HW compatibility research: are intel i5 graphics and realtek net/audio hassle-free?

[geoffrey mendelson]

On Dec 15, 2010, at 5:29 PM, Oleg Goldshmidt wrote:

>
> An old desktop computer of mine is croaking - it still breathes, but  
> with difficulty. A quick check concluded that there are problems  
> with the MoBo, and some with the graphics card, too. Basically, it  
> looks like I need a new MoBo, and since there seems to be a shortage  
> of boards with sockets for Athlon 3800+ or support for DDR1 - also a  
> new CPU and memory. [Even if such boards can be found I am not going  
> to waste time or money on the effort.]
>

There are plenty of them around. No one wants them because you can buy  
a new computer with 1g of DDR2 or DDR3 RAM for less money than 1g  
alone of DDR(1) RAM.



> The machine is for dual workstation / home server (ssh, web, NFS,  
> version control, bugzilla, stuff like that) use, maybe at times to  
> run a program or two (say numerical but not HPC), web/office/coding,  
> Skype and the likes, occasional video. Nothing particularly high  
> performance, no games, etc. Target distro - Fedora (well, I do  
> intend to use the old disk, which is actually new). I don't want  
> already half-obsolete components, I want it to be reasonably  
> reliable for a few years, I don't want any sluggishness in my normal  
> tasks, and I want it hassle-free.
>
> "Hassle-free" is the topic.
>
> I got a quote that seems to be reasonable for a GIGABYTE H55M-D2H  
> s1156 MoBo and Intel Core i5 650 3.2GHz with a GPU Core. Looking at  
> the detailed specs on the 'net (http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3572#sp 
> ) I see that the MoBo has on-board Realtek network and audio. I  
> searched more, and found a fair amount of complaints about both  
> Realtek (especially audio) and Intel's graphics. I won't bother you  
> with URLs, but what I found was from 2009 and the first half of  
> 2010. Oron posted very useful explanations on this list, too (http://www.mail-archive.com/linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il/msg55395.html 
> ) but that was in May 2009 as well.
>

There are two different Intel Graphics chip sets. I don't know which  
is which, but a quick search should answer the question. The earlier  
ones are chips that Intel bought a license to manufacture. They are  
not very good in general and have closed source drivers. This makes  
them OK for Windows, a problem for Linux. The second are the newer  
ones Intel designed and builds.

They are well supported by Intel to the point that the open source  
drivers are as good as closed source ones. That's not a comment  
against open source drivers, but an acceptance of the fact that  
writing open source drivers for video chips that are poorly documented  
(on purpose) is difficult at best. So look for ones that have 100%  
open source drivers and you should be fine.

As for buying an I5 processor, there are newer I3's with similar  
performance (for example 3gHz instead of 3.6gHz) for a lot less money.

As for realtek, they tend to have cheap chips, which generallty work  
well. If you are concerend about support, check the exact model number  
of the chip as they keep changing them and the linux drivers do not  
always "keep up".

When you buy a mobo make sure you are getting one that supports full  
64 bit addressing. Except for a sit it in a corner, use as a file  
server type machine, I would recommend getting at least 4g if not 8 of  
RAM. DDR3 RAM is currently very cheap.

Geoff.

> Any comments? Experiences? Can anyone confirm that the onboard  
> component (graphics, network, audio) will work fine? Is there any  
> need for non-mainstream drivers (kernel, xorg, whatever)? I am not  
> religious about FOSS but I do want "yum update" to pick the drivers  
> for the new kernels up. Is the built-in i5 graphics enough for the  
> described usage or do I need a decent external card? I saw reports  
> (from about 9 months ago, e.g., http://www.linux-archive.org/debian-user/344759-intel-core-i5-integrated-graphics.html 
>  - some doubts about Realtek there as well) that the i5 graphics  
> didn't work with a VGA cable but only with a DVI cable - is it true?
>

No idea. Be warned that most of the current production really cheap  
(around 600 NIS) LCD screens only have VGA ports. There are not a lot  
of things that run on Linux that use the extra acceleration in  
expensive graphic cards, on the other hand if you are also going to  
run Windows on it (see my other comment below) and play high end games  
(Fallout New Vegas anyone?) you will need an extra "hot" graphics  
card. NVIDIA are my favorite in that case, but make sure the exact  
chipset is supported under Linux, although it  may not matter. Most if  
not all of the things you describe won't benefit from the accerelation  
in the latest chips if it is not yet supported under Linux.


> HW gurus: I realize there are other options from MoBo/CPU as well,  
> many/most of which are costlier. Any suggestions (besides "this  
> stuff won't work") why I should opt for something else, given the  
> described purpose? The proposed configuration was clearly with the  
> price in mind.


If you plan on running Windows on it, then IMHO you should buy a name  
brand such as HP, Packard Bell, etc. The difference in cost between  
them and a roll-your-own system is about the cost of a Windows  
license. If you do not plan on running Windows on it, it pays IMHO to  
buy a "local" company's product, e.g. Ivory or KSP and avoid the extra  
cost.

Geoff.


-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson,  N3OWJ/4X1GM
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to misquote it.