Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

[joneall]

I want to buy a new computer and my local assembler proposes a machine with a Gigabyte P31 motherboard with on-board 1000/100/10 Ethernet, an Intel Dual Core E5400 processor and an MSI 9500 GT video card (with Nvidia chip).

No separate network card is proposed.

Anyone know if these work all right with Lucid?

Also, will I be able to install the disks from my old machine and have Lucid run? Or will I need to re-install Lucid for the new hardware?

TIA.

[dibl]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

That should work just fine. But, that graphics card is a little underwhelming, if I might be so bold as to offer a suggestion. For only a small additional cost ($50 approx.), I would much prefer this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127441


Compare the specs of the two, side by side.

[dibl]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

That should work just fine. But, that graphics card is a little underwhelming, if I might be so bold as to offer a suggestion. For only a small additional cost ($50 approx.), I would much prefer this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127441


Compare the specs of the two, side by side.

You said "disks" -- it is certainly possible to swap multiple hard drives, but if you're not really comfortable with a lot of command line work to configure /etc/X11/xorg.conf, plus /etc/fstab and probably grub, I would think it far simpler and faster to make a new installation of the OS, and it will automatically set up most of those items.

[joneall]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

That should work just fine. But, that graphics card is a little underwhelming, if I might be so bold as to offer a suggestion. For only a small additional cost ($50 approx.), I would much prefer this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814127441


Compare the specs of the two, side by side.

Thanks for your reply. True, the MSI 9800 looks much better. I don't play any fast games, but I do a lot of photo processing. So can I really make use of the capabilities of the MSI 9800 card?

[oshunluvr]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

Regarding the disks - assuming you meant hard drives.

You are likely to run into some issues trying to use any OS that has been installed on another computer.

IMO you'll spend more time fixing problems than a new install would take. If you have the capacity, I suggest you make room on your hard drive(s) for a totally new install, install there, then mount your old install partition(s) so you can retrieve any files, settings or data that you have there. Then, once satisfied with your new install - wipe your old one out and use the partition to make a back-up install of your Lucid.

If you have the space to spare, of course...

[dibl]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

I do a lot of photo processing.

That task, alone, is justification for the better card, IMHO. The DDR3 memory will be faster, and there is more of it -- that makes a lot of difference in how fast the display is updated when you edit a photo.

[joneall]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

Thanks, both, for the advice. I'll go with the 9800 and a fresh install. Yes, I have the disk space. I can install another Linux over Window XP, for instance. That sounds like a great idea!

Actually, I already have a backup system on another disk, so I can just replace it to start with.

[dibl]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

When your new computer is built and ready for the OS, I recommend you boot a 10.04 Live CD and check out things like audio and networking. If there's any problem, you can get busy with Google, look in my FAQs, etc. etc. and maybe see how you'll fix it, before you actually do the installation.

[joneall]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

When your new computer is built and ready for the OS, I recommend you boot a 10.04 Live CD and check out things like audio and networking. If there's any problem, you can get busy with Google, look in my FAQs, etc. etc. and maybe see how you'll fix it, before you actually do the installation.

Thanks. I saw your faqs and other doc and they look great. I'm sure they will prove useful.

[dibl]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

One final caution -- the *buntu ubiquity installer is a little weird about the SATA mode (says "no hard drives found"), so be prepared to set the BIOS SATA mode to "legacy IDE" or something similar. Then, after the OS is installed, you can probably set it back to "AHCI" and it will boot and run.

[joneall]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

One final caution -- the *buntu ubiquity installer is a little weird about the SATA mode (says "no hard drives found"), so be prepared to set the BIOS SATA mode to "legacy IDE" or something similar. Then, after the OS is installed, you can probably set it back to "AHCI" and it will boot and run.

I don't quite understand this. I had read that *buntu sometimes has problems with SATA disks. But I recently replaced the disks on my current computer with 2 SATA disks and 9.10 installed with no problem on them. There's a Kubuntu on each disk (one for backup) and Grub 2 worked fine on both installations. Should I nevertheless be wary?

[dibl]

Re: Support for Gigabte P31, MSI 9500 GT?

AFAIK, it is only the installer that has trouble with the SATA AHCI mode, not the OS itself. I just didn't want you to freak if the first thing you see when you try to install is "no hard drive found".