Hi Dave On 6/27/06, Dave Phillips <dlphillips@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Greetings: Not long ago I mentioned that a student had traded an MSI mobo (socket 939) for some lessons. I'm ready to start building a system around that board, and I have some questions for this list: 1) I can get a new AMD64 Athlon 3800 2.4 GHz for (US) $145. Is the Athlon 64 a good chip for audio work, and is that a good price ? It's the best listed on Pricewatch.
Yes. Im using an AMD64 Athlon 3000+. Works fine. You might want to check in with Lee Revel or someone technically in tune with the kernel developers about dual core chips. Mine is single core. There are still (I think...) soome dual core issues but they are fewer now then before.
2) Recommended case/power supply ?
Coolermaster case I think I'm using an Antec 450W supply. It's pretty quiet. Look into the Zalman power supplies if you can afford it.
3) The MSI box says it includes an nVidia nForce3 chipset, which I assume means that there's an audio/video chipset on the mobo. I'll probably disable the audio, and I have a gForce AGP video card to put in the machine. Question: Am I better off using the integrated video or should I use my card instead ? (Btw, I use the kernel nv driver, not nVidia's binary driver).
Whatever you choose try for no fans...
4) I assume I'll have to buy new RAM. What should I buy ?
Crucial.com
5) The CPU includes a fan, but should I get something more powerful ?
More quiet - Zalman definiately.
6) How can I best reduce the noise from this system ?
Zalman fan, Zalman or other quiet power supplies, no fans on the motherboard or video card, good disk drive.
7) Am I correct to assume that this system runs in a 32-bit more as well as the 64-bit ? How do I determine which mode I'll run in ?
No - it will run either 32-bit or 64-bit. However Linux has 32-bit emulation libraries to allow 32-bit binaries to run an a 64-bit system. I run 64-bit but I think if I was to do it again I'd just go 32-bit. 64-bit systems have trouble with many 32-bit Windows media types as win32codec built for 64-bit isn't completely compatible (or just doesn't work) yet. Some of Java isn't as well supported on 64-bit yet. Flash s OK. No clue whether any of that matters to you but it does to me.
This system will replace my ancient desktop machine, so also I need to know if there are any precautions or warnings re: running Linux audio software on it. The distro of choice will be Debian Etch a la Demudi 1.3.0.
Gentoo for me. Cannot comment on distros much.
Sorry for all the questions, I'm completely new to the 64-bit game. As always, any & all advice will be vastly appreciated. :)
We owe you so much you don't have to apologize for anything. Ask away. We need to put the universe's karma bit more in balance. Good luck, Mark
Best regards, dp
