# Any particularly bad hardware for Gentoo?

## Clad in Sky

Hi there,

I think I know for sure that there've been similar topics around, but I cannot find them (Search on "computer" "new box" "hardware" always gives me "no topics found").

Well. I'm planning to get a new computer and I wondered if there was any hardware that is extremely unsuitable for running Gentoo on it.

I plan to get:

AMD64 X2 6400+

Asus Mainboard (nForce Chipset)

Corsair Ram (PC 6400) 2GB

nVidia Graphics (nothing too fancy, I'm no gamer (at least no too new games. The newest is Civ IV)

Samsung DVD-ROM

Seagate Barracude 160GB

Is there anything I shouldn't buy (e.g. an Asus Mainboard, Samsung drive).

Only I wouldn't like to spend some 600€ (Monitor, Keyboard and all that smaller stuff included) on a system I can't run Gentoo on.

I would ask if I should get an Intel rather than an AMD Cpu, but I have the feeling that there's as much Intel fanboys around as AMD fanboys, so I won't. 

Thanks if anyone answers.

Clad

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## i92guboj

You should have no problems with most stuff nowadays.

I usually care about the chipset and some concrete devices like printers and scanners. So, the thing you must care about when looking for mother boards is that: the chipset, and more concretely, the south bridge. Some strange stuff like usb modems might be tricky as well, but with some work you can make them function properly.

The rest mostly works on linux without problems. Nvidia cards have an excelent support.

About intel vs. amd I don't think that there is anything to talk about in which regards compatibility. So, it is a matter of price and personal preference. Both companies have truly excellent chips available.

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## muczy

I used to have an asus m2n-e, with nforce chipset. It's great, I like asus products.

However, for corsair ram, you should ask, if your mobo can adjust vdimm voltage, these often need 2.1V, which isn't default for ddr2 (1.8V)

What is the exact name of the graphics card? I heard, that some vendor's cards don't work well under linux (e.g. Inno3D).

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## asturm

 *Clad in Sky wrote:*   

> [*]Asus Mainboard (nForce Chipset)
> 
> [*]Corsair Ram (PC 6400) 2GB

 

Not necessarily bad, but there are better choices imo:

1.: Take an AM2+ board. Nvidia currently has no AM2+ line-up worth mentioning, and AMDs own 770 and 790 chips are great (and stay cool as ice).

2.: I personally don't see the point in paying the extra few bucks for Corsair memory (and their ValueRAM is bad) and a minimum performance gain, I took 4 GB Adata PC6400 at €70,- and I'm happily playing around with ramdisks since then. Great for compile times.

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## Clad in Sky

The intended mainboard is an Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 nForce 570-SLI FSB 1000MHz PCIe ATX - voltage for the memory is supposed to be adjustable. so I guess no problem there.

I'm not stuck on Corsair RAM, but on Linux.org they were listed as linux friendly, so I just figured that'd be a good choice.

The graphicscard is a "256MB XFX Geforce 8400GS (PCIe,V,D,T,A)" - as I said I don't need anything that gives me 500fps in Unreal 2003 in high resolutions.

[Edit]

Which AM2+ board would you suggest - I can't find any in the webshops I'm browsing.

[/Edit]

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## asturm

What exactly could be Linux-unfriendly concerning RAMs? Do they get money for that claim?  :Laughing: 

No AM2+ boards? Which webshops are you browsing? I guess some shops don't make a distinction between AM2 and AM2+ because they're basically the same socket with slightly different specifications, just look out for mainboards with AMD 770 or 790 chips on it, they're all new and AM2+. The 570 is quite an old chap, though maybe LinuxBIOS (doesn't really have anything to do with Linux) might run on it. If that is not of interest for you then better purchase a modern chipset.

I personally have recently bought a Gigabyte GA-MA790X-DS4

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## Clad in Sky

Found some AM2+ Boards. But I guess I'll take the older one I mentioned above. I don't really care whether OpenOffice takes 2 hours to compile or 3 and those other boards are quite expansive.

Thanks for your advice all the same.

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## asturm

AMD boards don't have any noticable impact on system performance actually, since the memory controller sits inside the K8 core. My recommendation grounds rather on the future prospects of your system, and AM2+ definitely is the future as it fully supports K10 specifications including C1E states and split power planes (for independent core and memory controller power supply). The SB600 southbridge used on current AMD boards isn't quite new either, so I don't necessarily advertise things because they are the newest and greatest.  :Wink:  If you buy your 570 board as planned, make at least sure its Bios is K10/Phenom capable as that might be of interest for you in the future (though it'll run hotter as on AM2+ boards because of the missing C1E and split power planes).

790FX boards are expensive, that's true, but there are cheap ones too (e.g. a 790X from MSI at €75,-)

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## Clad in Sky

Well, I finally decided and got myself

Gigabyte MA790FX-DS5

AMD Phenom 9500+

the Rest one needs for a complete computer

I read somewhere that the Gentoo CDs are too old to boot up a computer with these rather new components. Is that true? Because I then would have to get a "new" Live CD before I try and install Gentoo.

Does anyone know whether Gentoo Minimal CD 2007.0 will work or I do need a new Ubuntu (e.g.) LiveCD in order to get the system started? 

Thanks.[/list]

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## asturm

The 790FX northbridge is quite new, but what essentially matters in terms of booting your system is the southbridge, and that's a matured SB600 chip. You shouldn't have problems with the 2007.0 minimal disc.

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## Monkeh

 *genstorm wrote:*   

> 2.: I personally don't see the point in paying the extra few bucks for Corsair memory (and their ValueRAM is bad) and a minimum performance gain, I took 4 GB Adata PC6400 at €70,- and I'm happily playing around with ramdisks since then. Great for compile times.

 

Actually, their cheap stuff is fine. It's the expensive stuff (XMS) which is simply crap. I've risked it twice, and been let down twice. Not a good record. Oh, and several other people I know have bought XMS and had bad stuff. Long live Crucial (and OCZ/G.Skill for performance).

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## asturm

I remember the days of DDR1 ValueRAM, they had rubbish 2T command rates and would eventually fail in DualChannel mode...

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