[ale] AMD ATI Radeon or Nvidia Geforce ?

[m-aaron-r]

On 2010/05/29, at 13:29 , Larry Johnson wrote:

> On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 2:03 AM, m-aaron-r <aaron at pd.org> wrote:
> When you get the whole configuration done, you should post what
> components you  chose and why to this list (ulterior motive on my
> part,
> it's about time for me to start thinking about a new setup, and I'm
> starting to think about components.  Discussion of current state of
> the Linux compatible art would be helpful).
>
> Larry

This system is still in the domain of _possible_ purchases, but
MagicMicro has excellent website tools for mixing and matching
components -- catches most of the compatibility issues and it's
a quick click to check specs & details for a selected component.
With all that, it's pretty easy to imagine-ate a nice new computer.

This list started as their $500 AMD "Media" machine, then I
upgraded a few of the parts. As listed, this would be $766
machine. Note that the MagicMicro built systems  come with
a 3 year warranty as well.

============================
  CURRENT CONFIGURATION

PARTS : CPU : AMD 64 CPU AM3
AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0GHz (Quad Core) 45nm, AM3 6MB Cache
-- (minor upgrade to 3.0Ghz from 2.8Ghz -- minor personal preference
for AMD since they came up from under the shadow of a corporape
monolith and  provide a level of fair market competition in silicon
manufacturing arena)

PARTS : Cooling Fans : AMD 64 CPU Fans
Coolermaster Hyper TX3 Vertical, 3 Copper Heat Pipes, Extra Quiet CPU  
fan
-- (upgraded cooling; important component, esp with these multi-core  
CPU's)

PARTS : Motherboards : AMD 64 AM2+/AM3 Motherboards
ASUS M4A77D , AMD 770, PCI-EX, GB LAN
-- (upgraded for a little more PCI expansion, on board 1394a/Firewire,
   which is a superior transport mechanism to USB for media work AND
   I have a whole bunch of Firewire connected storage and peripherals.
  This one also provides Gigabit Ethernet on board)

PARTS : Memory : DDR2 memory
4GB (2x2GB) PC8500 DDR2 1066 Dual Channel (Check board compatibility)
-- (slight upgrade from 667 speed to 1066; mobo supports it so why not?)

PARTS : Video & TV Cards : PCI-Express Video cards
GeForce 9400GT 1GB PCI EXpress 16X dual head, tv out
-- (light upgrade to name brand; many much more expensive
     choices were available)

PARTS : Video & TV Cards : TV Tuner & Capture cards
NONE SELECTED

PARTS : Hard Drives
500.0GB Hitachi 7200RPM SATA2, UDMA 300 8m cache
--  (enough for the system disk; I have lots of HD space
     available via Firewire and can always add more internal)

PARTS : Cooling Fans : Hard Drive Fans
NONE SELECTED
-- (the case is roomy; this would be redundant)

PARTS : Hard Drives
2nd Hard Drive NONE SELECTED

PARTS : Cooling Fans : Hard Drive Fans
2nd Hard drive Fan NONE SELECTED

PARTS : CD/DVD/R/RW Drives : DVD Recorders
Lite On 22x DVD Recorder Dual Layer +R/RW -R/RW

PARTS : Media Card Readers
NONE SELECTED

PARTS : Sound Cards
Realtek HD digital audio (onboard)
-- (integrated in the mother board. I have other sound
    cards if needed)

PARTS : Networking : Network Cards
Ethernet network adapter (onboard)
-- (Gigabit)

PARTS : Controller Cards
NONE SELECTED

PARTS : Cases / Power Supplies : Cases
APEVIA X-Plorer Silver, Side Window, front USB,iEEE,Temp control
--(upgraded to slightly fancier case with a little more cooling;
     front access Firewire connector was a plus for me as well)

PARTS : Cooling Fans : Case Fans
NONE SELECTED
-- (enough included with the case)

PARTS : Cooling Fans : Power Supply
Antec Basiq 500w Extra Quiet ATX Power Supply w/ 6pin PCI-E
-- (upgraded to a recognized PS brand; reliable, stable PS is
    a critical component)

PARTS : Keyboards
Logitech Wireless Keyboard & Optical mouse combo black
-- (upgraded to a wireless pair; a luxury item)

PARTS : Mice
NONE SELECTED

PARTS : Speakers
NONE SELECTED

SOFTWARE : Operating Systems
++ Any or many of the $0 cost Freedom Friendly LINUX Distributions ++
-- (.. but if you LIKE being raped by extortionist corporate criminals,
     they still offer Mafia$oft Windisease  Xcrement Pile Pro for $200;
     Mafia$oft Windisease 7sins  is $170 for "pro" and $210 for  
"ultimutt".
     Can't imagine why they don't also offer M$ Fistya, though)

SOFTWARE : Office Software
NONE SELECTED
-- (...and if you want to get raped by racketeering  corporate
     criminals even harder, you can cough up $300 for
     Orifice 2007 Pro. Together with Windisease 7sins,  more
     than the cost of the original system hardware package)

PARTS : Monitors
NONE SELECTED
-- (got screens; like hard drives, it can me much cheaper to
purchase these as separate or subsequent additions)

PARTS : Assembly and Test
Standard assembly and test 3-5 business days

===================
HTH!
peace
aaron




>> I've come into a small unexpected windfall and, amidst a
>> number of possible music, video or computer gadgets I
>> might like to spend it on,  I am considering building a
>> fairly high horsepower Linux system for exploring
>> media production and system virtualization.
>>
>> While piecing together this media dream machine at
>> Magic Micro I've run into a brick wall decision on the
>> graphics card.
>>
>> So what's the best choice in terms of both the current
>> and likely to come Linux support for the duopoly
>> graphics options:
>>
>> AMD ATI Radeon or Nvidia Geforce ?
>>
>> Thx
>> peace
>> aaron