[ale] art/science of choosing cpu, motherboard, mem for a pc, some guidance

[Jim Kinney]

I would NOT buy a new cpu from craigslist. It comes with no warranty and CPUs have infant mortality like hard drives. Unless you're replicating/replacing an existing/explicit system, buy cpu, ram, mobo from a dealer than can provide a warranty. Static damage is subtle and craigslist doesn't do dealer reputation tracking.

On September 4, 2017 9:07:13 PM EDT, Narahari 'n' Savitha <savithari at gmail.com> wrote:
>As always, Thank You DJ.
>
>I am not that concerned about the power aspect of this whole thing.
>
>I found this CPU  Intel Core i7 2600 (3.8Ghz) CPU
><https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/sop/d/intel-core-ighz-cpu/6284494809.html>
>for
>sale on craigslist.
>
>This CPU has a Pass score of 8217.  I presume purchasing the CPU on
>craigslist is safe in terms of reliability.
>
>I have to purchase cooler, paste for the motherboard.
>
>Where can I check compat issues of Motherboard with Linux ?
>
>On Mon, Sep 4, 2017 at 7:33 PM, DJ-Pfulio <DJPfulio at jdpfu.com> wrote:
>
>> Look at other builds on other sites.  Look at their parts list.  Do
>you
>> have all those things?
>> Case, PSU, compatible video card, HDDs, cables, power cords, .... CPU
>> thermal paste?  Oh - and a CPU cooler?  Some CPUs come with a cooler,
>> others do not.  Usually old CPU coolers cannot be used, but old ATX
>> cases and ATX PSUs work fine, unless you have a $500 GPU that needs 2
>> extra power connections to work.
>>
>> I have never needed more than 10G of RAM. My main VM server has 16G,
>but
>> 8G is always used for disk buffers. I think having more is a waste,
>> unless it is cheap.  DDR3 is fairly cheap.  DDR4, not so much.  My
>media
>> center server (not a player) has 8G.
>>
>> OC is 100% optional.  You only need a MB that supports it if you want
>to
>> do it.
>>
>> Did you leave CPU performance overhead for the extra non-transcoding
>> things you want?  You might be able to assign specific CPUs to
>specific
>> VMs, if that works on these AMD CPUs.
>>
>> Did you consider the CPU watts in your calculations?  AMD has a
>history
>> of using 30-50% more power.  Is that acceptable?  The newer Ryzen
>CPUs
>> were 125, 95, and 65W (I think).  I was specifically picking a 65W
>> version that included a CPU cooler.
>>
>> I would search for Linux compatibility for that motherboard and
>whatever
>> GPU you've got.  Support for some older AMD Radeon GPUs has been
>dropped.
>>
>> On 09/04/2017 06:02 PM, Narahari 'n' Savitha wrote:
>> > Need to pick your brains on finding the best CPU/MB/MEM combo. 
>Please
>> help.
>> >
>> > Let me start off saying I am taking a cheap route.
>> >
>> > Went to get Passmark of 5500 and above from
>> > https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
>> >
>> > Cheapest reasonable cpu at Microcenter with these ratings.  Prices
>below
>> > are at Microcenter.
>> >
>> > Intel Core i3-7100 @ 3.90GHz 5895 $96
>> > AMD FX-8320E Eight-Core     7509 $80
>> > AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core  8942 $100
>> >
>> > If I pick the cheapest one at $80, I work from there to motherboard
>on
>> > pcpartpicker.
>> >
>> > Here I see many, but what criterion for motherboard, Star ratings ?
>> > Dont know if video is built in?  I dont need video builtin since I
>have
>> > vid card
>> > 4 mem slots is good.  Atleast 32G supported is a good thing to
>consider
>> > right
>> >
>> > I picked Gigabyte
>> > (https://pcpartpicker.com/product/T69KHx/gigabyte-
>> motherboard-ga78lmtusb3)
>> > for $55, comments say not overclockable but CPU in microcenter is
>Black
>> > Edition aka Overclockable, so need OC board right ? (cant find that
>info
>> > on the summary page though for mother boards.)
>> >
>> > From here I worked towards DDR3 2400 memory.  This is Corsair 16G
>$120.
>> >
>> > Is this pretty much it ?
>> >
>> > My cost is coming to $260.
>> >
>> > Is the approach I am taking correct ?
>> >
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