der.hans wrote:
> moin moin,
>
> I'm wanting to buy a new box. I'd like to go to AMD 64 and have a good
> video card with Free Software drivers.
---
This will likely be quite hard if you also want to run AIGLX or XGL (XGL is an overlay over X, AIGLX is part of X). The only video I know of that both works with AIGLX/XGL and has Free drivers is Intel, which isn't available with an AMD chip
>
> I figure I'll go SATA for hard drives.
---
Excellent choice, look for SATA2 if the budget allows
>
> I don't really care about a CD rom, but might get a DVD burner.
---
Good idea to have at least a DVD-ROM drive. This makes it easier to install Linux and you can try Live disks for fun
With LightScribe DVD burners at < $100, it's hard to justify not having something installed.
>
> Any recommendations on what processor(s) to get? Dual-core?
---
Dual-core is pretty much expected at this point. With real quad-core coming out in a few months, single core is almost a waste of time.
>
> What mother board? I want to be able to put at least a couple of GB of RAM
> in it, but I think that should be pretty standard by now.
---
Get a MB with PCIe (at least 2 x16 slots and 2+ x1 slots), 4 RAM slots (DDR2 if possible), 2G DIMM support, USB2 and IEEE1394 ports, and a couple of GigE ports is nice. There are a few boards like this from MSI, Gigabyte, and others, choose the one you like best. Just stay far away from [AWill, Tyan], nothing but trouble with those two.
>
> If I put it together myself I'll likely by the RAM from Crucial.
>
> Any specific heat syncs I should look at? I'd like something that doesn't
> need much fan as the box will be in a somewhat dusty environment and I'd
> like the box to be quiet.
---
The Dust is going to be a problem. The best solution would be to seal the case and use a water-cooler. That's a bit expensive, however, so you may have to just clean the machine VERY frequently.
Water coolers are very quiet, but again, there's a cost factor. With a dusty environment and the specs you want, fan-based solutions are highly unlikely to be quiet.
>
> Video card? Do I need to worry about what type of slots the mother board
> has for video? I plan on running dual-head 20" LCDs. I'm liking
> wide-screen monitors. Does that affect video card decisions?
---
Wide-screen doesn't affect video card, but dual-monitor does. You're pretty much stuck with a Matrox card a high-end Nvidia/ATI card, or dual cards if you want dual screens. I haven't seen anything besides Nvidia working in Linux dual-head, but I think Matrox cards work well with Free drivers (no GL support though).
If you're looking for wide-screen, look at 22", since 20" wide-screen is actually smaller than 19" normal.
>
> Are there different SATAs to worry about?
---
SATA and SATA2 (SATA-II). SATA2 will run SATA drives, but not the converse.
>
> Do DVD burners just work for Linux?
---
Mostly, yes. Lightscribe is only available for 32-bit Linux, and some other advanced features may not work, but I haven't had any trouble with basic disk burning functions, provided the system can keep up with the DVD (DMA isn't well supported in 64-bit yet).
>
> Anything else I should care about?
Cost??? 32-bit vs. 64-bit, unless you plan to run >3G RAM, run 32-bit for now, since there's still a lot that doesn't run 64-bit (mostly binary drivers and Flash, but some Free software still isn't working in 64-bit too).
Distro? Consider GNewSense if you're willing to accept some things not working, Ubuntu Edgy otherwise. If you prefer RPM (I know you don't, but others reading this might) then Fedora Core 6 has better AIGLX support (for Beryl and Emerald eye-candy goodness) than CentOS.
>
> Low power would be awesome. Quiet would be good. Able to handle a somewhat
> dusty environment is a must.
Low power translates to minimal capability, and you're contradicting that with most of the above.
Quiet combined with dust == Water cooling. If you aren't willing to clean the system frequently, seal the case and use a water cooler, any other choice will be an invitation to hardware failure.
>
> I don't need a bunch of power as it'll mostly just be a desktop. I don't
> game, but I would like to play with xgl. I will likely play with
> virtualization stuff like qemu and xen.
For virtualization, a dual-core CPU helps a LOT (so does lots of RAM and piles of Disk). Consider multiple disk drives, one for host O/S and another for virtualization. Most VM's prefer a raw partition to play with, and that's not safe to do on the host O/S drive.
>
> I haven't even thought about hardware for a few years, so I'm totally out
> of touch with what's available.
>
> Recommendations on where to shop would be good as well.
>
> I'm fine with putting the box together, but am also fine with buying a
> complete system from a Linux-friendly vendor.
>
> I might consider buying the case from Frys, but likely no other components
> as I want the box to work and Frys sucks. No need to start a thread
> on this, see list archives. Just saying that I'm going to ignore any
> recommendations on picking up components there.
>
> ciao,
>
> der.hans
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