Athlon 64 recommendations

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Date: Sat, 06 Mar 2004 13:43:48 -0500

Hi,

I'd like to get my feet wet with 64-bit computing using an AMD Athlon 64
system. (I write about Linux for a living, and so my interest is in
learning about the technologies, Linux distributions, and quirks of all of
these. I'm NOT looking for the fastest system imaginable.) I intend to
upgrade an existing computer by replacing the motherboard, CPU, and RAM
rather than buy a complete Athlon 64 system. Anyhow, I'd like
recommendations on motherboards and any related hardware (the CPU itself,
mainly). I've begun looking at hardware sites and perusing old newsgroup
posts on Google Groups, but I'd be interested in hearing peoples'
experiences and recommendations from a Linux perspective. What hardware
works well, and what doesn't work well? Also, are there particular
distributions you do (or don't) like? I've got a few specific questions
and concerns, too:

- Kernel support for ATA, sound, and Ethernet chipsets mentioned in ads
  for Athlon 64 motherboards seems weak. The nVidia Web site seems to have
  proprietary drivers for boards based on their chipsets, but the 2.6.3
  kernel doesn't seem to have drivers for most chipsets I've seen. Of
  course, I can stick in PCI boards to handle these tasks, but I'd prefer
  to use on-board devices whenever possible. So, what works and what
  doesn't in current Athlon 64 chipsets?
- I've seen at least one post suggesting that the nVidia chipset may have
  bugs that require BIOS updates. (This was a few months ago, though.) Any
  comments on this?
- I intend to re-use an old ATI Mach 64 AGP video card, if possible. If
  that's likely to cause problems, though, I'd like to know about it now,
  and to know about any Athlon 64-specific video card quirks for boards
  that are currently on the market. (I'd probably buy a pretty low-end
  video card, if I need a new one.)
- Can WINE be used to run 32-bit Windows applications from a 64-bit Linux
  distribution on an Athlon 64? What about from a 32-bit Linux
  distrubition run on an Athlon 64?
- How much of a speed boost does using a 64-bit Linux distribution
  provide, vs. a 32-bit distribution?

Any advice and comments before I embark on this journey are greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

-- 
Rod Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com
http://www.rodsbooks.com
Author of books on Linux, FreeBSD, and networking

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