New desktop for Ubuntu installation?

A

ajgreeny

Member
Hi folks.

New PCS forum user here with a spec for checking and comment. I have spent some time in email conversation with the PCS support staff asking about specification of the various Intel CPUs and their graphic chips. I have now got to the point of thinking I know what I want to order, but as a last check I would appreciate any thoughts others forum members may have. I shall be using the machine for general purpose, photo and video work, but not really any serious gaming.

As I'm using Ubuntu 12.04, I have gone down the Intel route as I still believe their linux support is better than AMD; you may disagree with that comment, and I will be interested to hear. So here goes with the specification I am almost at the point of ordering, but note the two different CPUs shown, one with Intel-2500 graphics, the better one with Intel-4000.

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3470 (3.2GHz) 6MB Cache (Intel-2500 integrated gpu)
or
Intel® Core™i5 Quad Core Processor i5-3570K (3.4GHz) 6MB Cache (Intel-4000 integrated gpu)
Motherboard
ASUS® P8H61-MX USB3/SI: uATX, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR HD 2500 (Ivy Bridge GPU)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply
350W Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1155 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
 
Toxophilix

Toxophilix

Bright Spark
I know you don't plan "serious gaming" but even for non-serious gaming I would want to have the HD4000 iGPU.
 
Toxophilix

Toxophilix

Bright Spark
Yes, the 3570K is the one with the better iGPU.

One thing: if you plan on running the machine for long hours on end doing some intensive tasks (eg heavy number-crunching) then you should probably get a somewhat better case and the triple-copper-heatpipe CPU cooler. If it will be mostly surfing and general office-type use then I think you're fine as you are.

The Silver warranty is good value for £5.
 
A

ajgreeny

Member
Ordered today with the amendments you suggested, ie, better larger case, triple-copper-heatpipe cooler, and the i5-3570K cpu to get the HD4000 graphics.

That cpu is not offered on that motherboard on the configuration page of the website, (something to do with overclocking not possible for one or the other), but after a series of emails to support about that and other details, I was informed that all it needed was a quick phone-call following my online order, and a manual upgrade to the better cpu could easily be arranged.

I will keep everyone informed of my success with the Ubuntu installation, something I have done many times before, and which by all accounts should not be too difficult, even though the UEFI BIOS setup is something I've never seen or used before. Wish me luck!
 
Toxophilix

Toxophilix

Bright Spark
ajgreeny said:
I will keep everyone informed of my success with the Ubuntu installation, something I have done many times before, and which by all accounts should not be too difficult, even though the UEFI BIOS setup is something I've never seen or used before. Wish me luck!
Click to expand...
Good luck :) (Though I don't expect that you will have any problems.)
 
A

ajgreeny

Member
Well it arrived on Thursday 28th March, and surprised me by booting to Win7 when I turned it on. I presume that is the only way for PCS to test the machine before dispatch. I did not order windows so have no authorisation key, so, needless to say, I have formatted over Win7 and installed my choice of Linux, Xubuntu 12.04.2-amd64.

After a bit of fiddling with the uefi bios boot settings I finally managed to wipe windows away and got Xubuntu installed and running; very fast compared to my old sempron 2400+ machine. Everything seems to be working without problems of any sort.

Incidentally, I have installed in uefi mode with gpt partition table, not in legacy bios mode, and the only thing I miss so far is the output from fdisk as parted does not output as much useful info, in my opinion. I am just about to try gdisk to see how that compares; OK, it's better than parted, but still does not give as much info as fdisk.
 
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Toxophilix

Toxophilix

Bright Spark
ajgreeny said:
Well it arrived on Thursday 28th March, and surprised me by booting to Win7 when I turned it on. I presume that is the only way for PCS to test the machine before dispatch. I did not order windows so have no authorisation key, so, needless to say, I have formatted over Win7 and installed my choice of Linux, Xubuntu 12.04.2-amd64.
Click to expand...
Indeed, they install a non-activated copy of windows for testing purposes.
 
A

ajgreeny

Member
Having looked at the gdisk output a bit longer, and more carefully, I see that it does show what fdisk did, but simply in a slightly different way.

I admit it; I spoke too soon!
 
A

ajgreeny

Member
Such brilliant service!!

There was a fault with the integrated card reader of my machine not being able to read SDHC cards, though some other types did work OK and the USB port on the card reader was also working as it should.

After a conversation over email with PCS support, a new card reader is on its way to me by post, and I shall be able to replace it myself when the new reader arrives. Opening up the machine does not void the warranty, like it does for most suppliers, thank goodness, as I would not have wanted to send the whole machine back just for that item to be replaced. Removal was very simple and I am also amazed and delightd at how neatly the whole interior of the machine is laid out, with cables all carefully clipped in place, and no loose runs anywhere.
 
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