More computer bits

[lnr]

OK, I changed my mind a bit, and it seems there are now three main options:

a) Get bits from Aria. This lot is just under 200 quid inc vat and delivery:

• Abit UL8 939 5.1 Sound/LAN onboard
• AMD Athlon64 3000 Venice Retail Socket 939
• 2 x Kingston 256MB PC3200 400Mhz CL3
• 160GB Maxtor D/Max+10 133/7200 8M
• (plus a compatible AGP card from Mobbsy for 15 quid, and help from rjk in assemble and install :-)

b) A Dell Optiplex GX250, with Celeron D 330 via the university's 2005 agreement is just over 300 quid.

c) If I hang on a month HP will be getting the next tender and I'll be able to get a complete Athlon64 3500 system with 1GB of RAM for somewhere halfway inbetween.

The last option is very close to winning, even if it does mean no computer at home for a month.

Comments

[imc.livejournal.com]

The last lot of HPs we had in (dx5150 or similar) had an ATI chipset which seems to play less well with Linux than nVidia or Intel. We got Linux running on them, but I had to disable the local APIC in order to get it to boot at all.

[lnr]

I've been assured that they won't have accepted the tender unless they work with linux, as they'll be wanted for SuSE and dual-boot machines, not just Windows.

[imc.livejournal.com]

As I say, we did get it to work eventually. I have to wonder though when I hear statements such as the above whether it's actually been tested or whether they are just taking a salesman's word for it.