Linux Mint Forums

I'm thinking of buying two things, & I would like some feedback before I go out & buy them.

1--Seagate Barracuda SATAII 500GB 7200.11 w/32MB NCQ ST3500320AS. This has perpendicular recording, if that makes any difference to Linux. There is also a model, the part number starts the same but ends in "NS" instead of "AS " and googling around I can't find any explanation for the $30 price difference.

2--MSI 256Mb NX8500GT PCI-E DDR2 Hdtv/Dvi/Tv video card. My mobo is also MSI. This is a cheap card, price-wise. The mobo has built in 256Mb graphics but I'm assuming a dedicated card would be better, plus the built-in is 6100 series vs this one 8500 series.

Anybody ever used ether of these?
Thanks.

Mobo: MSI K9N6G-M
Ram: 2 Gb
HD: WD 160 Gb
On-board sound, lan,

OK, I saw those pages but couldn't decipher the differences. Your "desktop" vs "server" classifies it very well. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm not sure of the former, but I have the MSI NX8500GT pci-e card that I purchased recently and it works great in Linux Mint KDE CE. I had no problems with it being recognized. I bought this card over other versions because it has a heat sink instead of a fan. I have an Antec P180 mid-tower case I also bought, and with the three large platter sized fans in it, I don't need a fan on the graphics card. Plus, fans just generate more heat in my opinion. Some would go with a 8600 card, but I wanted one without a fan and a card that was under 80 dollars. Don't know if it matters, but my power supply is a corsair 550 W.

Edited to add, the fans are more like saucers than platters