Re: [expert] Pentium 200Mhz/MMX and Mandrake - Resource Efficient?

[Anton Graham]

Submitted 23-Jul-00 by Sevatio Octavio:
> That gets to my next question... While shopping, I ran across a lot of 
> boxes with motherboards that have onboard sound & video.  What's your 
> take on those?  Do they tend to require funky device drivers that Linux 
> may not have?

These have their pros and cons.  In brief:

Pro:
  1) Generally less expensive than purchasing separate components
  2) Only a handfull of different sound/video chipsets are available
     increasing the likelihood that drivers have been developed.

Con:
  1) Only a handfull of different sound/video chipsets are available
     reducing the likelihood that it's a "quality" chipset
  2) upgrade-ability may be extremely limited, as most of those boards
     skimp on pci slots

That said, if you choose to go with one with onboard sound and video,
ensure that the chipsets are supported _before_ buying.  I would tend
to avoid SiS video chipsets (although they are extremely common)
because of bad personal experiences with them and i810 chipsets all
together.  The video support for the i810 is shaky at this point.

-- 
       _
     _|_|_
      ( )   *    Anton Graham
      /v\  /     <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
    /(   )X
     (m_m)       GPG ID: 18F78541
Penguin Powered!