Choosing new PC for Linux, thoughts and advice wanted [Solved]

[Raycoupe]

but you said 300 two posts up. That was the underestimation I was referring to.

From benchmarks I read for the models I talked about, 300W is roughly the total system power draw (actually a bit lower, I rounded up). PSUs in this price range are about 85% efficient so it pays to have a bit of headroom. You're absolutely right on that. But the PSU recommendation from the graphics card manufacturer takes that into account so if they say 400W is enough, 500W is more than enough.

Personally I don't see an upper mid or high end graphics card fitting in this system; it would cost more than the rest of the PC put together.

The motherboard I have to look into, considering the above advise to avoid Realtek chips.

rene puts it elegantly that the choice is up to you and we're just strangers on the Internet voicing are biased opinions That said, as the MORTAR costs the same as the BAZOOKA but you get the Intel network chip, you get a DisplayPort, you get S/PDIF out and you get USB 3.1 Gen2 instead of Gen1 (10 GB/s vs 5 GB/s) I would have my preference. I've only looked at mATX boards though, assuming that was what you wanted.

I'm looking now at a i5(8400) with 16 Gb (2666mgz) ram and a ASRock B360M Pro4, socket 1151 motherboard. Found a big hw supplier wich is a bit cheaper then the previous one I was looking fat. Also let's you specify all the components, but a lot more choice. Don't know if I can/am allowed to mention the webshop, so you can see alternatives which might suite better.

ASRock B360M Pro4, socket 1151 moederbord
€ 89,-*

Intel® Core i5-8400, 2,8 GHz (4,0 GHz Turbo Boost) socket 1151 processor
€ 239,-*

Xilence I402 Performance C Series cpu-koeler
€ 19,99*

Corsair 16 GB DDR4-2666 Kit werkgeheugen
€ 124,90*

Thermaltake Suppressor F31 tower-behuizing
€ 99,90*

Xilence Performance A+ 630W, 630 Watt voeding
€ 54,90*

ADATA SX8200 Pro, 256 GB SSD
€ 59,90*

Seagate BarraCuda, 8 TB Harde schijf
€ 214,90*

Thanks for all the reply's to my quest, Linux community working

[AndyMH]

You don't need to buy a heatsink/cooler for an i5-8400 - it comes with one. Maybe not the best, but it is perfectly adequate.

[Raycoupe]

Noted, I was considering a more silent cooler, but that was before I checked out a different hw supplier which offers a much better case. Sound dampening panels (it weighs more than 10kg, just the case) and cleanable dust filters. Probably don't have to worry about cpu cooler noise, with that kind of case.

The i5 will not run at max here, but since i'm involved with background sharing computing power projects was another reason to consider a better cooler than the standard one. Probably just a bit buying frenzy here, thanks for the wake-up call. These things can simply be improved later when needed, saves 20 euro's.

Any comments about the ASRock motherboard? (my main concern), what's the best choice for that?

[rene]

I'd also advise azerty.nl. Tend to be cheaper for the same hardware.

Well, you changed a lot again. That Xilince CPU cooler I would (also) not be too sure about. Your previous Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo is actually sort of famous but I'd expect the Xilience to have less added value over the stock cooler. That ADATA SSD looks quite nice. The PSU I would not trust Xilience with; Corsair isn't generally too expensive and a good brand. Seeing as how your data disk is going to be a, well, data disk, also consider WD Red 8TB. Very cool, very quiet and very reliable; somewhat more expensive, but I'd do so (although no well-founded opinion on that Seagate drive).

Nice board. The "AMD Quad CrossFireX™" would seem to be overdoing it a bit for your plans, but the rest is very nice. Both if you google for "Realtek ALC892 linux" (audio) and "Intel I219V linux" you find some issues --- but note there's probably not a single chip out there for which you wouldn't: I'd be confident it works fine. But googling for it is also all that I can do, so I'll not try and comment more specifically.

[xenopeek]

The ASRock B360M Pro4 should work well with Linux Mint 19 and indeed looks like a nice board. Comparing it with the MSI B360M MORTAR it drops DisplayPort, S/PDIF out, replaces the USB 3.1 Gen2 + Gen1 front panel connector with 2x Gen1 but has a more useful USB configuration on the back panel. If none of this particularly matters to you I would prefer the ASRock for its more solid and versatile M.2 implementation.

I agree with rene on the CPU cooler. I would suggest in same price range you take the Gelid Tranquillo Rev. 4 B. See it recently reviewed as the best air cooler at that price point: https://nl.hardware.info/reviews/8139/3 ... nd-de-e-30. It's almost as efficient and silent as the best (€ 80+) air coolers in that review.

As for the PSU, the Xilence doesn't do terrible in review but that you only get 2 years warranty is a bit of a red flag for me. Consider the Corsair Vengeance V650M for € 16 more: it gets 5 years warranty, is about as silent, is more efficient and is also modular. It will be more stable and a lot more silent at higher power draw than the Xilence. It got a Great Value award from hardware.info. You can compare the Xilence with the Corsair here: https://nl.hardware.info/vergelijkingst ... 434-340365.

I would also go for WD instead of Seagate.

[Raycoupe]

Great input guys!
Will look into the motherboard, cooler en PSU considerations. Only reason I didn't go for the B360 Mortar was because the supplier didn't have it on stock.

WD Red is a NAS hdd, actually I prefer WD over Seagate also but I noticed that power consumpution for nas drives is a lot higher. 2/3 of the times it will be sitting there in my pc doing nothing, those were my thoughts on picking a HDD(and availability at the same supplier)

And an extra NL webshop to look into. It't keeping my quite busy.

[rene]

WD Red is a NAS hdd

Which is basically to say that it's more throughput- than random-access-oriented (fine for a data drive besides an SSD) and that it's built to run cooler, quieter and last a heck of a lot longer than desktop drives. I'm sort of fine with that.

It isn't generally or at least "historically" the case that WD Red's are power hungry; https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/re ... 248-8.html. I do on quick search see indications that things may have changed a bit regarding that; specifically see that your Seagate 8TB is very efficient. Hey, it may be fine: low power automatically means low heat. Historically I hate the Seagate sound...

Do have a 250G SSD + 2 TB WD Red data disk setup in my main desktop myself: quite pleased with it....

[Raycoupe]

I'm not up to date with all the ins and outs of harddrives, Rene, i was just looking at the specs for power consumption (active, waiting, sleep modus) and concluded the Seagate would 'go to rest' when not used actively and thus increase it's lifespan compaired tot a always on and running NAS drive. Perhaps I'm wrong, first time in many years I'm looking into these kind of specs.

On the bright side, in a year or two, perhaps three, I need more data storage and backup again. The seagate will be fine as an offline backup disk.

Updated my configuration, with the advise given and the DO have the Mortar board, upgrading usb 3.1 to second gen.
Advised cpu cooler added and PSU from Corsair (although not the exact type, but same brand)

MSI B360M Mortar, socket 1151 moederbord
Intel® Core i5-8400, 2,8 GHz (4,0 GHz Turbo Boost) socket 1151 processor
Gelid Solutions Rev.4 Tranquillo cpu-koeler
Corsair 16 GB DDR4-2666 Kit werkgeheugen
Thermaltake Suppressor F31 tower-behuizing
Corsair CX650M, 650 Watt voeding
ADATA SX8200 Pro, 512 GB SSD
Seagate BarraCuda, 8 TB Harde schijf

[rene]

I would find that to be a very tempting system, and will thank you for pointing the SX8200 Pro SSD out for me.

[lsemmens]

The 500W PSU may be fine for now, however, time was when a 300W PSU was also fine, technology improves, and sometimes so does power consumption.

[Raycoupe]

System ordered.

[Pepi]

System ordered.

How did your build turn out

[Raycoupe]

Excellent, but for one little problem i tried getting help for on this forum.

While booting, lines fly on my screen. Then system pauses for 20 seconds and the logentry's start flying again. I've stopped searching for the problem. Is it the new type of hardware, a m2.ssd or because I use DRM RC6=ON (seen it that many times I can type that from memory. )

Just started a topic for that bug: viewtopic.php?f=46&t=304029
and one, since I want LM to be my primary OS after 9 months of testing and working with it: viewtopic.php?f=90&t=304028

inux Mint has matured into a very user friendly OS, even for dummies and I can install it for my old dad without problems, kudo's for all devellopers!