs quite well.

vash

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## aardvark

 *tomkamphuys wrote:*   

> Well, I've read some more and I think it's going to be something like:
> 
> AMD 1800+
> 
> 2x 40 GB 7200rpm
> ...

 

I would in your case replace "cheap agp 3d card" with "cheap => tnt2 agp 3d card." (perhaps even a geforce  :Smile:  )

With nvidia you get well working easy to set up 3d and video.

You can simply "emerge" the drivers, and alter some(1) line(s) in XF86Config

The Xp 1800 definitley seems to be the price technical "sweet spot atm.!

I'd like one of those, but my duron @ 900 supplies enough speed for now.

Oh yeah: find good prices on www.prijsindex.net in our country!

proost!

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## aardvark

Oh yes, If you go the "nvivia path" check out the forums for some issues with certain products based on nvidia. I seems the geforce 2 (MX) might have some issues...

(Didn't want to cause you any trouble...  :Smile:  )

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## delta407

 *carboxylman wrote:*   

> Well, I've got a dual 1.2ghz athlon mp with 512mb  ram

 

To start, I've got a dual 1.0 GHz PIII with 1.0 GB of RAM.

 *carboxylman wrote:*   

> I like dual proc systems for linux; you can just do more per second.  It's especially handy for compiling, and it's not too much more expensive than single.

 

I would have to disagree. Comparing a dual-processor setup to a single-processor setup with double the clock speed will almost invariably result in the single-CPU rig being faster -- things like locking, uneven distribution of interrupts, etc. Besides which, very few apps are perfectly multithreaded; if you're encoding an MP3, it will max out one CPU while leaving the other idle, resulting in half the speed. Granted, you can encode two files simultaneously at the same speed, but that's not what most users are going to do.

 *carboxylman wrote:*   

> Just some advice: if you get a cheap graphics card, get a matrox.  Their 3d sucks, but you get no ghosting/mysterious lines like you do with nvidia cards!

 

I have never experienced ghosting or mysterious lines with nVIDIA cards; in fact, the only ghosting I have seen on any system I use was the result of a bad monitor, not the video card.

Also, you can get a TNT 2 pretty much anywhere for $35, which will probably beat out a low-end Matrox. Plus, I know of a few retail places where you can get a GeForce 2 GTS for $60...

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## tomkamphuys

First, Thanks for your response. I'm going to wait a bit longer, because there is a lot of new stuff coming. E.g. The Athlon 2400+ and 2600+ and even 333MHz FSB.

Next week I'm going on a study tour for about 3 weeks, so I'll decide when I come back (see how much money I've left  :Sad:  )

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## jbarman

Here's what I have.  Aside from my mouse being a little jumpy, I'm very pleased with the system.

* Dual Athlon 1800 MP on a Tyan Tiger

* 1 GB DDR ECC Ram

* 2x 4GB 10000 RPM Cheetah drives Raid 1 for /root

* 4x 9GB 10000 RPM Cheetah drives Raid 0 for everything else (with LVM)

* ATI Radeon AIW

* SB Audigy Platinum w/ Logitech THX speakers

* 3ware Escalade with 4x 30GB 7200 Deskstars Raid 0 (with LVM) for misc.

* DVD-Rom

* LG CD-RW

I use this mostly for transcoding from DVD to mpeg4

My file server for storing all the mpeg4's is my old system with a little bit of storage...

* Athlon Thunderbird 800

* 256 MB Ram

* 800 GB disk (2x 5 100 GB Raid 5 spread across 5 controllers)  :Wink: 

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## tomkamphuys

Yeah right, I don't have that kind of money.

But I think I know what I want:

AMD Athlon 2000+

512 Mb PC2700

Chaintech Apogee 7VJL

2*40 Gb WD Caviar Special Edition (software RAID0 under Linux)

ATI Radeon 7500 LE DDR

DVD

~1070 euro

Tell me what you guys think of this!!

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## TripKnot

I think you would be better off just buying one large 80GB WD800JB drive and using the money you save by doing this to upgrade the vidcard to an 8500LE if you want ATI or some other nvidia product.

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## pjp

1 80G dirve does not allow for RAID0 though.

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