New machine specs : opinions?

[Torok]

I'm about to build a new machine, and I'd like to switch from Mandrake to Gentoo when I've got it all built. I don't do much gaming and could care less if I get the very best performance in video, but I just want to make sure that I won't have any problems with this:

Soltek SL-DRV5 333MHz MB
512MB Samsung PC2700 DDR333 RAM
AMD 1800+
Soltek GeForce 2 MX400 64MB 64Bit SDR
LiteOn 16x DVD-ROM
LiteOn CDRW
350W Power supply
Gentoo Linux (latest version)

Thoughts? Suggestions? Will it all play nice together, and will the drivers be there? I can't keep up with this stuff anymore, so if I've screwed up somewhere, please let me know!

Thanks!

[rphillips]

sounds nice.

Might be careful with the powersupply.... I've heard that some new processors/motherboards/video card combos need atleast a 400 watt power supply.

[nitro322]

Well, you're either planning on running a really stripped down version of Gentoo, or (more likely) you left off your hard drive. Don't want to forget that! Go SCSI if you can afford it for the best reliability and performance, but UDMA 100/133 would work ok as well. Also don't see anything mentioned about a sound card, but just about any should work fine for you.

[Torok]

Ya, the hard drive is going to be a WD 40GB I think - for now. The Soltek board comes with on-board sound, which might be good enough for me, I dunno. Anyone have any experience with those boards?

I've been researching power supplies, probably going to get a nice Antec 350W.. hoping that's enough. My main concern was video though - right now I run an PII400 with an ATI Xpert98. The ATI card hasn't given me any problems, but I build a lot of computers for people (Windows only, very sad), and the newer ATI cards are causing me nothing but pain and suffering. As long as the GeForce is going to work nicely with Gentoo, I'll get it.

Thanks for the comments!

[pjp]

Send it to me and I'll install everything and do a 'burn in' over a couple of years.
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[nitro322]

I don't have an nVidia card personally (still nursing my Voodoo3 along), but everything I've heard and read about it implies excellent Linux support for nVidia cards, especially the GeForces. A GeForce2 MX should definitely be a safe bet.

[burzmali]

don't get the geforce 2 mx! the geforce 2 pro/GTS shouldn't cost too much more and it is a MUCH better card!!! much better value for the money, and it should last you longer.

just my opinion, though!

other than that, looks good.

good luck, have fun!
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burzmali
www.burzmali.net

[Pigeon]

Yeah, nvidia and linux get along very well. =)

And I'd agree- a geforce 2pro shouldn't be much more than a 2MX, and it's a vastly better card. But if you don't plan on doing any gaming at all, it won't make 2 cents worth of difference. As far as I know, the geforce 2 MX is just a geforce 2GTS with SDR instead of DDR ram and a slower clock. (the slower clock isn't important- the bottleneck in any geforce since the original one has always been the memory)

[mglauche]

Also the lower end Geforce 3 Ti can be found quite cheap, i got an abit Geforce 3 ti (the slower clock one) with 128 mb for about 100 euro ... But I think the pixel and vertex shaders are worth it if you intent to play games

[MBCook]

I agree with mgauche. Now that the GF4s are all the rage, GF3s are cheap. Ti 500 start at about $130, and Ti 200s start at about $90. They are VERY well supported under Linux. While the driver is not under an opensource liscense, it works great. I've used a few nVidias under Linux and they are extreemly well supported. Also, just FYI, I've had some problems in the past compiling the nVidia drivers on various distros, but an "emerge nvidia-kernel" worked without a hitch for me.
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