General advice on Linux budget PC spec

peterashton348

New member
Hi, I would much appreciate some general advice on speccing a budget PC to run Linux OS.

My 10 year old PC (32bit) on which I run Mint and Ubuntu is dying and I am looking around for a replacement Home/Office desktop (mid tower ATX case*) that will run Linux distros and meet my modest needs without having to pay for Windows which I haven't used, or needed, for years.

So I am looking around at desktops in the £400 to £500 range which can be ordered without an OS. But I am worried about buying a PC that doesn't like Linux, so:

1. Is this risk significant? Given that there is nothing cutting-edge or weird here, to what extent do I need to check hardware compatibility? The PC suppliers I have spoken to have not been very helpful, and I am not having a lot of luck Googling around the technical Linux boards.

2. If I do need to check compatibility independently, which components should I check in addition to MB and processor? The 1TB HDD? SSD if I go for one? Memory? Peripherals? - I have a very decent Dell monitor (eyesight going)
Is it appropriate or worth posting the whole spec here?

Thank you in advance.

*PS: Why the big case? I need one that I can fish about in. And its what I am used to.

Peter
 

johno11

Member
Hi,
generally the main PC components should be fine, i.e. motherboard, Intel/Amd CPU, HDD, memory. Some people have had problems with specific SDDs (you can search on the forum here for examples) and graphics cards. Some peripherals may not have drivers at all (printers, scanners etc).

Some shops may let you take in a LiveCD or LiveUSB distro to try the distro on their example systems. Best to use an LTS one rather than a bleeding edge one.

Other than that, unless you can get a statement that each individual component is supported, it's a bit of a gamble. There are UK suppliers who produce Linux PCs (e.g. Entroware).

This is probably not much help, sorry!
 

Stephen M

Author Level
If you are buying from PCS if you but your proposed spec up here we can have a look at it. I have experience of several laptops and one desk top from PCS and there are several other 'nix users here as well so we should be able to help with most of your questions.

None of the GPU problems encountered here have not been solved and most solutions are quite simple. The only SSD problem noted was with the WD m2 but it now appears that was not the drive but a GPU problem, I have noted other problems with the WD around different fora but am not getting more convinced it is not a drive problem but other issues which have not been checked. All of the standard drives PCS sell will be fine.

There will be quite a few of us who are happy to help but please ber in mind these fora are ownded by PC Specialist who sell custom PCs so we cannot comment on self builds or builds by other companies.
 
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