Linux compatibility of development machine

tomwel

New member
I'm buying a new PC and want to move to Linux from Windows, but I have very little experience working with Linux OSes. I've done a reasonable amount of .NET development, but understand that Linux environments will not be the best place to run Visual Studio, even with Wine etc. So I'm looking to start working with C/C++, Java, Ruby and JS on a KDE, Ubuntu or Elementary OS. I want a PC that can support building and testing multithreaded apps, having multiple IDE and browser windows open, and can run the latest (community) versions of Code::Blocks, Eclipse and Aptana with ease. My main interest is fast computation - I'm really not too bothered about graphics, but it should be able to handle playing videos/streams (but not video editing etc). The most sophisticated game it needs to support is Solitaire. Is anyone able to verify that my selected build is compatible with KDE/Ubuntu/Elementary, or can highlight any pitfalls or errors of reasoning I've made in selecting my parts?

CPU: AMD FX-8350 Eight core CPU (4-4.2Ghs/8MB Cache/AM3+)
Motherboard: ASUS M5A99FX PRO R 2.0
RAM: 16 GB Kingston Dual-DDR3 1600MHz(2*8GB)
Graphics Card: 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 210
Hard Disk: 1TB 3.5" STA-III 6GB/s HDD 72000RPM 32 MB Cache
DVD: 24x Dual layer DVD writer
Memory Cards: Internal 52 in 1 card reader + 1 * USV 2.0 port
Power: Corsair 350w VS Series VS350
Cooler: Standard AMD CPU
Therm Paste: Standard
Sound: Onboard 8 channel (7.1)
Networking: +wireless 802.11n 150mbps PCI-E card
USB: Min 2x USB 3.0 & 4x USD 2.0 ports @ Back Panel + min 2 front ports
Case: "The Stylish Piano Black Enigma Case"
 

rzolv

Bronze Level Poster
That shouldn't have a problem. The biggest block in Linux is usually GPU and wireless drivers. Your GPU will most likely be supported by the open source reverse engineered nouveau driver, which is good enough for just playing solitaire. You could install the proprietary driver from NVIDIA if you absolutely needed good 3d suport, but if you're new to Linux, not only is it quite a jump into the command line to get up and running, but bug shooting and fixing if you bork the install will have you pulling your hair out.

The wireless device is the only other thing that could cause a problem. If you know the manufacturer and specific model and post it here, we can tell you whether or not it's supported.

Most Linux distrobutions you can burn to CD/DVD or USB and run "live" from that media. So it will not touch your hard drives / windows install. This is the best way to test if your system hardware is supported. Simply download the *.iso (make sure you download the 64 bit variant), burn the *.iso to CD/DVD or USB (infrarecorder is my go to app on Windows for optical media burning, and rufus for USB burning), insert/plug the media in, boot the machine and select "try without any change" or whatever the prompt is. That will boot into the "live" system. And from there see if you can get connected to your wireless network and if there's any graphical problems et cetera.
 

Alir

Silver Level Poster
I'd recommend getting an ssd or hybrid if you're going to boot from a local drive.
 
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