Which distro for me? (I know there are gazillions out there...)

[User740985915675054]

What should I look for? I'm thinking of a desktop computer now, a refurbished one. Probably a HP again, I'm quite happy with the last one, i5-3470 @ 3.20 GHz with 4gb RAM, running the 32bit Windows. Nice graphic card, too, NVidia Geforce gtx 1050.

It's probably vastly out of date, but honestly? If my friend were still, around, I'd ask for some more RAM and a ssd drive and give it a try with 64bits. The biggest hogs it'll have to carry are the VirtualBox and my old game, Anno 1404 with IAAM mod. The game is old, but quite a resource hog.

Other than that? Tons of books in Calibre.

I can help you with this as I have bought several refurbished computers for linux use. I'm currently running MX Linux on a micro Dell PC.

Specs are (inxi command):

CPU: dual core Intel Core i3-6100T (-MT MCP-) speed/min/max: 800/800/3200 MHz
Kernel: 6.1.0-22-amd64 x86_64 Up: 3d 11h 43m Mem: 2855.6/7841.8 MiB (36.4%)
Storage: 5.46 TiB (22.5% used) Procs: 222 Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.26

You will need at least 8 GB if your going to use Calibre. Calibre uses 500 MB to 1 GB and I think for every book you have open it uses another 500 MB. Even with 8 GB RAM I sometimes go over that and my computer freezes and locks up. Ideally 16 GB RAM will be good. If the computer is a good deal get it with the 4 GB RAM and buy additional RAM separately. Other than that a I5 third generation is more than enough processor power to run MX Linux (I have two I5's with similar specs as that one so I tested it with Linux).

 

[User740985915675054]

A question about a possible new computer - not sure if I shouldn't have made a new thread.

I do have a HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT, with i5-3470 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3201 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processors and a NVidia Geforce GTX 1050 grahic card.
It has 4 gb of RAM and runs Windows 7 32bit on a 1 tb hdd.
It's a nice machine that never made any trouble, but it is at least ten years old.

I'm looking at a used/refurbished computer now:
A HP Z220 Workstation PC Intel Core i7 3rd Gen. with 24GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a NVIDIA Quadro 410.

It will be used to run MX Linux 64bit, with a Virtual Box installation of Windows 7 for the work programs. I will also have to figure out how to run my beloved Anno 1404 in Wine.

As I mentioned before, I'm useless at tinkering around with computer hardware myself. I'm glad when I figure out how to put all the plugs in the right places.

This computer is quite affordable, perfect for a meager budget. It comes from a business seller in ebay, so if it were kaput, I could send it back. RAM and the ssd drive are of course miles above what I have now, but I'm kinda sure my old NVidia is better. 256 gb vs 1 tb sounds bad, but it should do for the main stuff and for everything else I have a couple of external 2.5 hard drives.

What would you guys think?

You don't need to buy a computer. The HP will be fine as long as you can get it at least 8 GB RAM but aim for 16 GB RAM if you can. Also get rid of the HDD and get a SSD drive. You can get some cheap on Amazon. I bought a 256 GB SSD on Amazon for around $16 a few weeks ago.

 

[Brickwizard]

Compaq Elite 8300 CMT

it is a 2012 64 bit machine and should run Linux without problems with 24 gb of ram the SSD will be fairly quick with 4 cores you could direct 8gb ram and 2 cores to the VM [although 1 core would do fine unless your going to do some heavy work on it.

 

[Goatmilk]

Thanks, guys. I've just talked to a shop around here and they say they could upgrade the old one with a 500gb ssd and 8 to 16 gb RAM for around 100 Euros. He wasn't sure how much places there'd be for it. I just looked it up, it can get up to 32gb.

Sounds good. At least I could keep the graphic card and have the old hdd as storage.

 

[Condobloke]

@Brickwizard can likley tell you the age of that unit.

Its specs look good...it should fly

You would get a better response with a new topic

 

[Brickwizard]

@Brickwizard can likley tell you the age of that unit.

Brian. You have been to bed again! See my post [2 up.]

now getting close to my bedtime [time for a brandy first]

 

[Condobloke]

yeah....the 'haze' eventually cleared, and I was able to read what was on the page in front of me....

Tis an annoying habit sleeping......sometimes gets in the way of other pursuits

 

[Brickwizard]

He wasn't sure how much places there'd be for it

OK so just had a look at the workshop sheet for the HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT, has 2 Ram slots taking a max of 8 GB per slot of unbuffered DDR3 1600 MH [PC3 - 12800]

 

[MikeWalsh]

Curious combination on that HP Z220; huge amount of RAM, but a relatively tiny internal drive. Still, an upgrade on the drive (for another SSD, naturally!) won't break the bank.

My own primary SSD is a 1 TB Crucial MX-500 (single-cell, so not exactly 'popular', but as reliable as they come). Mine hasn't given me a single moment's trouble in almost 4 years.....and they're quite reasonably-priced, too.

You may even be happy to settle for the smaller 500GB version. Mind you, I notice SSD prices are starting to creep up slowly; mine was around GBP £50 when I bought it 3½ years back, but they're now retailing for around 60% more.... (£80-ish).

Just cogitating..!


Mike.

 

[Goatmilk]

Just to be clear: the HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT is my computer that I have now. Because it runs Win7 32bit, it has only 4 gb RAM, but it is said on the HP page it can go up to 32 gb.

The HP Z220 is the one for sale on eBay.

I think I'll go and have my HP Compaq Elite 8300 CMT upgraded. It would cost less than the HPZ220, and if I'm happy with the shop that does it, it would be nice to have a go-to if anything breaks. It's kinda hard not having a friend around to look after everything. My computer wasn't even dusted off inside ever since he's gone. I clean out the air vents from outside, but I simply don't dare to take a screw driver and open it up.

 

[Brickwizard]

it is said on the HP page it can go up to 32 gb

if it can do it, [I am working from the workshop sheets]

HP Z220

This is the same age as your Elite, IF it has the i7-3770 CPU it will be just a tad quicker than yours, any other CPU that was offered as standard, Personally I would not look at it as an upgrade.

 

[Goatmilk]

And if it can have 16 gb only it'll still be good enough for me. The ssd will give it a boost, too. And my Elite still has the better graphic card.