Parts-list needs checking...

[devva231]

I am preparing a custom build focused on Win 7 Home and MX Linux 17.1. The build will be mostly for surfing the internet, and streaming movies from sites like putlockers, 123movies, Youtube, etc., but I might be doing occasional video encoding/editing if I ever find anything worth burning to DVD. I expect to get into GIMP, and maybe Photoshop if I ever find one not outrageously priced. Possibly Virtualbox and Sandboxie. I do a lot of Word 2003 stuff. That's about it. No gaming, torrenting, or so on.

So I've completed a parts-list, and checked it for possible problems/incompatibilities with Win 7...if anyone would like to do the same for Linux, your assistance would be appreciated...otherwise I'll just hope for the best

Case: CM Storm Trooper (SGC-5000-KKN1)

CPU: i7-4790k

Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

*Motherboard:
MSI Z97 Gaming 5
MSI Z87-GD65 Gaming
MSI Z97-GD65 Gaming
MSI Z97-G45
MSI Z97A Gaming 6

RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws X-series 32GB (4x8GB) DDR3-1600 CL9

*Video card: Geforce GTX Ti 2GB or GeForce GTX 560 Ti

DVD burner: (two) Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/AS

Storage:
(two) WD Caviar Black 1TB 3.5 7200rpm
Crucial MX500 500GB SSD (for MX Linux)

Mobile rack: (Two) Syba SY-MRA55006

Power Supply: Seasonic Focus 650 W80+ Gold

*motherboards and graphic cards all look to be about equal, so I'll likely just buy the first one I find.

[xaol]

this site hosts a database of probes that linux users have run and submitted to give others an idea about hardware compatibility. you may be able to find some of the parts you are considering listed: https://linux-hardware.org/?view=search

[junoluna]

considering that everything you do with a computer is so regressive, i think your proposed set up is massive overkill

why on earth would you want 32 gigs of RAM just to run slimjet and office 2003?


i know linux is all about choice and i have read your posts about why you run antiquated software despite all the advice (including that of the developers)...... i recently got rid of my smart phone ... they annoy me and i pretty much don't need one ... life was so much less bzzzz and bing bing and all was good until i was riding my bicycle home and got a puncture without a repair kit 11 miles from home and about 20 from the nearest telephone box

still ... i like cutting off my nose to spite my face ....

[JayM]

@junoluna Too bad you're not in the Philippines. Someone would have stopped and either repaired your puncture for you or taken you and the wheel to a vulcanizing shop and back, both for free.

@devva231 what I would do if I was you is search the web for every hardware item, adding the search term linux to every search, and see if anyone on the Internet is having problems running Linux with that hardware item. Regarding junoluna's comment that your new build is overkill for what you intend to use it for, well, sometimes you just want to have a fast new computer that will last you for a decade or so and do anything that you might want to do on it, or just so you can sit back and smile at how fast it is.

[asqwerth]

The MX17 and 18 releases are all based on Debian Stretch.

If you choose to download 17.1 iso, you will have the no-longer maintained 4.15 kernel ( https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=10142 ) that may not be secure. When you upgrade this installation, you will then have tons of packages to update, all the way from 15 March 2018 (release date of iso) to current day. When your updates are complete, you will essentially have an up-to-date MX18.3, except that:

- IIRC you will have an issue with some gpg key which was changed somewhere between 17.1 and 18.3, and will have to manually sort it out. In fact, you may not even be able to upgrade your installed mx17.1 until you sort it out.
- you don't have the MX18.3 kernel, which is Debian's own 4.19 kernel, meaning it will continue to receive security patches for as long as Stretch is maintained/supported by Debian ( https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-18-3-refres ... available/ - released on 26 May 2019)
- you don't have MX18's wallpapers (no big deal)
- you would have to expend lots of data and bandwidth to download and install tons of upgrades (and also install the 4.19 debian kernel if you want to be more secure), when you could have just downloaded and installed the MX18.3 iso and had fewer updates to apply thereafter.


I therefore advise that it makes more sense, if you really want to keep to the Debian Stretch releases, to download and install MX18.3 iso instead of MX17.1.

[JayM]

...not to mention that new hardware like you're proposing to buy may require the AHS (advanced hardware support) version of MX to even work properly, and that's only available for MX-19.3/MX-KDE. So your brand-new computer system likely won't even work with MX-17 or 18 anyway.

[junoluna]

Too bad you're not in the Philippines. Someone would have stopped and either repaired your puncture for you or taken you and the wheel to a vulcanizing shop and back, both for free.

yes

the thais are pretty good like that too

it was late evening but somebody stopped and gave me a lift home in their pick up in the end ...

my wife forced me to buy one of those old flip top phones for emergency ... it's a fair compromise and it has 'snake' installed

apologies for off topicness ....

by the way ... does anybody still burn DVDs?

[asqwerth]

I'm still not done ripping all my CDs! But I've not burnt a DVD for ages.

[Stevo]

Is the hardware really that new? It looks circa 2014 to me, i.e. Intel 4th gen when the current is 11th.

[JayM]

Is the hardware really that new? It looks circa 2014 to me, i.e. Intel 4th gen when the current is 11th.

You're right. OP must be looking at buying new old stock. I didn't actually search the web to find the specs of his proposed processor or motherboards before, I just assumed (ass+u+me) that it was all recent kit. Even the first mobo on his list (I didn't search for the others) has a chipset from Q2 2014, discontinued in 2017. Still, there's no reason not to run MX-19.3 on this system, and I'm sure even AHS or MX-KDE would work fine on it. (I used to run AHS on my old Asus M5A78L LE motherboard with an AMD FX-8320 processor and DDR3 RAM with an XFX Radeon HD 6570 "Turks Pro" video card with no issues, and that hardware all dates from 2011-2012.) MX-19.3 is Debian Buster-based and will be supported by Debian until mid-2024, and probably by their LTS team for a couple of years beyond that, while Debian Buster, upon which MX-17.x and 18.x are based, is already LTS-supported and only until the end of June 2022 at which time it will reach end-of-life. OP may as well plan for the future and install a version of MX that will continue to be supported from upstream for several more years rather than one whose support expires in a little over a year, at which time he'd have to install (at least) MX-19.3 from scratch anyway to continue to receive support (i.e. security patches and bugfixes) from Debian. May as well just install it now and be done with it.