Dekstop Compatibility Issues

[abhiroopb]

I am planning on building the PC below:

Motherboard + Processor: Gigabyte GA P55A-UDP4P + i5 750
RAM: 4GB Corsair PC3 1600mhz CL9
Hard Drive: 80gb Intel SSD + 1TB WD Caviar Black
Graphics Card: MSI HD5850 oc edition
DVD Drive: Lite-ON 24X DVDRW
Case: NZXT Hades Mid Tower
PSU: Corsair HX850
Cooling: CoolerMaster V8
LCD Monitor: LG 24" W2442PA

I've been doing my research mainly here http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/sh....php?t=2667555, but no-one has been able to advise me on compatibility issues with ubuntu.

What I would like your help with is gauging whether all these components have good driver support in Ubuntu 9.10. I also need to know which PCMCIA wireless adaptor I should get, which is also compatible with Ubuntu.
Summary:
1. MSI Radeon HD5850 – compatible with Ubuntu? Can I use dual screens?
2. As it is 4GB RAM do I need to download the 64bit version of Ubuntu? Are there any major differences I should be aware of?
3. Anything else I should know about?
Thanks!

Updated Specs: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...BVzh4eHc&hl=en

[warfacegod]

.01 I strongly suggest getting an nVidia Graphics card instead. Although ATi driver support is getting better it's still atrocious.

.02 Only if you want to. If you want to use all 4 GB RAM 64 Bit is the best but using a 32 Bit with a pae kernel will work too.

.03 Atheros chipset wireless is pretty well supported as is Ralink. Here's a good place to start looking:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...CardsSupported

[abhiroopb]

Many thanks for that! Any particular nVidia card? Are they as good now and worth getting for such a powerful system?

[warfacegod]

Many thanks for that! Any particular nVidia card? Are they as good now and worth getting for such a powerful system?

I'd go to nVidia's site and choose 4 or 5 of approximately the same performance and research which one works best in Ubuntu. From what I understand, nVidia has a small edge in the "Raw Horsepower" department.

[abhiroopb]

I'd go to nVidia's site and choose 4 or 5 of approximately the same performance and research which one works best in Ubuntu. From what I understand, nVidia has a small edge in the "Raw Horsepower" department.

Thanks,

I've just been informed that comparable nVidia cards (compared to the ATI HD5850) are not as good and way overpriced. Would you agree?

If this were the case I would be stuck using Windows 7 until there is better support for ATI.

[abhiroopb]

Just found this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=8721697

Which suggests that the latest driver (9.12) supports the HD5850. Do you have any knowledge of this?

Thanks!

[barkej]

Steer clear of ATI if you can. The drivers are usable but they still leave alot to be desired.

[abhiroopb]

Steer clear of ATI if you can. The drivers are usable but they still leave alot to be desired.

In my opinion I would spend a little more for an nVidia card.

Thanks for that. To be honest I won't be heavily using the graphics card in Ubuntu.

I will be dual booting with Win 7 and playing games etc.

All I need to know is that Compiz will run and I can use dual screens.

I'm not too worried about performance issues and the like.

Also this is a desktop (in case I was unclear!)

[warfacegod]

Just found this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=8721697

Which suggests that the latest driver (9.12) supports the HD5850. Do you have any knowledge of this?

Thanks!

Whom ever told you that nVidia isn't as good is misinformed. Go to newegg.com and pick 3 each of ATi and nVidia of the same specs and compare the prices. I only know that there orders of magnitude more threads on help with ATi and Intel graphics as compared to nVidia. I don't use ATi because they just don't work well in Linux. I have two sitting in my spare parts box that gave me fits. My nVidia cards have always worked "out of the box".

I cannot stress to how likely it is that you'll be ripping your hair out trying to run Compiz because the ATi driver refuses to behave itself.

[abhiroopb]

Whom ever told you that nVidia isn't as good is misinformed. Go to newegg.com and pick 3 each of ATi and nVidia of the same specs and compare the prices. I only know that there orders of magnitude more threads on help with ATi and Intel graphics as compared to nVidia. I don't use ATi because they just don't work well in Linux. I have two sitting in my spare parts box that gave me fits. My nVidia cards have always worked "out of the box".

I cannot stress to how likely it is that you'll be ripping your hair out trying to run Compiz because the ATi driver refuses to behave itself.

Thanks for that.

I am considering the GTX 285...what do you think?

With respect to your opinion I'd like some other thoughts as well if anyone else is reading this thread!