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Removing the chipset step from the Linux machine guide?

So, I decided I would at make a attempt to salvage the Linux machine guide. This is because of the guide getting forgotten, falling victim to maintenance problems and hardware change timing. I simply did not have the capacity at the time to handle it, because of how difficult it was going to be. This also wasn't helped by the original system failing(it's long gone).

What is going to change? Rather then use a machine as bad as the 5150 again(that thing is P4 based and WILL NOT TAKE A PENTIUM D!) I'm probably going to go for a hardware range that's more in line with reality for viability. This hardware is going to be both common, hopefully cheap and still usable in some capacity beyond a Pentium 4 ever will be.

Along with those changes, the reputation to edit is going to go up to 20k. This is partially because I need to take steps to prevent the hardware I decided early on was junk and not worth my time and to be sure I can still maintain some control, while giving others the option to take over where I am going to fall behind.

Anyway, here's my current work log.

Corrected steps:

  • Step 2 (this had to be completely rewritten. The old version was well beyond help.)
  • Step 3 (altered the structure for the memory types and added DDR and PC1XX to a list of memory that's not worth your time. RDRAM has always kind of been there, but I moved it officially. DDR2 may not be viable much longer if the cost situation doesn't improve. I won't move DDR2 yet, though. I'll give it a fair chance seeing as anything here is probably going to work with 800MHz DDR2 anyway being this guide is well beyond the P4 reuse days. However, I still think DDR3 is the sweet spot to go for.)
  • Step 4 (Made Intel CPU's separate from AMD CPU's. I needed the room to make my comments on the AMD sockets people still use somewhat.)
  • Step 7 (DVD booting has been dropped in favor of PlopKexec and a USB boot drive with a note mentioning PlopKexec may not be required. This was to eliminate DVD's from the guide. This is in part because I no longer want to maintain DVD piles as much as I can, and because of how wasteful they are. Write once media seems like a money pit seeing how cheap USB drives are.
  • Step 9 (Hard drive sizes were condensed and upgrade sizes have been moved to a new step. There was no reason for having less then 80-120GB.)

I still need pictures for:

  • Step 1 (this will be the machine I use for the guide. I haven't finalized just yet. I know what I like, though.)
  • Step 2 (this is for consistency, and the fact the focus on the old one sucks)
  • Step 3 (will have to reflect the new RAM list. I'll figure out what RAM I need to buy and what I have. I probably will not bother with DDR4.)
  • Step 4 (need newer CPU's. The old ones almost all fit the too old list.)
  • Step 5 (need AMD CPU pictures)
  • Step 6 (see step 5)
  • Step 9 (I am going to replacethe old drives with more current drives)

The following steps are new:

  • Step 5 (AMD CPU's; older but viable sockets and next to go sockets)
  • Step 6 (AMD CPU's; current sockets and sockets best avoided)

Why is Step 8 not exactly listed here? This is the chipset step. Right now I am considering dropping it seeing as modern CPU's have the Northbridge in the CPU. This step is clearly going to fade out over time and become redundant and why I don't think correction makes sense. While I think this I have worked on it somewhat, but I still need to cover SiS and VIA. Right now I feel working on the few I know while considering the viability of the step is probably the right direction to take.

When I say I'm considering it I'm certainly in favor of removal to reduce the guide steps needed I still want opinions. I think it's better to drop it and move on, but I may end up keeping it and focus on chipsets that are more or less common rather then every single chipset out there to reduce the maintenance. This is because of G44/G41/Q45 boards and Nahalem's reduced function chipset. Once Sandy Bride came out, it was completely integrated into the CPU and no longer matters.

On the AMD side you still see it for AM3/AM3+ boards, but AM3 doesn't even matter anymore. However, AM3+ does being they still make AM3+ CPU's. The A series and future FX processors will have it in the CPU just like the A series, supposedly.

What am I saying? While I think it has limited value it's so far diminished to the point I'd consider it very depreciated. For the machines mentioned above there's still value. Where the value is gone is in CPU's I dropped for age or any other reason. Even then, time is going to land these CPU's I passed off for now to the same fate as the P4 or older but good for scrap parts. At some point, there's going to be a reason to not even bother anymore. I don't see the step lasting very long with how I plan to drop these CPU's. As soon as their value goes away or go beyond the 9 year mark for high end from the time, 7 for mid tier and 3-5 for lower end it's getting dropped. Any thoughts on this?

update

I decided I'll keep it around, but it won't get updated all that often, at least by me. I won't be spending a lot of time updating it further, if at all.

What am I going to do about a picture for that step? I need to see what machine I get. Right now I am looking at Core i series SB S series CPU machines, so there's a very, very strong chance I won't have a picture to use. I'll probably figure something out. I do however, have some ideas. I don't exactly feel too comfortable mentioning them in case ideas and plans change yet, but I did pull the 5150 board picture(machine was pulled from service permanently; not worth finding a 1:1 replacement.). That's partially because it didn't make sense, being open board. If I was going to use a open board it would not be a old Dell board. The rewrite was mostly forced because of the permanent pull from service, so I want no trace of the 5150 in the guide. I would rather the 5150's existence be forgotten outside of Meta and the old readers. I can walk away from machines at will most of the time. I am using that to meet the target reader I really wanted to meet back then, but couldn't because of the costs to meet that. When the value is so depreciated the sense is gone, that's it.

The main point to take is I am going to hesitantly keep it, and it's only staying because of AM3+ and G33/G41/Q45 boards. It serves no other use these days since i945 boards are in the same boat as the P4 in my eyes, but they can still be viable for lesser budgets.

In short, what is happening?

  • I added my final thoughts on chipsets for AMD 1st party, Intel 1st party, SiS(chipset only. Not video), VIA(same as SiS). It's staying for now.
  • I don't plan on updating the Chipset step personally unless the situation changes grossly. As I said it's on life support.
  • Picture may not be too easy, since I am leaning towards Intel SB S series machines.
  • Maintenance will be minimal, at best these days. It's not seeing regular updates anymore.
  • I am not getting another Dimension 5150.

Update 2

Right now, I am working on the steps and figuring out what hardware works best that fits what standards I have set for Linux compatibility. For the hardware I am mentioning I am leaning towards usable low end hardware like the Pentium** to mid tier and some higher end hardware. What I am not covering is enthusiast grade or server hardware. If you are building a K series Linux system or a server, you don't need this.

This is because my standards are higher then what most people use. To me, an i3 is not worth it but to most people here it's fine. I am not saying that i5's with 8GB of system RAM with an SSD is the only acceptable build you can do. The only thing I'd say should be kept to my standard is the 8GB of RAM. CPU's and storage are negotiable.

**The Pentium Wolfdale is the lowest I can consider tolerable. Those are the only ones that make sense. Even then I am treating it as scrap parts only.

The current issue is grammar and writing. This is a known problem, and usually takes the most time. I am also seeing which hardware will make it. So far I think I have it. What I got so far is:

Intel

Not being listed

  • Celeron(outside of one mention in the not worth it list. That's it.)
  • Atom(space reasons. I have 8 lines to work with and I would much rather not use them for the Atom. That's not to say they're terrible but it's not worth the space to me.)

What hardware made the cut for good

  • Skylane(Intel;current and supported)
  • Haswell(Intel;current and supported)
  • Ivy Bridge(Intel;older but viable)
  • Sandy Bridge(Intel;older but viable)
  • Nahalem(Intel;older but viable. Almost considered for free/scrap parts build because of age. Didn't do it because of the only problem being the iGPU)
  • Westmere(Intel;older but viable;need to look at it further and write something)
  • Core 2 Duo LGA775(Intel;Wolfdale only;older but viable)

Good enough to be usable, but only use these if you have the hardware on hand and have to or got it for free

  • Pentium LGA775(Intel;Yonah/Allendale)
  • Pentium D(Intel)

Not worth using

  • P4 LGA775(Intel;age and limitations)
  • P4 s478 (Intel;age and limitations)
  • P4 Celeron s423-s478(Intel;age and binning grade)
  • P4 s423(Intel;RDRAM)

AMD

  • FM2+(AMD;current and supported)
  • FM2(AMD;current and supported)
  • AM2(AMD;older and unsupported, but viable)
  • AM3(AMD;older and unsupported, but viable)
  • AM3+(AMD;likely to be phased out soon)
  • 939(AMD;older and not worth using)
  • FM1(AMD;older and not worth supported;EOL'd because of limitations)

I am not done with laptop processors yet. I'm still working on that.

Graphics hardware not making the cut for good to use is SiS and VIA. There just seems to be too many problems.

RAM has also been given it's own step. I am still set on the 8GB baseline as a minimum standard, though. I'm not going to say 4GB isn't terrible but it's more or less a minimum today.

The major update

I found a machine to do this with. I picked a IQ506 because I got my initial model at the right price. The problem was I made a mistake in assuming the parts I needed are going to be easy to find. Whoops!

Anyway.... I found said parts.... It took a donor machine to do it. I'm ready to make the guide now, but I will not promise a timeframe as I still need the 120-180W power supply. I need to see which one my machine needs vs what I can buy. The BOM list says 180W, but I don't know if I can find this. I may have to get a 120-150W. I also need a KB/mouse. Nothing a BT set doesn't solve.

Update on the chipset step

Since I decided I am going to keep it but made it clear I do not intend to maintain it, I think I have a agreeable solution. I will keep it around until the age range is 100% cleared from legacy systems with an external chipset, but I need something to make it clear it's a dying step. I think I have it.

I simply put it in there that the step is being depreciated permanently and I do not intend to update it anymore. This seems like the best way to go about it.

It still exists, but I am making it clear that:

A) Chipset on board-less solutions are accessible now.

B) It might matter for reduced function, but it probably doesn't.

C) The step is likely from a different time and the guide and my experience/hardware options has matured to the point I no longer need to rely on systems like that.

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Hey Nick. Great job updating the Linux machine guide. In regards to Step 8, I think you should leave it seeing as how there are still plenty of machines that could benefit from it. I would however add a note that would warn users to skip this step if it is not applicable to them. I don't see step 8 being redundant. Keep up the great work.

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I kind of did that when I said that CPU's since 2010(Core i series) and the AMD A series integrate it into the CPU at this point. This is why I wasn't entirely sure at the moment. Generally speaking with how surplus works and how you get "used" machines on the market you're seeing a lot of 1st and 2nd gen Core i series machines flooding the market to the point the price is dropping like a rock. This is why I questioned keeping it. G33/G41 is really the end of the chipset on the board era. After the Core 2 Duo was phased out, it went to northbridge in CPU for everything.

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Nick will be eternally grateful.