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Need advice Distro needed, no gaming needed.

Discussion in 'Random Nonsense' started by cloasters, Sep 7, 2015.

  1. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    I remember Daniel still using Windows 2000 and refusing to upgrade to XP...
    I remember Cliff too... he lives in AZ near me and used to have a car shop that his Dad owned.
    I have his email address.

    I still use Enermax power supplies because of you guys at AOA. All 6 of my PC's have one!
  2. Gizmo

    Gizmo Chief Site Administrator Staff Member

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    If they're the same price, I think I'd go with the Hyper X.

    I can't find any good data on the Sonata, but since it's an ATX case, I'd have to guess the Firepower WON'T fit. It would be worth asking the question of the vendor though.
  3. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    A pal who used to work at M$ also luuved Win2000. What am I saying? I'm still using Win7---which is really closer to Win10 thanks to MS shoving it up my nose unbidden and unwanted.

    Lord knows why I insisted on buying the Firepower Silencer 600. Probably because I didn't notice it was EATX form factor plus the fact that it was made by what used to be named PC Power & Cooling. As the assembly folks wish to sell me everything they possibly can, the better quality PSU that I already bought will most likely certainly not fit the Antec Sonata case. Curses!
    Maybe I can sell the ~$120 Silencer 600 to someone in love with the EATX form factor plus the eleventy thousand frickin' fan mounting spots that scream noisily PLUS suck in a pound of dust every day in amazingly dusty Seattle. Curses I say!

    But seriously Gizmo, thank you for that important information reminder. Plus thank you for the suggestion to get the Hyper X memory modules.
  4. Gizmo

    Gizmo Chief Site Administrator Staff Member

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    Actually, I've been considering a new build of my own. If you can hold off for a month or so, I've got a EATX case, and I would be willing to take that PSU off your hands if you don't need it.
  5. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Excellent news, thank you Gizmo! The Silencer 600 still in its unopened and unblemished shipping carton. I'm somewhat up in the air about who to ask to build my new machine--again. I have an old friend who really knows computering upside up and down. I was gonna ask him to build my new box for certain until he went off the rails regarding handling money responsibly. I don't think he'd sell any parts behind my back but unfortunately he went off the rails with his own moolah. Must it always be something?
  6. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    EATX is friggin HUGE! Gizmo do you have a pic of your case somewhere?
  7. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    This is exactly why you need to post your parts list!
    The right ram, the right power the video card and the right drives can save you endless headaches.

    Super-fast ram can be a waste of money if everything else isn't up to the task as well. This applies to any purpose built machine. Why buy what the rest of the machine isn't up to using.?

    It looks like you want a middle of the road box that will see you though the next 5 or so years.

    You can build a really fine machine these days that fits that description
    Just be sure your builder has the same goal in mind as you do.":O}.
    T
  8. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    Good load George! If you've been plodding along in Win 7... Mint 17.3 is really going to wind you up and blow you away!

    I can't begin to tell you what you have is store for you...I'm actually envious! ":O}

    Now...let's stop clowning around in the rain and let's get your freedom ship launched.

    Where's that parts list??
    Does your builder itemize his pricing and parts?
    I need to know these things George I'm losing sleep!! LOL
  9. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    Agreed! Windows 7 has some great features and stability, but its amazing how many older games won't run properly. It does have compatibility mode, but some games are full of bugs and artifacts.
    In Mint I've noticed that Wine has even better compatibilitiy with Direct X 8 & 9 games than Windows 7 does.
    One thing that has bugged me for a long time is when offline, Windows 7 has a problem launching 32-bit games. It has something called GameUX that connects to the internet every time you launch a game. Apparently its looking for game-art, game information, etc... but when offline it causes a run32.dll to peak your CPU from 60-90%! So annoying and Microsoft has yet to patch this problem.

    I found that Mint is extremely stable, has a lot of free/open-source replacements for Office, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Audio editors, video editors, media players and more...
    Then if you HAVE to play a non-native game or program, try using PlayOnLinux/Wine and you will be surprised how well most of them run.

    I also love how you can adjust and tweak everything in Linux!
    From the Menu, Panels, screensavers to updates, installers, packages
    You can set everything up to your own needs and not be restricted like in Windows or OSX.
    I never realized how free I was until I used Linux and explored its many features.
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  10. Gizmo

    Gizmo Chief Site Administrator Staff Member

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    It's an old Enlite Server Case I bought eons ago for an Intel Dual PIII server mobo with RDRAM.
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  11. Gizmo

    Gizmo Chief Site Administrator Staff Member

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    Uh-oh. Now you're sounding like a fanboi. LOL
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  12. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    What? An it has all the proper stand-off placement for an EATX motherboard?
  13. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    I recall that an old Enlite ATX case I bought had "custom" sized standoffs because the designers screwed up some dimension and decided to compensate for their mistake by supplying out of standard sized standoffs. This undoubtedly cost them quite a bit to compensate for their "smartness." I don't know if the same held true for their EATX cases--I hope not for my selfish interest in selling my Firepower Silencer 600 EATX power supply.

    I guess that the old PC Power & Cooling folks did something right in designing satndard ATX sized PSU's.
  14. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    As requested, I updated my list of components on PAGE 6 with price info and a couple of changes in parts. As I haven't ordered it yet, I can't give firm info on what the total will be, but I'm guessing that Infotech in Federal Way may want up to $150 to build the box.

    Upgraded Monitor FWIW
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2016
  15. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Windows 7 (which is probably very close to Win10 right now--in terms of snooping and tattling features) is a drag. MS is "subtly" making it clear that "I want Win10 for sure." My butt.
  16. Daniel~

    Daniel~ Chief BBS Administrator Staff Member

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    All things considered...$150 doesn't seem out of line at all. I'll check out page six but your real help with parts will have to come from someone more familiar with the current market place.
  17. Gizmo

    Gizmo Chief Site Administrator Staff Member

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    Yep, sure does.
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  18. booman

    booman Grand High Exalted Mystic Emperor of Linux Gaming Staff Member

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    Yup, its hard to find Windows 7 and get support for it. Plenty of updates, but its like Microsoft is treating Win7 the same way they are treating WinXP. Windows 7 is still "new" to me. I used Windows XP for 10 years and only been using Windows 7 for 4 years.... that is NEW in my book
  19. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    Thank you for looking at my amended parts list, Daniel~. Seems OK to me, but what do I know?
    I'm glad that your old Enlite case is cool for a modern EATX mainboard, Gizmo!

    I do know that Win7 "rocked" once upon a time but I can not recommend it to anyone any longer. MS is definitely up to their brand new improved old tricks.And that is NOT at all good. Me buy new all Linux box soon!
  20. cloasters

    cloasters Moderator

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    ThunderRd very kindly posted the link so I could get back to this thread, thank you! The new box is as listed above, the only niggle is that the fans make a little noise. The Lenovo machine had two 120's, one on the CPU and the other in back. It was nearly silent but I've always been concerned about heat in the boxes that I oversee, er, used to build myself. This new processor is not at all a power hog, so my three case fans are probably overkill. I'll get used to the noise, I hope.
    Happily it's not at all like the last OC'd box (this is run at stock speed. OCing sorta became pointless some years ago. Except for the true fanatics!) I built for myself, folks across the county line used to complain about that one.

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