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New pc to run Linux

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fourtwentyfour
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#417404

Postby fourtwentyfour » June 4th, 2021, 9:22 pm

Thank you, all. I am overwhelmed by the great response.

Re losing internet, I've covered that, for as long as I live here; A period of no internet due to a change of provider caused me to run a cable between me and the neighbour, so we each have backup if needed.

Lots of work to do. Thanks.

GeoffF100
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#417422

Postby GeoffF100 » June 5th, 2021, 8:03 am

Novatech has a reasonable price on the Ryzen 3 processor and motherboard and is a reliable company. You will be paying more than list price for everything, but 2 x list price is common at
present.

cinelli
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#417751

Postby cinelli » June 6th, 2021, 8:23 pm

Hi fourtwentyfour. I am replying as what you are doing is just what I did three years ago, namely buy a new desktop PC to run linux. That is the PC on which I am typing this message and it runs beautifully with Mint Cinnamon 20. I taught myself how to build a PC by watching several YouTube videos. There is a great deal of good advice there. In particular I was convinced that for general computing, namely no games or video editing or other resource hungry applications, the CPU needn't be over the top. I used pcpartpicker and bought the following:

Motherboard ASUS H110M-K £52
CPU Intel Pentium G4400 £40
Power supply Corsair CX450M £48
Case Fractal Design Core 1100 micro ATX £33
Memory 2x4GB Crucial £78
Storage SanDisk 240GB SSD £60
CD/DVD drive LG £16
Total £327

Almost certainly prices will have changed in the interim. Cost wasn't really an issue but I didn't want to buy expensive kit unnecessarily. The cheap CPU is fine.

I have a computer which serves my purposes admirably and I haven't outgrown it in those three years. But by building it myself, I have the confidence to replace/upgrade anything in the future. Incidentally it is built as a dual-boot system but I hardly ever use Windows.

I hope this helps.

Cinelli

MDW1954
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#420285

Postby MDW1954 » June 17th, 2021, 9:07 pm

Late to this, but I've bought Linux machines from both Novatech and (latterly) PC Specialist. They arrive 'empty' (ie no operating system) but that's fine.

MDW1954

TUK020
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#422159

Postby TUK020 » June 25th, 2021, 9:43 am

Awaiting delivery of my new fanless mini PC:
https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/nsp ... ?s=PC-2682
Intel NUC Chassis | Intel Core i3 10th Gen. Processor | Intel UHD Graphics | 8GB DDR4 Memory | 250GB NVMe SSD | Dual Monitor Support

Have created my Linux Mint boot memory stick.
About to embark on the Linux adventure, confess to being a bit nervous

Have also bought a USB3 sharing switch box so that I can use the same mouse/keyboard/webcam/speakers and switch these from old computer to new machine at the touch of a button.
I know it is probably easier to have gone a dual boot approach, but wanted to keep the new machine separate until I get some confidence

malakoffee
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#423939

Postby malakoffee » July 1st, 2021, 12:14 pm

TUK020 :
Is it possible for you to measure the power usage of your new Novatech box and post back here.

I'm looking for a very low power PC to replace this 8-yr-old one ( running Ubuntu ).

PS. I did quite a lot of prior research using "Explaining Computers",, but the mini-itx build seems to have caused the components to be out-of-stock - whenever I checked.

GeoffF100
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#424060

Postby GeoffF100 » July 1st, 2021, 6:43 pm

malakoffee wrote:TUK020 :
Is it possible for you to measure the power usage of your new Novatech box and post back here.

I'm looking for a very low power PC to replace this 8-yr-old one ( running Ubuntu ).

PS. I did quite a lot of prior research using "Explaining Computers",, but the mini-itx build seems to have caused the components to be out-of-stock - whenever I checked.

Gigabyte makes a Brix with the same processor. You may be able to find that in stock somewhere. You could also look for NUCs. Do not forget to factor in the power used by the monitor and other peripherals.

TUK020
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#424110

Postby TUK020 » July 2nd, 2021, 7:20 am

malakoffee wrote:TUK020 :
Is it possible for you to measure the power usage of your new Novatech box and post back here.

I'm looking for a very low power PC to replace this 8-yr-old one ( running Ubuntu ).

PS. I did quite a lot of prior research using "Explaining Computers",, but the mini-itx build seems to have caused the components to be out-of-stock - whenever I checked.

Still awaiting delivery. Will keep you posted

Infrasonic
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#424124

Postby Infrasonic » July 2nd, 2021, 8:27 am

TUK020 wrote:I know it is probably easier to have gone a dual boot approach, but wanted to keep the new machine separate until I get some confidence


If talking W10/Linux dual boot watch out as Windows can have a habit of overwriting Linux boot settings on feature updates sometimes.

Keeping them on entirely separate machines with KVM switches for peripherals like you've done is actually a better option if you can afford the office real estate. You can get 21/9 monitors with built in KVM switching too if you want a tidy single monitor solution.

Dual/multi booting with different drives is more reliable - you can even boot Linux from an external USB/TB SSD with persistence if needed.
Same with W10 - but it's more of a faff to achieve it.

servodude
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Re: New pc to run Linux

#424128

Postby servodude » July 2nd, 2021, 8:35 am

Infrasonic wrote:
TUK020 wrote:I know it is probably easier to have gone a dual boot approach, but wanted to keep the new machine separate until I get some confidence


If talking W10/Linux dual boot watch out as Windows can have a habit of overwriting Linux boot settings on feature updates sometimes.

Keeping them on entirely separate machines with KVM switches for peripherals like you've done is actually a better option if you can afford the office real estate. You can get 21/9 monitors with built in KVM switching too if you want a tidy single monitor solution.

Dual/multi booting with different drives is more reliable - you can even boot Linux from an external USB/TB SSD with persistence if needed.
Same with W10 - but it's more of a faff to achieve it.


Virtualisation is another thing that seems to "just work" these days
I'm probably 80% in Linux - building custom Linux stuff for embedded targets on Ubuntu running in Virtual Box on Win 10 (passing through various bits of hardware as if they're native)
It means the PC adheres to the letter of the corporate security regs and workgroup policies
- and I can wrap up targets and environments for archive, project switching, sharing, or remote deployment

EDIT: Saying that I've been blown away by what you can do with an 8GB pi4 running in an ArgonONE case with an m.2 boot drive
- it's just about a proper PC now
-sd


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