Re: [gentoo-user] Re: {OT} Time for hardware upgrade(s)

[meino.cramer@gmx.de]

Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> [11-07-03 01:12]:
> >>> The most important thing is reliability and Linux compatibility but I
> >>> also need HDMI and I figure USB 3.0 is a good idea.  The system is for
> >>> playing music and movies, no gaming whatsoever.  If you're familiar
> >>> with the current hardware scene, where would you go from here as far
> >>> as a motherboard and other components?  Any features a Gentoo'er
> >>> should look for?
> >>>
> >>> - Grant
> >>
> >> Is Nvidia still the way to go instead of ATI?
> >
> > Yep.  Unless you have old ATI hardware.  Current hardware doesn't work well.
> >  Since he wants to buy new stuff, NVidia is recommended.
> 
> That's what I was afraid of.  The fact that Nvidia has stopped making
> onboard video will pose a problem.  I could install an Nvidia video
> card but I'm trying to keep temps low and I don't want a third fan in
> the case.
> 
> - Grant
> 

Hi Grant,

half a year ago my motherboard lost its blue smoke and I had to buy a
new PC (the rest of the old one was outdated).

One of my thoughts was: No graphics card with a fan!

But the guy in the store said, that graphics cards without a fan has a
problem: Either they are to slow (less heat) to be bought by the
people or they are fast enough to be bought, but they will die
sooner/easier due to a too hot GPU. 

He gave me a card with fans and said: "If you hear something too loud
-- bring it back."
I tested the card and: Nothing. The only thing I hear is the very
quiet fan of the PC case.

The card is a: MSI N430GT PCI Express 2.0.

It has two fans, which means lesser noise since both fans can run
at lower speed.

You said, you will not need a gamer graphics card. But if you are a
fan of rendering (Blender,Luxrendere etc...) you may consider a card
with more muscles since GPU based rendering is the way to go.

BUT:
When reading the driver informations from nvidia I found that the
sections saying "Added support for...." are still missing the GT 430.
I dont know whether this has any impact to you work -- the card runs
well with Linux and the OpenGL-based Blender does not have any
problems (its GPU based render engine is currently under development
so I didnt test that...)

If you are intereseted in the setup of my PC, post me a mail!

Best regards,
mcc