Performance question. ( opinions on purchase of a new linux box)
 

Hi All,

I'm new here. But if all goes well with the build I'll be sticking around :)

I will be building my second? linux box shortly.
(My first one was a Puppy linux HD install on an old, old pc, so I'm not sure that counts)

I'm trying to decide between reloading/reformatting (i.e. no dual boot) my current windows PC with Ubuntu Dapper or purchasing new hardware.

So the question is:

How well would ubuntu linux perform on an 800mhz FSB Intel P4 2.6c Northwood (hyperthreaded, so I believe it will show up as 2 cpu's) with 1GB ram, 256mb Ati x800 AIW AGP video card, 250gb IDE HD.

OR, should I purchase new.. of which I could probably afford the following:
AMD X2 3800+, 1or2 GB ram, 256mb pci-E video, SATA HD

Would the performance difference be staggering? Would I even notice it? What types of places would I see the increase? I probably won't be doing alot of video encoding, etc...

And I just thought of a third option.. maybe just upgrade the RAM to 2GB on the current Intel config??

What would I be using it for? You may ask..well, I dunno, since I am new, I'd have to say i'd eventually like to try everything.. General Purpose desktop, webserver, LAMP, Samba, whatever else is cool and I don't know about..

I've been going back and forth on this for awhile...Please help me to decide
Opinions, insults, or any advice is appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
-Mike

Well, that hardware is more than adequate for running even the most bloated linux. You might notice a difference if you do many simultaneous heavy lifting like video encoding while compiling something large while streaming multimedia while playing VegaStrike. But otherwise you should be fine...

Like pljvaldez said, your current configuration would work fine on any distro bloated or non-bloated). If you absolutely wanted to upgrade something, I would go for the extra RAM, as extra memory always helps.

As for a server, you would need adequete RAM and ample storage, it depends on what you are hosting.

Really, there is no need for the latest and greatest hardware, only if you plan on running intensive applications.

And yes, the HyperThreaded Proc will show up as two processors

Thanks,
I think I will add another Gig of RAM.
Another question. My video card is an ATI all in Wonder x800. So its got tv input, component out, etc...
Will this card work under Linux with all/some the features? Like can I use it for a mythTV box if I get good enough to build one?

Adding an extra pair or two of wheels to your car always helps.

"Adding an extra pair or two of wheels to your car always helps."

I don't get your reply..
Are you saying an extra gig of memory would not help my performance? Since an extra set of wheels would not help my car go any faster...

More RAM is better than less RAM, but if you've got 1G, that's plenty unless you are running some seriously heavy jobs.

ATI cards' performance depends on whether there are Linux drivers for them - ATI offers some version of Linux drivers for part of their product line, but offers no Linux drivers for other parts of their product line.. There are tons of existing threads discussing ATI and nVidia, you might do a Search on them to see what other people's opinions are. Either way, your current rig is A-OK to run Linux. If the money is burning a hole in your pocket, you buy new stuff, but it's not necessary

One more thing, please double check on the MythTV forums, but I do believe they say All in Wonder cards are specifically not supported for MythTV (could be wrong, but I recall seeing that in a few places -- I'm in the process of setting up MythTV, so I'd been doing some research on it).

Eric