#Linux PC Build Plan

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

fossil sparrow
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So I'm in the middle of planning for a hopefully near-future home PC build plan and am not sure how to pick hardware (I already don't know shit about fuck even if I was building for Windows, but I have learned about some things in this process but I'm still not sure about a lot of things in the process. Mostly wondering about the better supported experience w brands and specific models/types for motherboard, CPU, and GPU. Use is gaming and multimedia and I wanna get balanced performance and futureproofing right away. Budget is around ~$1200 (not including peripherals), can anyone give recs?

Main concerns:

  • driver support/experience, I know that intel, amd, nvidia will all be fine on linux but I've heard mixed experiences on all when it comes to actually using them, plus newer nvidia now supposedly will be more supported with the open drivers? Idk. I currently use nvidia with proprietary drivers and it's fine but I wouldn't say it's exactly smooth, though it's a 2050 mobile
  • does linux need more vram? Again I don't know shit about fuck when it comes to hardware but this is also something i've heard
pale cradle
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Some people swear by AMD gpus having better driver support, but newer Nvidias do seem to generally work well enough too. You do not want to use open drivers with nvidia, but that's about it.

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Strict hardware requirements for linux are same or lower as they would be if you were running windows
as in, if you run windows it will use up way more ram and cpu power for the OS itself

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but when you get to actual apps and games especially, you shouldn't notice resource usage difference that would be significant enough to warrant looking for different hardware

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That being said, the way I usually go about choosing PC components is:
Look at the budget, and see what gpu can you reasonably fit into that
then pick a reasonable cpu to not cripple the performance (but when in doubt whether to choose better cpu at cost of gpu, do gpu)

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After that add 32GB of ram (I guess if you really wanted to be budgety you could try getting around with 16 and upgrading later, but I wouldn't go personally for less than 32

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Power supply and mobo is mostly about compatibility and being enough, not worth it to downgrade any other component to upgrade those

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Lastly, SSD to taste, nvme, probably 1TB or 2TB, but this is the easiest part to upgrade and just add more storage later when you need it

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(And cpu Ryzen is just better than intel these days)

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(Purely hardware-wise, nothing linux specific)

fossil sparrow
fossil sparrow
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hm okay i can't find it so maybe that's not true?

fossil sparrow
pale cradle
pale cradle
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I recently got an msi b850 board, for what it's worth and didn't have any issues

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Bios updates happen from bios anyway there, so the os can be not even installed yet, and you can still upgrade bios

fossil sparrow
fossil sparrow
pale cradle
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I mean, there is a lot of people, also here, who will say to pick amd because of better driver support, so you can go with that

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I'm running nvidia, with proprietary drivers and it is running well, but your mileage may wary

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Personally if I was picking between cards I'd choose better price to performance card whatever that may be in tour budget, and then look at amd vs nvidia as preference, if they're really close

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But, if not losing anything on price/performance, amd might be a better pick

fossil sparrow
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Yea, I don't really have enough experience with either to have a preference, and currently use nvidia, but picking my own parts is a big commitment/decision load I'm just not sure how I should think otherwise 😅

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Overall I should just think about price to performance then? I mean I know that's always important but yknow. I dont know shit about hardware and linux

pale cradle
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Choice of OS doesn't reaaally make that much difference
if you get a good hardware, you're gonna have good hardware

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Now If you were looking for used components, or laptops, mayyybe there could be come more compatibility considerations (just google the chosen components for any known issues - though, you should do that either way, to know if they didn't have any major story/fuckup/recall)

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Personally I tend to aim for best hardware I can afford within the budget (sometimes maybe moving budget a little when it's flexible)

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(which isn't same as price to performance ratio, it's a simple "maximum for the given price point")

fossil sparrow
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Yeah I was gonna just get new components

fossil sparrow
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Just thought of something when it comes to NVIDIA. Does it not work well with multiple monitors?

pale cradle
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It shouldn't be a problem, though, right now I run a single monitor, so haven't tested it on wayland/kde personally

still flicker
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HI, I have a Hp Pavilion is a minilaptop, and I installed Zorin Os, but now the pc won't react to any command, the mouse is unresponsive, the keyboard does not respond and programs start opening and closing at random, and the screen flickers. So i was wondering if it was the distro that I choose. I'm a noob on this so I was wondering if linux mint (the lite version) could solve this issue. I couldn't get the full specs, so I had to check on the internet. I dont mind changing distros, I want to use that laptop for office work only and give some clases, that's it, no gaming no nothing. And my brother could use it in the future so if the graphics look like windows could be better.

Thanks for your time

Procesador: AMD A4-1250 de doble núcleo a 1.0 GHz
Memoria RAM: 4 GB DDR3
Disco duro: 500 GB a 5400 RPM
Gráficos: AMD Radeon HD 8210
Pantalla: 11.6 pulgadas, HD (1366 x 768), táctil
Sistema operativo: Windows 8
elder grail
# fossil sparrow So I'm in the middle of planning for a hopefully near-future home PC build plan ...

I think $1,200 is a little shy if you want good performance and "future proofing" but I'll address your main questions:

Drivers - You're correct about GPU drivers, however you should avoid Realtek WiFi chipsets, speaking from personal experience their drivers have two problems I've encountered: Dualsense (PS5 controller) does not work correctly and will cause your WiFi to disconnect when you connect them in most cases and their WiFi power save mode creates intermittent hiccups that can double ping times (In my case, from 60-70 to 100-150), though that is easily disabled.

VRAM - Yes and no, it's not usual, I can think of just one example: CS2 had a VRAM leak which caused the game to require at least 12 GBs of VRAM to finish a one hour match at launch (Now fixed) (Meanwhile on Windows it only required 4 GBs VRAM)

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Oh and unrelated to Linux but I'd avoid Asus boards, their prices may be tempting however their UEFI is kind of lacking and obnoxious

fossil sparrow
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Good to know about realtek too

elder grail
fossil sparrow
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Also yeah about the budget thing i noticed it's a little tight but either way I don't know how much I should worry about which part of the gpu performance specs. Reaaally not a hardware guy

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Can push the budget up a bit but unsure how much is like worth spending lol

elder grail
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I have a 3060 12GB (Bought because of CS2 xD) and I get at least 60 FPS on medium-high settings in KCD2

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@1440p

fossil sparrow
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I'm okay with not playing the latest games for a few years let's say, but I do wanna play newish open world stuff

elder grail
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Well like I said, even my 3060 can play the latest games acceptably, at least IMO

fossil sparrow
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That is very good to know

elder grail
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It's one of the higher end 3060s though

fossil sparrow
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60fps on 1440 will be good enough for me

elder grail
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No OC but it's the 3 fan Gigabyte model

fossil sparrow
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I was looking at the 5000 series at this point

elder grail
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50 series would be balling hard

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I don't think you'd struggle with anything, I want to get one of those soon

fossil sparrow
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Not sure if i'll be able to come thru with that but the maths at the shops add up lol

elder grail
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Since RAM prices are up you might want to save money there and just get 16 GBs (Feels kinda crazy to suggest that when 32 GBs used to be so cheap)

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16 GBs was enough for me in the past on my 1650 laptop

fossil sparrow
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I might be able to get a good deal on user 32GB DDR5

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Used

elder grail
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Common mistake with RAM is getting RAM that doesn't support your CPU, XMP for Intel and EXPO for AMD

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What these do is make sure you can exceed your CPU's maximum rated RAM speed, which most RAM kits do

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For example my CPU supports just over 5,000 Mt/s but my RAM runs at 6,000 Mt/s because I have XMP enabled

fossil sparrow
elder grail
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Yes

fossil sparrow
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Processor is another thing I'm puzzled about. I know I wanna get AM5 but god shopping for it is even more confusing than gpu

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To me anyway

elder grail
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Sorry, I made a mistake, EXPO for AMD

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XeSS is DLSS for Intel essentially

elder grail
fossil sparrow
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Welp

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Now I have more things to think about lol

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It's not so much I'm confused about their naming scheme though

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More that a lot of things sound good just by themselves without me knowing enough and i don't know what to pay attention to specs-wise

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Same with gpu vram and memory bus and whatever

elder grail
elder grail
fossil sparrow
# elder grail Memory bus isn't something you need to worry about on a $1,200 budget I think, a...

Yeah but the thing is like if I can up my budget for better but less vram (for example picking between a 5060Ti and a regular 5070 it's like, do i pay more money for slightly less vram (i know that's not the only important thing, but i don't know shit about fuck otherwise) or will i be fulfilled enough for long enough getting something worse but with 16GB vram and not spend as much money on the gpu

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Stuff like that

elder grail
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VRAM is king now

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Using the combo deals on Newegg I saved almost $200 building my current PC, definitely worth considering

fossil sparrow
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Yeah well they're not in my country so xD

elder grail
fossil sparrow
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Indonesia

elder grail
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They don't ship there?

fossil sparrow
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Closest is singapore

elder grail
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Oof

fossil sparrow
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It do be

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Besides I would rather get stuff locally

elder grail
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Well good luck with your build, if you're curious about something feel free to ping me here or DM me at your discretion

fossil sparrow
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Will do! I think GPU is solved so far, hopefully lol