[kwlug-disc] New Linux PC Build Advice

[CrankyOldBugger]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and disagree with Jason E.: I'm not a
fan of RAID 0.  For the negligible speed increase that you get, you really
run the risk of losing your data (the zero in RAID 0 actually stands for
"how much data you can recover if one of the drives goes bust"  or
something like that).

I'd go with RAID 1 for reliability.

One other bit of advice..  plan your actual build during business hours.
You're going to get into the thick of the build when you realize a cable
isn't long enough, or you forgot to order something, or you ran out of
screws, etc.  You'll be driving back and forth to Canada Computers all day
long.  Last build I did was after hours and I nearly lost my mind waiting
for the store to open...


On Mon, 23 Oct 2023 at 16:50, Jason <jasonpa at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey all,
>
> My current desktop PC is 12 years old, and it's time for an upgrade.
> I use it for gaming and development, and I want something fairly
> balanced, but leaning more towards gaming performance.
>
> More details in this thread:
>
>
> https://old.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/16yh3b4/need_advice_12_year_old_gamingdevelopment_pc/
>
> I wanted to solicit advice on a few things:
>
> =========================
> 1.  Hardware
>
> I put together a parts list, and I've started picking up items, but if
> there's something glaringly wrong, I can always return parts in the
> next few weeks.  I'm planning on buying most of the parts around Black
> Friday in November.
>
> https://pcpartpicker.com/user/theoneblackmage/saved/#view=tQdh99
>
> I've already picked up the CPU, RAM, and Hard Drive(s).  Jason E had
> mentioned at the last in-person meetup to RAID-0 the drives, and I got
> two 4TB SSDs, so that's probably what I'll do.
>
> I bought the PSU as well, but it's not on the site list to choose:
> -Corsair RMx Shift 1200-Watt PCI-E 5.0 ATX Modular Power Supply
> -Hopefully this is proper ATX 3.0 (it says certified)
> -Sounds like it has the proper power connectors for modern GPU
>
> For brands, I prefer to stay away from Asus and AsRock.  Favoring
> Gigabyte and MSI.  I've heard a few bad things about Gigabyte warranty
> support, but nothing concrete.
>
> I'm thinking a full AMD system makes sense for a lot of reasons,
> mainly AMD EXPO and AMD Smart Access Memory.
>
> =========================
> 2.  Linux Distribution
>
> I've been using Linux Mint with XFCE, but I want to get away from
> Ubuntu.  I do like Debian, but I'm not convinced I could keep up to
> date with newer packages/kernels on Stable. Any advice on staying with
> a pure Debian setup would be appreciated, but it it doesn't make sense
> I can bite the bullet.
>
> I'm debating switching to Fedora and using GNOME with Wayland.  I
> haven't used Wayland before (XFCE still uses X11 and is only
> roadmapping Wayland support).  From what I've read, AMD supports
> Wayland a bit better, and I like the idea of the open source drivers.
>
> I've used Amazon Linux quite a bit, so switching to Fedora wouldn't be
> a huge stretch and I wouldn't mind the extra hand-on experience with
> it.  Amazon Linux 2 was based on CentOS, and Amazon Linux 2023 is
> based on Fedora.
>
> =========================
> 3.  Gaming
>
> I don't expect I'll be playing a lot of games with Ray Tracing, and
> that's one of the reasons I'm pretty comfortable not going with an
> Nvidia GPU.
>
> I plan on gaming at 1440p as close to 144Hz refresh as possible, since
> I have three LG Ultragear 27GL850-B 27" monitors.  I usually only game
> on one, and have other things open on the other monitors.
>
>
> I mainly play older titles and I've got a pretty hefty backlog of
> games on Steam, Battle.net, Epic Games, Good Old Games, Humble Bundle,
> etc.  There are some "newer" titles I want to play.  Advice on the
> best way to get these working would be appreciated.  I know I can use
> Proton for a lot of them, and Lutris or Bottles for others.
>
> -Daily Driver:  World of Warships (Wargaming.net Launcher) - annoying
> to update though
> -Blizzard Games:  Overwatch 2, Diablo III/IV, Starcraft II
> -Open World RPG:  Fallout 4, Starfield (not for a while), The Outer Worlds
> -FPS:  Borderlands 3, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, DOOM/Doom Eternal, Deus Ex
> -Other:  Minecraft, Nier Automata
>
> =========================
> 4.  Streaming
>
> I stream games sometimes using OBS.  Mainly Jackbox, but it would be
> nice to be able to stream other games.  Want to make sure my setup
> won't have issues with that.
>
> I usually use Twitch, but I could stream on Youtube - it looks like
> they have better encoding options:
>
> https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en
> https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/broadcasting-guidelines?language=en_US
>
> Does NVIDIA NVENC make a huge difference?  Looks like maybe I could
> use my old GTX 1070 to offload encoding?
>
> =========================
> 5.  Other considerations?
>
> Nothing specific here, just anything else I should consider.  I will
> be doing some dev work on this computer, but a lot of it is deployed
> in the cloud, and would just be tested locally.
>
> I appreciate any advice or recommendations!
>
> Thanks,
> Jason
>
> _______________________________________________
> kwlug-disc mailing list
> To unsubscribe, send an email to kwlug-disc-leave at kwlug.org
> with the subject "unsubscribe", or email
> kwlug-disc-owner at kwlug.org to contact a human being.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kwlug.org/pipermail/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org/attachments/20231023/0336c8b8/attachment.htm>