Hello all. I am totally new to this Linux OS so I might sound a bit infantile to you. But here goes. I am in the process of building my first PC from scratch. I plan on leaving the Windows behind and move up the food chain. I'm tired of paying $200 for the full retail just to be able to use on one pc. here is my list of items I currently have: Asys mid tower pc case with 10 bays total... um that's it! LOL Anyway, I am now looking for a mobo and cpu combo. I am looking in the range of amd 2600+. What mobo would be compatible with Mandrake 10.0? I'm finding mobo combos with this cpu at around $140 give or take. Also, once I purchase the big stuff I will then be getting the rest (video card, sound card, etc.) What brands would you guys suggest go into this currently empty case? Next, I was thinking of purchasing a 500w dual fan p/s. Is this too much? I figured I could use this and still be able to upgrade without problems. Lastly, remember, I said I'm new at this Linux? Well, anyone willing to help out a greenhorn would be greatly appreciated. From what I've read in these forums, you guys are very helpful. I just don't understand all this computer talk.I'm no kind of programmer or anything. So keep it simple for a non-techie like myself, please!

Thanks,
jmill_1@sbcglobal.net
Yahoo IM @ jmill_1

Hi, I am a newbie to linux too, but I can help in a few ways.

Umm, the power supply, yes get the biggest you can find that is also quiet, most of the new ones are resonably so, but you will need it eventually, with all the extra hdds, cdroms, dvds etc.

As for the rest, well it all depends on what you are intending to do with it, I mean, just study and office stuff, or big resource hogs like database apps, or editing movies, or playing yew bewt games and so on. Those choices will help in making a decison. It also depends on the amount you want to spend. I know when I built mine it took a few months of reading etc before making my decison, but that is 18 months ago now, so it is way out of date well, before I bought it, it was old, but there you go eh!

Cheers
Asif

I went to my local Computer Rennaissance store and found what seems to be a very nice motherboard but I don't know if its Mandrake supported. Its and Abit nf7-s. I am planning on putting an Athlon xp 2500+- 2800+ cpu onto it depending on the best deal I can find. Is this mobo compatible?

jmill_1

I JUST built me a PC I will try to help.
Most mobos WILL work on Linux/Mandrake with NO prolem. Make sure the HDD and other connections are NOT SATA. SATA is fairly new and Linux nor Windows support it very well.

For sound, you cannot go wrong with Creative Sound Blaster. I got 2 PCs and they both use SoundBlaster cards and my Mandrake 9.2 has zero problems recognizing them and configuring them durring installation.

I got Creative Labs SB Live! audio, and Mandrake uses the snd-emu10k1
(alternative driver audigy:emu10k1) for it.
My new PC got an ancient SoundBlaster Audio PCI 64V/ Audio PIC 128/ . Mandrake uttilizes the es1371 ES1371 module for it.

For video, of course you get the NVidia cards. Mine are NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 4000 (hardware version 193) and nVidia NV5M64 Riva TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro. My Mandrake 9.2 loves both of them. It recognized both cards durring set up so i didnt' have to do anything complicated such as editing my XFree config file by hand using the command line and the vi editor( I will leave that pleasure to the sadomaschists)
nor I had to visit the NVidia web site for newer drivers.

Life is easy once you prepare ahead of time...

There IS a hardware compatability page concerning Linux, but unfortunatly I cannot find the link at the moment . Maybe somebody else can.