# edit* nvm the barebones, now need a laptop, advice needed!!!

## logical_guy

Hi ppl,

I'm looking to buy a desktop to use mainly for programming, which could be graphics intensive.  Anyway, I'm looking to build my own unit and I'm considering this 

http://www.asus.com/Barebone_PC/P_Series_0811L/P6M4A3000E/

Any opinions on this and whether it's compatible with gentoo?

Thanks for your help.Last edited by logical_guy on Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:48 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## NeddySeagoon

logical_guy,

All barebones system are build down to a price, not up to a performance specification.  Upgrading tend to be expensive as you remove original parts and replace them.

AMD Phenom™ II Processor looks good but Sempron™ Family Processors is bad.  Its a AMD Phenom™ II with a lobotomy - the 6Mb of L3 cache is removed.

That will make it slow. 

2 x DIMM * Dual Channel DDR3 1333/1066/800  is OK but 4 DIMM slots is better.  You will have to remove RAM to upgrade as you only have two slots and RAM is best fitted in pairs.  It will may out at 8G, thats 2 4G sticks.

It has Integrated Gfx but without 'sideways video RAM'  OnBoard VGA / max share MEM 1024M, so your video RAM is a slice of main memory.

Thats bad for speed as main memory bandwidth is used to refresh the monitor image.

Power Supply Peak 200W thats very low.  It won't power a good graphics card but it has a suitable 1 x PCI-e x 16 slot for fitting one.

It is compatible with most flavours of Linix, including Gentoo.  Its not suitable for graphics intensive applications and its not easy to upgrade without throwing things away, like the PSU and CPU.  You will find thats typical of bare bones systems though.

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## logical_guy

Wow thanks for the comprehensive review.  Guess you are right - and its way too expensive anyway.

But I am considering building an AMD athlon x4 processor with a Biostar Motherboard http://www.ebuyer.com/product/255208

and 4 gig of corsair ddr3 ram.  Guess I do have budget constraints.  I dunno how good the onboard radeon 3000 graphics card is, but I can always buy a mid-range nvidia graphics card to replace it if needed.  So, any comments on these specs?

Thanks for all your expert advice and suggestions - putting together a computer isn't trivial at all, as i am finding out!!

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## logical_guy

yeah, I decided that mobility is what I need over raw power, and now am looking to buy a laptop.

I'll be using it mostly for sw development and vision processing, i.e. cameras, images, DEM models, number crunching, etc.  Guess I need a decent graphics chip for 3d simulations, etc.  Not for gaming.

I'm considering the lenovo e520 laptop with intel i5 2410M processor, 4 gigs of ram and it's got an Intel HD graphics 3000 chip.  The wireless interface is Intel Centrino N 1000.

Happy for any advice.  Thanks.

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## NeddySeagoon

logical_guy,

Start out be deciding what you want to do.  That pretty much determines the parts you don't want to compromise on.

All AMD motherboards come with a built in ATI grahics card now that AMD own ATI.

If you intend on building up a system as funds become available, consider a full size ATX motherboard. You will get 4 DIMM sockets and more expansion connectors. This means you can add things without removing parts.

Never get a cheap PSU.  You get what you pay for.  Poor quality PSUs give you hard to diagnose intermittent problems.

Look at expensive PSUs in your power range, look at cheap PSUs in the same power range. Don't buy either. Get a mid price PSU in your power range.

Likewise with cases. If you get a cheap case with a PSU, it will be a cheap PSU. Its ok to get you going but plan on replacing it in about a year.

Get a PSU that has spare capacity for two reasons. Running it below its rated capacity (derating) is good for its life expectancy and you will add more goodies that you want to power over the life of the system.

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