Help needed with building a Linux PC

From the looks of things, you're not going to be playing any graphically-intensive games.

I have a similar system with onboard graphics and find that to be an acceptable experience, though I don't play games nearly as much as I should.

If it was me and I was buying a system to put together, I'd wait to see if the onboard graphics met my needs before buying a dedicated graphics card. After all, it's not going to really add any labor or time to the build if you wait. Yes, you'll have to open the case a second time but you can handle that.
 


KGIII said:
I'd wait to see if the onboard graphics met my needs before buying a dedicated graphics card. After all, it's not going to really add any labor or time to the build if you wait
Click to expand...
Good point and the price of GPUs may come down a bit more. :D
 
I would personally worry less about the few dollars and more about the possible outcome of your build.
SImply because, once you have bought everything, it is hellishly expensive to go back or to alter something that has not performed as well as you hoped it would.

I know I am making an "out there" statement when I say to worry less about the few dollars.....I am not in a position o just buy the best, most expensive , either....far from it in fact. but a bit more time exploring what else is around may be beneficial

I was particularly perturbed by the info re motherboards.....msi ?
 
Condobloke said:
I know I am making an "out there" statement when I say to worry less about the few dollars.....I am not in a position o just buy the best, most expensive , either....far from it in fact. but a bit more time exploring what else is around may be beneficial
Click to expand...
LOL i understand! That is why did not order the mobo and cpu first.
Do you have any suggestions for a mobo under $200 +be ATX?

i did order a 750 Watt 750 ATX Power Supply. :)
 
I know this blows your budget just a little....but.....
I have a liking for ASRock....only because that is what I have now
Updating the bios in asrock was a challenge until kgiii showed me how to do that in Linux.
I can only assume updating bios may well be a challenge in any brand when you are running Linux


OR


or

https://www.microcenter.com/product/671030/asus-z790-v-prime-wifi-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard ......(Asus)
https://www.microcenter.com/product/668552/asrock-z790-pg-sonic-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard ....(ASRock)

All of these from : microcenter.com
 
Condobloke said:
I was particularly perturbed by the info re motherboards.....msi ?
Click to expand...
ASUS' it seems they have problems too. "frying themselves, cpu... and not covering the damage under warranty"
PG13--> bad bios <--PG13
:rolleyes: Edited for brand name mistake. ASUS frying themselves NOT asrock! :confused:
 
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I am not particularly keen on asus,either.

(Please Note :...on some of those motherboards, it mentions in the specs that an ONBOARD graphics arrangement is necessary)

But, my experience with asrock has been good.

Maybe its a bit like arguing over which car is the best make etc....there will always be 100 million different reasons....when maybe in the end it all comes down to personal choice.

I have found the asrock support quite ok...with only one notable exception when I asked them for a procedure to update the bios
on this board....their answer was, "Install windows and update it there....then reinstall Linux"

I was seriously ticked off with that answer. I could have done that.....but it was the principle. They either cannot or will not support Linux. I am fairly certain that none of the manufacturers will.
The problem was solved when @KGIII commented and showed me the way to go.
Once I put that advice into practice, it took all of 10 minutes, and the drama was finished.....absolutely successfully.


I do like the more up to date motherboards.... fast ram, fast cpu's etc etc...fast usb slots....etc

Decisions, decisions !
 
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@Condobloke / @Hillbilly H :-

Believe it or not, guys, there IS a native Linux tool specifically for doing BIOS/UEFI updates. It's called flashrom:-

https://www.flashrom.org/

I used it several years ago - under 'Puppy' - on the old Compaq desktop rig's MSI board, when I "upgraded" from an original single-core Athlon64 3200+ to a dual-core Athlon64 X2 3800+ (necessary to add extra support for a few features the dual-core had improved upon). It's so simple it's ridiculous.......and there's good documentation on the Arch Linux man pages:-

https://man.archlinux.org/man/flashrom.8.en

You DO need to check the flashrom database to see if your board is listed; not all are. But it's still kept up-to-date; the most recent version was released back in February this year:-

https://www.flashrom.org/release_notes/v_1_3.html

DO be aware that it doesn't - apparently! - work with laptops, due to some embedded controller chip that nearly all laptops use. It is, however, fine with 100s of different, standard, ATX/ATX+ desktop boards.

You should find it in the repos of most distros.....and you will, of course, need to download the appropriate update file from your motherboard vendor's website first! Hope that perhaps helps....


Mike. ;)
 
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I would never have known that existed, Mike

It is one hell of a read...I accessed it via the Software Manager in Linux Mint 21.2

That will take a lot of digesting !

Thank you.
 
@Condobloke :-

Mm. Aye, there's a LOT of stuff there to read, Brian.......but this thing has been under on/off, more-or-less continuous development for the best part of two decades now. I'm genuinely surprised that more people in the community aren't aware of it.

BIOS/UEFI upgrades are basically the same operation, regardless of manufacturer; they ALL, without fail, involve the erasing, followed by writing of data to a flash NAND-based ROM memory chip. I admit, I had help with doing the old Compaq; one of the veteran members on the old Murga-Linux Puppy forum got interested when I posted about what needed doing. Turns out he'd worked for a few years in a computer repair shop, and had done no end of these BIOS upgrades, specifically using flashrom on most occasions. So he knew what he was doing with it (luckily for me...)


Mike. :p
 
Condobloke said:
my bios upgraded so simply and (thank God) all was well....and has remained so.
Click to expand...

As a lark, I just decided to use fwupdmgr to update my Dell BIOS from within Linux. It worked!

I've never done it that way before. You NEED to be using UEFI or it won't work. It took maybe 5 minutes. It then rebooted twice (which it seems to do).

This was on the refurb I just bought recently. I didn't reboot that system until yesterday. That's how stable it was!

Anyhow, I decided to try fwupdmgr. I followed the directions and let it reboot. It went through a few phases and updated the BIOS during the reboot process. I haven't checked for any changes. It's a Dell, so it's just going to be a fairly locked down BIOS experience no matter what I do.

Also, it always boots twice. It boots to the Dell logo and reboots to the Dell logo before loading Mint (which is what is on that system). That's my Mint device. For some reason, it likes to do that twice - including telling the monitor that there's no signal. I've seen this before so I simply waited while it was booting the first time and that was the right move to make rather than messing around with more things.

Anyhow...

There's another way to update your BIOS if it is available. You already have fwupdmgr installed.

Scroll down to Method 2:

itsfoss.com

How to Update Firmware on Ubuntu and Other Linux

The default software center in Ubuntu and other Linux handles the update of the firmware of your system. There is also a command line way for this.
itsfoss.com itsfoss.com

I was prepared to brick the device (it's a cheap refurb) so I didn't worry about it. I just followed the directions and it found the newest update and updated me to it.

Code: 
sudo fwupdmgr refresh

Then:

Code: 
sudo fwupdmgr update

Output now:

Code: 
kgiii@kgiii:~$  sudo fwupdmgr update
Devices with no available firmware updates: 
 • TEAM T253X2512G
 • UEFI dbx
Devices with the latest available firmware version:
 • System Firmware
 
brian@brian-desktop:~$ fwupdmgr
WARNING: UEFI capsule updates not available or enabled in firmware setup
See https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/wiki/PluginFlag:capsules-unsupported for more information.
Command not found

------------------------------------------
brian@brian-desktop:~$ sudo service fwupd start
brian@brian-desktop:~$ sudo fwupdmgr refresh
WARNING: UEFI capsule updates not available or enabled in firmware setup
See https://github.com/fwupd/fwupd/wiki/PluginFlag:capsules-unsupported for more information.
Updating lvfs
Downloading… [***************************************]
Successfully downloaded new metadata: 0 local devices supported
brian@brian-desktop:~$
 
Apparently ASRock do not support this feature.
 
Condobloke said:
Apparently ASRock do not support this feature.
Click to expand...

Even if they do not, other components (from wireless devices to even optical media readers) may.

So, there's that. (Yes, even those get firmware updates.)

Fortunately, as far as the big one goes, you've got the BIOS updates squared away.

Speaking of which, do you remember to check for new updates from time to time, or are you satisfied with where you are? If everything is working correctly, and there's no security issues, I can relate to someone not bothering to update their BIOS.

It's BIG AND SCARY to some folks.

Heck, it was sort of BIG AND SCARY for me - as I never once tried that option until I had this refurbished computer that was $100 with free shipping. If that breaks, I will shed no tears. It went from Sept. 29th to Nov. 3rd without a reboot. I've already recouped my $100.

I've never updated firmware that way before.
 
KGIII said:
Fortunately, as far as the big one goes, you've got the BIOS updates squared away.

Speaking of which, do you remember to check for new updates from time to time, or are you satisfied with where you are? If everything is working correctly, and there's no security issues, I can relate to someone not bothering to update their BIOS.
Click to expand...
Yes, the main update from 1.3 to 7.30 is done and dusted....and totally successful

I still check for updates. I think it unlikely that they will update it further, based on the fact that the motherboard is no longer produced.

I will store your post here, for my next motherboard. (When that might be is beyond me at the moment)
 
This is whats on order as of now.
OLOy 32GB (2 x 16GB) RAM DDR4 3600.
US $57
1TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2
US $49
AIO CPU Water Cooler
US $59
Ultra 750 Watt LSP 750 ATX Power Supply
US $51
Fractal Focus G Black ATX Mid Tower Case
US $63
Total = $279
 
Hillbilly H said:
This is whats on order as of now.
OLOy 32GB (2 x 16GB) RAM DDR4 3600.
US $57
1TB SSD NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2
US $49
AIO CPU Water Cooler
US $59
Ultra 750 Watt LSP 750 ATX Power Supply
US $51
Fractal Focus G Black ATX Mid Tower Case
US $63
Total = $279
Click to expand...

Any plans for a CPU, or Video Card?
 
You can also take an ex corporate system like a Dell Optiplex or an HP Elitedesk picked up at bargain prices from Ebay or Amazon and upgrade it with a superior graphics card. That's what I plan to do with my next build. Obviously a little checking to ensure Linux compatibility.

Often in good nick as they were used as servers and are flicked out the door when companies go into an upgrade cycle. Great way to save $$ and have a beefy system.
 
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