Linux Ideas, HELP

[LinuxNewB]

Right now I am pretty strapped for cash and I am itching to build a Linux system. I have an ATX computer that is missing only HD MB and RAM. I have access to some used parts thru my old work, and planned on raiding a few computers to get up and running.

I want to build a system that will be quick and just dive right into figuring out how to run this OS kinda like I did back with Windows 95. First thing first, whick version do I try? A guy I work with has Mandrake 8.2 on CD, but I am willing to Red Hat, or whichever version you all think is best.

Second question is what type of CPU should I go for, AMD or Intel? I was thinking about building a system along the lines of K6-2, but I read some earlier posts about people wanting to turn off the L2 cache on these systems. So is Celeron my best bet, or Pentium?? I was planning on staying around 400 - 500 Mhz. Maybe like a K6-2 that I could over clock a little, but I dont know how the OS will respond to that. I planned on just like a 50 mhz increase using the multiplier, but I would rather do it using the FSB if possible.

Also how much memory should I use. I planned on 256, but if I will see much power increase going higher I am all for that.

Thanks for the advice,

-LinuxNewB

 

[Bleep]

I personally would stay away from the K6-2 they were pretty much a dog. If you go to the FS-Trade threads on this board you can get some good stuff for little of nothing. A flip chip celron with motherboard should be had for less than 40 bucks. Redhat is the easiest distro to get installed because of its auto formatting. A 2-5 gig hard drive is big enough and 128 megs of ram will run a Redhat system pretty good.

This is only my opinion of course.
Bleep

 

[Kadarin]

If the cost is minimal, I'd go with 512MB to avoid using the swap with multiple apps open. Also, once you've cut your teeth on RedHat or Mandrake, try jumping into Gentoo. In addition to building a much less commercialized system (join the RedHat network, Mandrake update, etc ad nauseum), you'll gain a much better understanding of what's going on behind the scenes...

 

[drag]

Hehe, what's your actual budget?

Personally I'd go for 256 megs of ram. Linux responds well to more ram. If it became a choice between more RAM or a extra 100mhz of CPU power, I'd choose the RAM.

Basicly I'd figure out how much money you got to spend then head to newegg.com and see what you can buy with it. For instance the 500mhz kd-2 is 17 dollars from there. The next cheapest is a 1.3ghz Duron at 34 bucks. The cheapest pc133 sdram is 128 megs at 22 dollars and the cheapest 256 megs is 39 bucks. etc etc

But bleep was right 128 megs is fine.

 

[LinuxNewB]

I was going to get used parts from my friends store, but I planned to spend under $50 if at all possible.

They have alot of trade in computers that are in great shape that they just let sit around in the back since they do not like to sell used systems to the public, friends are a different matter

 

[magomago]

to me redhat moved insanely sluggish on my 550k6-2 :\
Perhaps you want to save up for a little and get a beefier processor

then again i tried KDE and Gnome - I didn't really care too much for the others

it'd be nice to have a GUI that looked that bluecurve but was as fast as the windows one

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: LinuxNewB
I was going to get used parts from my friends store, but I planned to spend under $50 if at all possible.

They have alot of trade in computers that are in great shape that they just let sit around in the back since they do not like to sell used systems to the public, friends are a different matter

works for me. Friends are what make the world go around.