[gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
My motherboard is getting flaky and it's time for a new one. I have an AMD 6000+ CPU, 4GB DDR2/800 RAM, 2TB SATA2 HD, Blu-Ray burner, PCI wireless card, 400W power supply, and ATX case. I could replace any of these components if it's worthwhile for some new feature, but I may as well keep them if it's not. The most important thing is reliability and Linux compatibility but I also need HDMI and I figure USB 3.0 is a good idea. The system is for playing music and movies, no gaming whatsoever. If you're familiar with the current hardware scene, where would you go from here as far as a motherboard and other components? Any features a Gentoo'er should look for? - Grant
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 2011-07-02 17:41, Grant wrote: > My motherboard is getting flaky and it's time for a new one. I have > an AMD 6000+ CPU, 4GB DDR2/800 RAM, 2TB SATA2 HD, Blu-Ray burner, PCI > wireless card, 400W power supply, and ATX case. I could replace any > of these components if it's worthwhile for some new feature, but I may > as well keep them if it's not. How do you know it's the motherboard and not the PSU for instance? > The most important thing is reliability and Linux compatibility but I > also need HDMI and I figure USB 3.0 is a good idea. The system is for HDMI is available on most (all?) modern graphics cards, not sure if built-ins have them though... USB 3 cards are also available. > playing music and movies, no gaming whatsoever. If you're familiar Sounds like you want a "htpc" setup. > with the current hardware scene, where would you go from here as far > as a motherboard and other components? Any features a Gentoo'er > should look for? Decide roughly (Intel/AMD chipsets, features, expansion capabilities etc.) on what motherboard you want and compare reviews of it... I know others swear by Nvidia graphics but personally I will not touch them (not for chipsets either due to lackluster/no open driver linux support)... it's AMD (formerly ATI) for me (just don't buy the latest, greatest unless you want to wait for open driver support, even though they've seem to have picked up the pace). AMD does have some great fanless graphics cards, perfect for htpc... HTH Best regards Peter K
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
>> My motherboard is getting flaky and it's time for a new one. I have >> an AMD 6000+ CPU, 4GB DDR2/800 RAM, 2TB SATA2 HD, Blu-Ray burner, PCI >> wireless card, 400W power supply, and ATX case. I could replace any >> of these components if it's worthwhile for some new feature, but I may >> as well keep them if it's not. > > How do you know it's the motherboard and not the PSU for instance? You're right, but I want HDMI and USB 3.0 so I figure I may as well switch the motherboard and then the PSU if the problem doesn't disappear. >> The most important thing is reliability and Linux compatibility but I >> also need HDMI and I figure USB 3.0 is a good idea. The system is for > > HDMI is available on most (all?) modern graphics cards, not sure if > built-ins have them though... USB 3 cards are also available. Yeah, a video card and USB card would cost roughly the same as a new motherboard and the video card would be a new source of heat and/or noise. >> playing music and movies, no gaming whatsoever. If you're familiar > > Sounds like you want a "htpc" setup. I guess. Gentoo has been playing my music, movies, and TV for many years now. I use a wireless keyboard from the couch. Just a normal xfce4 desktop. It's great. >> with the current hardware scene, where would you go from here as far >> as a motherboard and other components? Any features a Gentoo'er >> should look for? > > Decide roughly (Intel/AMD chipsets, features, expansion capabilities > etc.) on what motherboard you want and compare reviews of it... I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. > I know others swear by Nvidia graphics but personally I will not touch > them (not for chipsets either due to lackluster/no open driver linux > support)... it's AMD (formerly ATI) for me (just don't buy the latest, > greatest unless you want to wait for open driver support, even though Yeah I'm a little worried about that with the motherboard. If necessary I can keep limping along with my current motherboard while I wait for drivers for the new one. - Grant > they've seem to have picked up the pace). AMD does have some great > fanless graphics cards, perfect for htpc... > > HTH > > Best regards > > Peter K
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
Grant wrote: I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. - Grant I can brag about my Gigabyte. When I was doing research on my newest rig, Gigabyte seemed to be the highest rated. As we know, that changes. When I built a rig several years ago, it was Abit. The only complaint I have with my Gigabyte is the RAM sockets are close to the CPU. If they were just a half inch farther over it would be awesome. My CPU cooler fan touched the top of the memory coolers and I got the shortest I could find at the time, that were worth having anyway. I think I had a ASUS before but can't recall since it was not one of my main rigs. I think it was in a rig I built for a friend of mine. His house burnt so no way to know for sure. It melted. :-( R.I.P. I wouldn't complain about it tho. It worked fine and was stable even during the Gentoo compiles. Most of this depends on what you want and what you can afford. I never get the latest greatest as it costs to much. You may want and can afford the latest greatest tho. I would just check out the reviews once you get down to a few mobos and see if any problems are reported. Making sure everything is Linux compatable is a good idea too. I got a link to a site of you don't already have one. Dale :-) :-)
RE: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
-original message-
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
From: Grant
Date: 2011-07-04 23:30
>> How do you know it's the motherboard and not the PSU for instance?
>
>You're right, but I want HDMI and USB 3.0 so I figure I may as well
>switch the motherboard and then the PSU if the problem doesn't
>disappear.
>
>>> The most important thing is reliability and Linux compatibility but I
>>> also need HDMI and I figure USB 3.0 is a good idea. The system is for
>>
>> HDMI is available on most (all?) modern graphics cards, not sure if
>> built-ins have them though... USB 3 cards are also available.
>
>Yeah, a video card and USB card would cost roughly the same as a new
>motherboard and the video card would be a new source of heat and/or
>noise.
>
>>> playing music and movies, no gaming whatsoever. If you're familiar
>>
>> Sounds like you want a "htpc" setup.
>
>I guess. Gentoo has been playing my music, movies, and TV for many
>years now. I use a wireless keyboard from the couch. Just a normal
>xfce4 desktop. It's great.
>
>>> with the current hardware scene, where would you go from here as far
>>> as a motherboard and other components? Any features a Gentoo'er
>>> should look for?
>>
>> Decide roughly (Intel/AMD chipsets, features, expansion capabilities
>> etc.) on what motherboard you want and compare reviews of it...
>
>I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability.
Not in my country; I've seen waaay too many Asus mobo's died mysteriously, with
or without fanfare.
Then again, Asus might've specifically targeted lower-quality mobo's for my
country *sigh*
But I have heard nothing but praise re: Gigabyte mobo's.
>> I know others swear by Nvidia graphics but personally I will not touch
>> them (not for chipsets either due to lackluster/no open driver linux
>> support)... it's AMD (formerly ATI) for me (just don't buy the latest,
>> greatest unless you want to wait for open driver support, even though
>
>Yeah I'm a little worried about that with the motherboard. If
>necessary I can keep limping along with my current motherboard while I
>wait for drivers for the new one.
Or, don't aim for the moon, and just buy last quarter's best (or 2nd best)
graphics card :)
Unless you want to play a 60fps 3D-enabled game on a 1080p display, I think
yesteryear's best cards are already A-OK.
Rgds,
--
FdS Pandu E Poluan
~ IT Optimizer ~
Sent from Nokia E72-1
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 2011-07-04 18:30, Grant wrote: > I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. For consumer oriented motherboards, I feel the same. > Yeah I'm a little worried about that with the motherboard. If > necessary I can keep limping along with my current motherboard while I > wait for drivers for the new one. Have you decided on a AM3+ socket motherboard or would you consider alternatives? If AMD "floats your boat", wait a while until the Llanos comes out[1]; an 4 core APU with integrated graphics core at 65W... Of course you need to get a motherboard that support HDMI out... but for a Gentoo htpc that would be a "perfect" balance between compiling power and low power utilisation, no? [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Fusion_microprocessors#Llano Best regards Peter K
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
>> I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. > > For consumer oriented motherboards, I feel the same. > >> Yeah I'm a little worried about that with the motherboard. If >> necessary I can keep limping along with my current motherboard while I >> wait for drivers for the new one. > > Have you decided on a AM3+ socket motherboard or would you consider > alternatives? If AMD "floats your boat", wait a while until the Llanos > comes out[1]; an 4 core APU with integrated graphics core at 65W... Of > course you need to get a motherboard that support HDMI out... but for a > Gentoo htpc that would be a "perfect" balance between compiling power > and low power utilisation, no? > > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_Fusion_microprocessors#Llano > > Best regards > > Peter K That's the FM1 socket, right? I only see two FM1 CPUs on newegg.com right now. They're quad-core and 100W. I guess the advantage there is they have graphics on the CPU. A 65W CPU would be better but when it comes out I suppose. - Grant
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 2011-07-04 22:32, Grant wrote: > That's the FM1 socket, right? I only see two FM1 CPUs on newegg.com Yep. > right now. They're quad-core and 100W. I guess the advantage there > is they have graphics on the CPU. A 65W CPU would be better but when > it comes out I suppose. Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu) I would wait for the low power version. Acc. to Wikipedia the A6-3600/3800 should be released (30th of June) so it shouldn't take long for Newegg to get them? I guess you could always ask them... My thinking is this: A htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu/gpu combo but if you're running Gentoo on it, and planning to do the compiling on the machine itself, it's still nice to have a few cores available. If you are patient or can do cross-compiling (I haven't actually tried these myself) on another machine there are even lower power alternatives (Intel Atom, AMD Fusion): http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_CPU_on_Board/E35M1M/ http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_CPU_on_Board/AT5IONTI/#overview http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3681#ov http://vr-zone.com/articles/asus-at5iont-i-review/11811-10.html Haven't looked at the details, just did quick search... Well, I guess you could find even lower power alternatives as well... ARM maybe? But that's another story! Best regards Peter K
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On Monday 04 July 2011 17:30:27 Grant wrote: > I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. I'm suspicious of my Asus P7P55D motherboard. It seems just fine with Gentoo, and it has lots of tuning methods built in (over-clocking etc.). I've never used those facilities because the box is already quite fast enough for me and I value stability. But, as I've mentioned here recently, every other distro I've tried hangs randomly - even the live CDs. Someone on an Asus forum suggested I change from PS/2 to USB keyboard and mouse, but meanwhile I've tried switching various things off in the BIOS, and this may be working: I now get at least a few hours with "Asus Express Gate" switched off (whatever that is). I'm just one among many, of course. -- Rgds Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 07/05/2011 12:39 AM, pk wrote: > > Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu) My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if you ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a hardware-accelerated codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like it's about to launch itself into orbit doing software decoding. And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and mount fans).
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 07/04/2011 09:39 PM, pk wrote: > On 2011-07-04 22:32, Grant wrote: > >> That's the FM1 socket, right? I only see two FM1 CPUs on newegg.com > > Yep. > >> right now. They're quad-core and 100W. I guess the advantage there >> is they have graphics on the CPU. A 65W CPU would be better but when >> it comes out I suppose. > > Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu) I > would wait for the low power version. Acc. to Wikipedia the A6-3600/3800 > should be released (30th of June) so it shouldn't take long for Newegg > to get them? I guess you could always ask them... > > My thinking is this: A htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu/gpu combo but if > you're running Gentoo on it, and planning to do the compiling on the > machine itself, it's still nice to have a few cores available. If you > are patient or can do cross-compiling (I haven't actually tried these > myself) on another machine there are even lower power alternatives > (Intel Atom, AMD Fusion): I've run two different Atom boxes as desktops - a 300 and now a D525. With an SSD my total power usage, with 4GB of DDR3-800 RAM, is typically less than 30W. And it's quite responsive. The 300 was a dog but the 525 is great.
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
>> Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu) > > My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if > you ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a > hardware-accelerated codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like > it's about to launch itself into orbit doing software decoding. Completely true. I switched from nvidia-drivers to nouveau and now I rely on ffmpeg threads to decode 1080p. It works great most of the time. There are some videos that won't decode via threads, they return some sort of "cannot parallelize" error. I went with this Phenom II X4 3.7Ghz hog: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934 I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single core now without losing A/V sync. I kinda doubt it. I've been on an Athlon X2 3.1Ghz. > And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also > rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and > mount fans). I'm discovering that fans which are said to be very quiet actually are. I'm going to increase my case fans from 0 to 2 along with this aftermarket CPU cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016 Thanks a lot for everyone's help. - Grant
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On Wednesday 06 July 2011 11:54:29 Grant wrote: > >> Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu)> > > My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if> you ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a> hardware-accelerated codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like> it's about to launch itself into orbit doing software decoding. > Completely true. I switched from nvidia-drivers to nouveau and now Irely on ffmpeg threads to decode 1080p. It works great most of thetime. There are some videos that won't decode via threads, theyreturn some sort of "cannot parallelize" error. > I went with this Phenom II X4 3.7Ghz hog: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934 > I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single corenow without losing A/V sync. I kinda doubt it. I've been on anAthlon X2 3.1Ghz. > > And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also> rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and> mount fans). > I'm discovering that fans which are said to be very quiet actuallyare. I'm going to increase my case fans from 0 to 2 along with thisaftermarket CPU cooler: > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016 > Thanks a lot for everyone's help. > - Grant oh.. a tower cooler.. and only 92mm... hm.. well with fans bigger = better. A 14cm monster can push the same amount of air as a 12cm or 8cm fan with a lot less rpm. The less rpm the better. I can't hear any of my 4 14cm fans ;) -- #163933
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
>> >> Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu)> >> > My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if> you > ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a> hardware-accelerated > codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like> it's about to launch itself > into orbit doing software decoding. >> Completely true. I switched from nvidia-drivers to nouveau and now Irely on > ffmpeg threads to decode 1080p. It works great most of thetime. There are > some videos that won't decode via threads, theyreturn some sort of "cannot > parallelize" error. >> I went with this Phenom II X4 3.7Ghz hog: >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934 >> I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single corenow > without losing A/V sync. I kinda doubt it. I've been on anAthlon X2 3.1Ghz. >> > And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also> > rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and> mount > fans). >> I'm discovering that fans which are said to be very quiet actuallyare. I'm > going to increase my case fans from 0 to 2 along with thisaftermarket CPU > cooler: >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016 >> Thanks a lot for everyone's help. >> - Grant > > oh.. a tower cooler.. and only 92mm... hm.. Yeah I need the air to blow out the back of the desktop case since my printer/scanner sits on top of the case and blocks the top air vents. 92mm is all this case can fit. A few mm taller and it would make contact with the top of the case. - Grant > well with fans bigger = better. A 14cm monster can push the same amount of air > as a 12cm or 8cm fan with a lot less rpm. The less rpm the better. > > I can't hear any of my 4 14cm fans ;)
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 6 July 2011, at 19:54, Grant wrote: > ... > I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single core > now without losing A/V sync. I kinda doubt it. I've been on an > Athlon X2 3.1Ghz. Note that some 1080p videos are harder to decode than others. The "birds scene" from the BBC's Planet Earth documentary is widely used as test video. It's h264 and I believe the encoding is valid but "poorly mastered"; it doesn't play smoothly on either my Mac or my STB (with a dedicated hardware decoding chip), but I *presume* it plays on many commodity blu-ray players. I'm sure I must have tested it on my PS3 but I can't recall how it performs. Stroller.
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
>>> Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu) >> >> My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if >> you ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a >> hardware-accelerated codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like >> it's about to launch itself into orbit doing software decoding. > > Completely true. I switched from nvidia-drivers to nouveau and now I > rely on ffmpeg threads to decode 1080p. It works great most of the > time. There are some videos that won't decode via threads, they > return some sort of "cannot parallelize" error. > > I went with this Phenom II X4 3.7Ghz hog: > > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934 > > I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single core > now without losing A/V sync. I kinda doubt it. I've been on an > Athlon X2 3.1Ghz. > >> And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also >> rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and >> mount fans). > > I'm discovering that fans which are said to be very quiet actually > are. I'm going to increase my case fans from 0 to 2 along with this > aftermarket CPU cooler: > > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016 > > Thanks a lot for everyone's help. > > - Grant I've put together the new system and everything works really well. Here's the Gigabyte motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490 - Grant
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
Grant wrote: Yes, since a htpc doesn't need a powerful cpu (or a powerful gpu) My learned-this-the-hard-way advice: while this is generally true, if you ever come across a 720 or 1080p video that doesn't use a hardware-accelerated codec, you would rather the HTPC not sound like it's about to launch itself into orbit doing software decoding. Completely true. I switched from nvidia-drivers to nouveau and now I rely on ffmpeg threads to decode 1080p. It works great most of the time. There are some videos that won't decode via threads, they return some sort of "cannot parallelize" error. I went with this Phenom II X4 3.7Ghz hog: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934 I wonder if I'll be able to decode 1080p in software on a single core now without losing A/V sync. I kinda doubt it. I've been on an Athlon X2 3.1Ghz. And if you're going to keep it in a cabinet, you would probably also rather said cabinet not catch fire (I had to cut holes in the back and mount fans). I'm discovering that fans which are said to be very quiet actually are. I'm going to increase my case fans from 0 to 2 along with this aftermarket CPU cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608016 Thanks a lot for everyone's help. - Grant I've put together the new system and everything works really well. Here's the Gigabyte motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490 - Grant Nice mobo. I always want a lot of slots but rarely use them. I'm stuck in the old days where the mobo was basically a CPU and ram with a floppy port hanging off the side. lol Give us a speed report. What CPU did you get? Cores and all. Heck, I'm nosey today. Dale :-) :-)
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
>> I've put together the new system and everything works really well. >> Here's the Gigabyte motherboard: >> >> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128490 >> >> - Grant >> > Nice mobo. I always want a lot of slots but rarely use them. I'm stuck in > the old days where the mobo was basically a CPU and ram with a floppy port > hanging off the side. lol > > Give us a speed report. What CPU did you get? Cores and all. Heck, I'm > nosey today. The thing is fast. 4 cores at 3.7Ghz: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103934 I watched My Cousin Vinny on Blu-Ray last night without threading ffmpeg and without VDPAU and it never lost A/V sync for even a moment. It was an h264 codec. Just a few dropped frames I'd say. The Hulu Desktop fullscreen image no longer tears which is great too. Speaking of videos, I sincerely apologize for this but it's Sunday and I can not help myself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cqOEr_yfak - Grant
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On Sunday 10 July 2011 22:15:31 Grant wrote: > Speaking of videos, I sincerely apologize for this but it's Sunday and I > can not help myself: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cqOEr_yfak I don't know what that's about - I couldn't watch more than 10s of it. -- Rgds Peter
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On Monday 04 July 2011 09:30:27 Grant wrote: > I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. Don't forget Tyan. The workstation board I have here has been rock-solid even in really bad "atmospheric" conditions (large temperature and humidity differences) and a dodgy power supply from the utility company. They're just a bit more expensive then ASUS. -- Joost
Re: [gentoo-user] {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)
On 07/20/2011 11:49 AM, Joost Roeleveld wrote: > On Monday 04 July 2011 09:30:27 Grant wrote: >> I'm reading that ASUS and Gigabyte are the way to go for reliability. > > Don't forget Tyan. The workstation board I have here has been rock-solid even > in really bad "atmospheric" conditions (large temperature and humidity > differences) and a dodgy power supply from the utility company. > > They're just a bit more expensive then ASUS. +1 I had a DP Xeon mobo from them (S2665UANF) when the Xeon first got HT. Great machine.
