Jonathan Berry wrote:
On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 10:13:59 -0600, apjaworski@xxxxxxxDitto on recommendations. I have the ASUS K8N w/ an older ATI all-in-wonder video and it works fine at 1280x1024 full color, etc. Tunning FC3, install seemed to go smoothly. Check the install recommendations from the fedora.org website, there are links to some valuble info. I am planning on Nvidia upgrade.
<apjaworski@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello there,
I am about to get a new system and I have a couple of simple questions about hardware compatibility.
1. I am thinking about getting an ASUS K8N board with Athlon 64 processor.
Do I have to install FC3 x86_64 or can I install 32bit FC3. If I can do
both, which one is better, especially if I want to compile and run some
32bit applications.
You can install either or even dual boot both if you want :). I run x86_64, and it runs quite well on an nForce3 based laptop. The 64-bit OS can run 32-bit programs just fine. If you want to compile programs, you can probably compile them just fine in 64-bit. If you really want 32-bit programs, you can do that. I think just pass -m32 to gcc, or specify a 32-bit arch, or use the 32-bit compiler. You have to be careful about mixing 32-bit plugins and 64-bit programs as it won't work. As Rob said, you need a 32-bit browser to use Java VM or Flash plugin at the moment. 64-bit versions will be out in due time, though. In summary, go with x86_64, and if you really want a 32-bit only environment, dual boot with the i386 version. You should have plenty of disk space, right?
2. I am thinking about getting just two SATA HDs. The motherboard has
Sil3114 controller. Will FC3 installer recognize the disks and let me
install the system?
Sorry, no clue. There is some chatter on the list about SATA, but I don't have such hardware so I don't pay much attention to it.
3. Will I be able to use the Realtek ALC850 audio controller or should I
buy a separate sound card (I was thinking about getting an Audigy card).
This should probably work, though Audigy cards are very nice. Built in audio works fine on my laptop. It has an nForce3 150 motherboard, so I don't know if it is the same sound or not. You can always see if it works, and if not get the Audigy later. Most modern hardware that isn't too exotic seems to work just fine.
4. Similar things with the built-in gigabit LAN. I am not even sure what
that is - it says "Chipset built-in Gigabit MAC with external Marvell PHY
supporting 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet" in the specs.
I think the PHY is just a name Marvell has come up with. As I said above, probably works, especially given Rob's comments.
Any thoughts and other recommendations are welcome.
Looks like a nice setup. I really like my Athlon 64 and FC3 has some of the best support for x86_64 from what I have heard. You might check out the AMD64 list. It has less trafic and you might get some better responses there: https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/amd64-list
What kind of graphics card are you going with? If you want 3D, you probably ought to go with an nVidia card. I've been very pleased with the Linux support for my GeForce MX 440s. Of course, if you want something more current, go for the later FX series (5600 or 5700 or more). I have a 5200 at work and my MX 440 does better in the benchmarks (except for the fact that the 5200 supports some of the newer features). ATI just does not have good linux support for their 3D cards at the moment from what I hear.
Thanks in advance for your time,
Andy
Jonathan
NOTE:, Please let us know how the networking turns out. I am still having SLOW ethenet issues everything set up fine but the network WAN access is painfully slow. Have tried a number of "tweaks" recommended in this thread, all to no avail. I suspect a driver/WAN settings interaction issue. Since you will have the same setup, let me know how it goes!
thanks
JonVO
