Building a Linux Computer - hardware considerations?

[vladtepes]

The bulk of computer builds I see on other forums appear to be with Windows OS in mind, or sometimes the OS is unspecified.

Which leads me to consider - what are the important things which need to be considered in HARDWARE selection to ensure compatibility with Linux and, to whatever degree possible, keep costs down.

I've no immediate plans to do so, with my current financial constraints and number of currently unfinished projects, BUT one day I foresee a white box decorated with penguins in my life....

Usage Case

Obviously the use to which the system would be put will dictate to some extent the system requirements.

For the sake of discussion, let us assume the user wants:
- a dedicated Linux system, not dual-boot
- Streaming Netflix, Stan
- Streaming stored media (eg Kodi etc)
- some gaming (but not the latest and greatest titles needing top end GPUs)
- general internet browsing including youtube etc
- office (Libre Office)
and
- must work out of the box with little or no special customisation required.
- a preference for a mini-ITX form factor.

I reckon these requirements are broadly typical of home computer usage these days.

General hardware choices

The first thing that needs to be considered for an affordable build is that there is no point in wasting money on useless / excessive specs.

So....

Is there any real advantage to having an SSD for the operating system? Given Linux' relatively smaller footprint and resource requirements as compared with, say, Windows 10.

I think that if the same drive were to be used for many applications as well, then an SSD might be advantageous - but not purely just for the OS ?

RAM - how much is needed / ideal? Is Linux less RAM hungry than Windows (most people generally seem to believe it is) and if so, maxing out with 32Gb of RAM might be a waste of money.

Chipset: AMD or NVidia? Advantages/ disadvantages of each? Is there a "right" answer?

Mobo / CPU - is overclocking worthwhile with Linux? To what extent does CPU speed impact on the usage scenario envisaged?

The issue of compatibility: I have heard tell that there are some particular bits of hardware that frequently / always pose problems for Linux? Is this true? What, if anything, to avoid?

I provided the usage scenario as a guide / starting point for discussion but obviously you are all welcome to discuss other scanrios including bigher level ganing and so on.




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OK... discuss !

[English Invader]

Linux Mint is the obvious choice for the OS. Everything on your list of tasks is covered by Mint.

Because there is no demand for high-end graphics, there is no need to break the bank on a graphics card. I'm happy enough with a Radeon HD 5450 with an open source driver which is good enough for most casual multimedia tasks (for games, I generally stick to emulators, old PC games through Wine and the odd low-spec open source or indie game) but the 5450 has pretty much had its day and a lower end Nvidia with the proprietary driver would greatly increase your gaming options in the long term. High end Intel wouldn't be a bad option for casual use but people have had less than favourable results with AMD's APUs; the APU is an impressive technology but Linux hasn't caught up with it yet and the fact that AMD have dropped Linux support doesn't help either.

Everything else is pretty much the same as building a PC for Windows. Don't cheap out on the PSU, watch plenty of YT videos, do your homework on the various CPUs and chipsets and you should be fine. Linux isn't the anti-Windows utopia people seem to think it is (especially with more and more mainstream developers "supporting" Linux) and it does get bloated after a while so an SSD will more than pay its way on a Linux system.

Overclocking is never worthwhile. It's a fool's errand no matter what OS you use. Do your homework on the CPU in the first place and you'll have a more than capable system with the specified clock speed. And Linux is no excuse to cheap out on the memory either because the applications you'll want to use will be just as demanding on Linux as they are on Windows.

[vladtepes]

Thanks

[mr_raider]

Compatibility is not an issue with any hardware from 2016 or earlier. Some of the new Ryzen builds have issues, but it can be resolved easily. Occasionally, wifi cards are sometimes not supported, particulalry USB dongles, but even that can be fixed.

Generally any Intel or AMD CPU will be fine. For graphics, AMD and Intel integrated graphics work "out of the box". Discrete GPUs from nvidia requrie some configuration, but currently everything up to and including the gtx 1080 works.

Beyond that, your hardware are dicated by your needs.

FYI, I just build a cheap server for recording and storing videos. It runs flawlessly with Linux. I mostly re-used old parts:

AMD a10 7860k APU
MSI a68hm grenade mobo
2x4gb ddr3-1600 RAM
Intel x25-M SSD 80gb (boot drive)
WD Green 3tb (storage drive)

A build like that, or it's intel equivalent, would run 99% of office and media tasks, but would be insufficient for gaming.

[MintBean]

Sure, Linux is a bit lighter than Windows, but if you're doing things requiring a ton of memory or disc space, that's down to the applications and on the odds it will use similar resources between both systems.

Processor wise, AMD or Intel both work without issues.
Graphics cards, I would prefer Nvidia over AMD for less headaches with drivers.
Wireless networking and peripherals such as printers are where it's worth doing the research to see which are compatible (or often, more easily compatible.)

Is an SSD worth it? Depends who you ask. I think they make a big difference and I generally install the OS and apps on a small SSD and have a spinning disc for data storage. This way the cost is not too punitive.

Unless you're gaming (and even for light gaming), the CPU's onboard graphics are often quite sufficient for Mint. You can always add a discrete graphics card later if you find you don't have sufficient grunt.

[Citizen229]

Ryzen does not have itx mobos... yet. Ryzen 3 has also not launched yet. I am waiting for the ryzen 3 cpu for my media center. they should be 2 cores 4 threads at the same clocks as the rest of the line. I would have to guess at stock 3.0ghtz, the voltage should be able to be underclocked to save some wattage. since all ryzens thus far can OC to 3.7 with stock voltage. Paired with a gtx 1050 or 1050ti, the combo should make a very nice high powered media center.

Ryzen 3(3.0 ghtz 65 watt)= sub $100 USD cpu
gtx 1050ti currently $129 USD or gtx 1050 $109 usd
future am4 ITX mobo sub $100
2x4gb ddr4 2666 $64 usd
ITX case around 50-60 USD
PSU 80+ gold around 60-80 USD

[Ozo]

Embedded graphics are improving fast and quickly making low end cards obsolete. MSI mini computers (Others too) are available barebones for $150 and up but ssd's/RAM are inexpensive. 120 GB ssd's are currently available for under $50. 4 GB RAM is just $25. The embedded graphics are excellent. I use the minimum version with excellent results streaming HD video. These units are tiny (4,6 X 4.4 X 2.2 inches) so a hub is required, but ports are there for USB III, HDMI, and Ethernet. An AC adapter (included) is used for power.
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