Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

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ghoultek
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by ghoultek »

Wow that frosted white motherboard looks awesome. However, the board is only 3/5 eggs on newegg.com. I tend to stick with 4/5 and 5/5 egg parts with a relatively high review count as well as checking independent reviews online. I'm also bias in favor of Asus boards. The 1TB SSD is a lot more $$$. Asus needs to get up on that frosted white design. What ever board you decide to buy double check the RAM compatibility. Ryzen is a bit finicky with RAM and RAM speed/timings will influence the performance of the CPU. I chose to go with g.skill Flare X RAM because they made it specifically for finicky Ryzen CPUs.
G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200
Part# F4-3200C14D-16GFX
Its rather expensive right now because: its made for Ryzen, DDR4-3200, and tight timings (14-14-14-34).
Its popular with Overclockers.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by dXTC »

Pepi wrote: Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:16 pm
Fred Barclay wrote: Tue Feb 06, 2018 8:45 pm I've always had OEM systems, but one day I want to build my own computer.
Fred ... I imagine this for you
If I had something like that, I wouldn't know whether I should be looking at the screen or the case window. :) I'll admit that I had fun spec'ing out and building a PC from scratch once upon a time (and it's still working, more than ten years hence), but I don't think I'd ever try to build something this dramatic.
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IT oldie, Linux newbie, and all-around goofy fellow.
Jim Hauser

Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Jim Hauser »

My builds have never been that dramatic. My current systems is as exotic as I get. My CPU (AMD FX-8350) is on a liquid cooled loop but from this side of the case there is nothing to see. I am getting too old for fancy lights and stuff but that rig does look very cool! Most important to me is how well things look on the screens and how well the system runs. 4 years 24/7 without stopping except for backups and major software/hardware upgrades. For me it just does not get any better... :-)
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by whm1974 »

Jim Hauser wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:36 pm My builds have never been that dramatic. My current systems is as exotic as I get. My CPU (AMD FX-8350) is on a liquid cooled loop but from this side of the case there is nothing to see. I am getting too old for fancy lights and stuff but that rig does look very cool! Most important to me is how well things look on the screens and how well the system runs. 4 years 24/7 without stopping except for backups and major software/hardware upgrades. For me it just does not get any better... :-)
Not bad at all. I'm really glad I'm not in the market for building a new rig at the moment due to high GPU and memory prices. On the other hand, large SDDs are a bit cheaper then they were about five years ago when I built my rig. I think I paid like $1300 for both of my 1TB SSDs, now you can get a 2TB crucial MX500 for ~$550.
Jim Hauser

Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Jim Hauser »

whm1974 wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 8:45 pm
Jim Hauser wrote: Sun Feb 18, 2018 2:36 pm My builds have never been that dramatic. My current systems is as exotic as I get. My CPU (AMD FX-8350) is on a liquid cooled loop but from this side of the case there is nothing to see. I am getting too old for fancy lights and stuff but that rig does look very cool! Most important to me is how well things look on the screens and how well the system runs. 4 years 24/7 without stopping except for backups and major software/hardware upgrades. For me it just does not get any better... :-)
Not bad at all. I'm really glad I'm not in the market for building a new rig at the moment due to high GPU and memory prices. On the other hand, large SDDs are a bit cheaper then they were about five years ago when I built my rig. I think I paid like $1300 for both of my 1TB SSDs, now you can get a 2TB crucial MX500 for ~$550.
I usually keep my rigs until people start commenting about it's age. I do not know when an FX-8350 will become "old" but my Athlon-64 was used until I upgraded to this multi-core back in 2016. I skipped quite a few generations on the CPU so in a way this is all new to me. There are a lot of things for me to learn before switching to SSD but I am enjoying the lower prices (2 years ago) on HDDs. 6 TB on 4 drives for under US.$400.00. I was able to double my HDD input/output by using striped LVM.

I guess I could be called "old school." Spray painting a Commodore 64 was at one time the in thing to do.... and if you must know, mine was a dark blue and looked cool! :-)
Jim Hauser

Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Jim Hauser »

As I get older (61 in May) but not as old as some people around here. My eyesight is not as good and my hands are a bit slower. Assembling a new rig is great therapy for me. The same goes for upgrading an old rig.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Termy »

I'm a "DIYer". lol I initially built this machine for Windows, rather than Linux. It's a very nice gaming machine, but since I switched exclusively to Linux a couple of years ago, my tech life has changed and so has my interest in gaming, by which I mean, I lost interest and sought after more tangible rewards. :P
I'm also Terminalforlife on GitHub.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by vansloneker »

Often I get superfluous or faulty hardware from friends and family. I repair, upgrade or strip these systems depending on how bad the damage is or what potential the hardware has.
I am addicted to hardware, love it when a build or rebuild comes alive an can run an operating system. I do find it hard to part with my systems.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Arch_Enemy »

vansloneker wrote: Mon Mar 19, 2018 4:12 am Often I get superfluous or faulty hardware from friends and family. I repair, upgrade or strip these systems depending on how bad the damage is or what potential the hardware has.
I am addicted to hardware, love it when a build or rebuild comes alive an can run an operating system. I do find it hard to part with my systems.
I do the same. My CPU is from a recycled server, the board is a "new old stock", the video card, while very good and lower high end is a retread, and the case is 2nd or 3rd hand from eBay. I just tore it down and put it in the new case a few months ago!
I have travelled 37629424162.9 miles in my lifetime

One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by lsemmens »

I can count on the little finger of my third arm how many times I've seen an OEM Linux system. I know that they are out there, but.... I'd suspect that the vast majority are DIY types that install it because they are not happy with M$ or App$e in some way.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Arch_Enemy »

lsemmens wrote: Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:51 am I can count on the little finger of my third arm how many times I've seen an OEM Linux system. I know that they are out there, but.... I'd suspect that the vast majority are DIY types that install it because they are not happy with M$ or App$e in some way.
I was a Dell tech for almost 11 years. You can buy a Dell system with Ubuntu installed instead of Windows.

Except for servers, I saw three laptops and 2 desktops running Linux, as opposed to the thousands I saw running Windows.
I have travelled 37629424162.9 miles in my lifetime

One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
hotdog789

Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by hotdog789 »

whm1974 wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:29 pm
JerryF wrote:I've thought about building my own computer, but the cost was the deterrent. I found that I could get an OEM system cheaper that building a system with the same specs as the OEM.

Now with refurbished systems, I won't even bother about an DIY.
Yeah with finding refurbished systems with decent specs at rather cheap prices does make it harder to justify buying new hardware, either DIY or OEM doesn't it?
Very true. I picked up a refurbished desktop with an i5 processor and 8GB RAM, new keyboard and mouse included for $159 and free shipping. Then I bought another 4GB DDR3 on ebay for under $30 and have a capable system for under $200. Refurb seems to be the way to go.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Arch_Enemy »

hotdog789 wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:53 pm
whm1974 wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:29 pm
JerryF wrote:I've thought about building my own computer, but the cost was the deterrent. I found that I could get an OEM system cheaper that building a system with the same specs as the OEM.

Now with refurbished systems, I won't even bother about an DIY.
Yeah with finding refurbished systems with decent specs at rather cheap prices does make it harder to justify buying new hardware, either DIY or OEM doesn't it?
Very true. I picked up a refurbished desktop with an i5 processor and 8GB RAM, new keyboard and mouse included for $159 and free shipping. Then I bought another 4GB DDR3 on ebay for under $30 and have a capable system for under $200. Refurb seems to be the way to go.
I was talking to a friend of mine and he was looking at Dell's website and saw a similar model.
I have travelled 37629424162.9 miles in my lifetime

One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Moem »

lsemmens wrote: Tue Mar 20, 2018 1:51 am I'd suspect that the vast majority are DIY types that install it because they are not happy with M$ or App$e in some way.
I agree, but the thread is about building, not installing.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Arch_Enemy »

hotdog789 wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:53 pm
whm1974 wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:29 pm
JerryF wrote:I've thought about building my own computer, but the cost was the deterrent. I found that I could get an OEM system cheaper that building a system with the same specs as the OEM.

Now with refurbished systems, I won't even bother about an DIY.
Yeah with finding refurbished systems with decent specs at rather cheap prices does make it harder to justify buying new hardware, either DIY or OEM doesn't it?
Very true. I picked up a refurbished desktop with an i5 processor and 8GB RAM, new keyboard and mouse included for $159 and free shipping. Then I bought another 4GB DDR3 on ebay for under $30 and have a capable system for under $200. Refurb seems to be the way to go.
One other thing about refurbs: very few computer companies bother with any kind of real burn-in any more. Used to be they would build the system, install a test program, and then burn them in for 8 hours. In an effort to cut costs and ship faster they just put them together, install the OS, turn them on and that's pretty much it.

YOU are doing the burn in. I think Dell is the worst with this, but I'm not sure, and that is because of the warranty they offer with on-site service. Components are a bit less failure-prone than they were in the 80's and 90's so statistics tell them that something like 8% will fail in the field, so they gamble on that percentage. Sometimes it bites them in the rump, like back in ~2006-2007 when nVidia released a pile of bad chips that burned out, mostly in laptops, but I did see 2 desktop systems with add-in cards that did as well. Of course, they charged it back to nVidia, but they still had to pay us to go out there and do the work. I made a nice salary during that time! ;)

So, when they do get one that defies repair in the field they take them back (I did see a few of these; the only thing we didn't replace was the case! :) In one case I DID replace the case, and it resolved the issue! :shock: ) and when they do take them back they burn them in.

One other thing about 'refurbs', but don't tell anyone I told you: I was working for a company in Vermont. My manager ordered 3 external floppy drives because we still had 2 people using floppies. I came in and there's 3 Dell boxes: 2 Latitude D610s and an XPS. Dell did not want to take them back. My manager asked me if I wanted an XPS for $900!!! But since I had just bought a pile of parts for an older Supra I was rebuilding that was out. Dell finally took them back, kicking and screaming all the way.

Why? Since they had been shipped off, it meant that, even though we never even opened the boxes, they had to be sold as refurbs. Meaning someone got a nice XPS for a rock-bottom price.

but don't tell anyone I told you...;)
I have travelled 37629424162.9 miles in my lifetime

One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
hotdog789

Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by hotdog789 »

Arch_Enemy wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 5:29 pm
hotdog789 wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:53 pm
whm1974 wrote: Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:29 pm
Yeah with finding refurbished systems with decent specs at rather cheap prices does make it harder to justify buying new hardware, either DIY or OEM doesn't it?
Very true. I picked up a refurbished desktop with an i5 processor and 8GB RAM, new keyboard and mouse included for $159 and free shipping. Then I bought another 4GB DDR3 on ebay for under $30 and have a capable system for under $200. Refurb seems to be the way to go.
I was talking to a friend of mine and he was looking at Dell's website and saw a similar model.
I got mine on newegg . The order was fulfilled by a company that takes in retired office desktops, wipes the drives, installs a updated OS, then cleans and tests. It solves the problem that companies have in disposing of old devices. Mine came with Windows 10 Pro, which is still on the disk alongside Mint in case I ever need it or want to run a system that uses more RAM and spies on just about everything I do :wink:
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Arch_Enemy »

hotdog789 wrote: Thu Mar 29, 2018 6:58 pm
Arch_Enemy wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 5:29 pm
hotdog789 wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 3:53 pm

Very true. I picked up a refurbished desktop with an i5 processor and 8GB RAM, new keyboard and mouse included for $159 and free shipping. Then I bought another 4GB DDR3 on ebay for under $30 and have a capable system for under $200. Refurb seems to be the way to go.
I was talking to a friend of mine and he was looking at Dell's website and saw a similar model.
I got mine on newegg . The order was fulfilled by a company that takes in retired office desktops, wipes the drives, installs a updated OS, then cleans and tests. It solves the problem that companies have in disposing of old devices. Mine came with Windows 10 Pro, which is still on the disk alongside Mint in case I ever need it or want to run a system that uses more RAM and spies on just about everything I do :wink:
:lol:
I have travelled 37629424162.9 miles in my lifetime

One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
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Re: Do most Linux users DIY or have OEM systems?

Post by Petermint »

Would Microsoft spy on you? Surely not. Big companies like Facebook and Google and Microsoft love us customers. :twisted:
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