Looking at a new Linux machine

[marrea]

I'm looking at getting a new desktop machine, because pretty much anything PCS sell is going to blow my A6-3620 system from 2011 out of the water

I'll be running Debian on it (and yes, I'm sure I'll need to grab the unofficial install image that includes the non-free firmware), including a certain amount of gaming, so is this build going to give me any headaches (Linux-related or otherwise)?

Case COOLERMASTER ELITE 311 BLUE CASE
Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 5 1400 Quad Core CPU (3.2GHz-3.4GHz/10MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard ASUS® STRIX B350-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM) 8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card 3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
1st Hard Disk 1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive 128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (560MB/R, 467MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

 

[Stephen M]

Cannot be sure as have only run Linux on older AMD CPUs but do not think there should be any problems. The times I have put Debian on machines (AMD and Intel) I have gone with the official image and installed the firmware via USB during the instal, the only hassle was searching for the relevant firmware to start with. I do not game so cannot help there sorry.

What is your budget, you have chosen a weak m2 drive when the Samsung m2, the SM, PM or EVO will be miles faster, if you have the cash go for one of them.

 

[marrea]

The quote on that one (standard delivery, standard build, standard warranty, no OS, no extras) comes in at £814 inc VAT. I'd like to not go much higher than that if I can help it.

Having a quick look... hm, switching up to the 256GB Samsung PM961 costs another £54, taking it to £868 inc VAT. Yeah, that looks good.

 

[Oussebon]

I'd strongly recommend the R5 1600 over the 1400.

It's quite a lot better at gaming and anything multithreaded.


The R5 1400 struggles against an Intel i3 dual core, whereas the R5 1600 competes well against Intel's quad cores, including often better minimum FPS.

I'd advocate for the R5 1600 even at the cost of dropping the SSD altogether and getting one as a future upgrade.

If you can stretch to 3000MHz RAM that could be helpful too, as Ryzen is said to benefit particularly from RAM frequency (and even Intel CPUs benefit as well).

Case COOLERMASTER ELITE 311 BLUE CASE

This case has quite limited cooling options and no front-facing USB 3.0. Most other things in that kind of ballpark would be better e.g. the Inwin G7 if you want a fairly understated-looking case. The Game Max Falcon is a good case for the price, with a lot of features.

 

[marrea]

After a quick poke around, I think I can stretch as far as the better CPU, the faster RAM, the bigger SSD, and a more suitable case (going for the Falcon because while I prefer the inwin G7, it's out of stock and I'd like to do this as a combined Christmas+birthday treat for myself) which comes up with this:

Case
GAME MAX FALCON BLACK GAMING CASE (RGB LED)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.6GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® STRIX B350-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
3GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media
NO DVD RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £935.00 including VAT and delivery

And I could knock £20 off that by dropping the optical drive and installing Debian from a USB stick instead of a DVD.