[TriLUG] System Upgrade Advice Please

Sun May 14 09:36:04 EDT 2023

I would look at upgrading your graphics card first.  That will make the most difference based on what you said.  That was a mid range card when it was released four years ago, so I wouldn’t expect it to play the newest games at the highest settings.  If you are playing games on Steam, you can check what cards are considered the minimum and which are recommended for the games you play. 

Chris Bickhaus

> On May 14, 2023, at 6:05 AM, Scott Chilcote via TriLUG <trilug at trilug.org> wrote:
>    Quote: "... I'd like to upgrade the mainboard, PSU and memory..."
>   s/PSU/CPU/
>   :wq
>   # sorry about that!
> 
> 
>   Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2023 at 11:58 AM
>   From: "Scott Chilcote via TriLUG" <trilug at trilug.org>
>   To: trilug at trilug.org
>   Subject: [TriLUG] System Upgrade Advice Please
>   Hello LUGgers,
>   I have an Intrex mid tower system that I keep updated with Ubuntu LTS
>   in my home office. Since I retired, I use it for gaming with proton
>   about half the time. It has a Core I7 4770, 16 GB of Corsair DDR3, and
>   an ASUS Z87-A motherboard. All of the drives are SSD.
>   The games have been telling me that it's getting outdated, as the
>   default graphics settings keep getting notched lower. Recent installs
>   are selecting the low-medium range, and that's with a much more recent
>   GTX 1660Ti video card in the box.
>   My first thought was to bump the memory up to 32GB, but that ship has
>   sailed. Every compatible upgrade listing I could find said "out of
>   stock". I could probably locate one in the sketchier corners of the
>   internet, but it has dawned on me that this whole system is due for an
>   upgrade. Most of it was bought in 2013.
>   I'm very happy with the Thermaltake silent case, it has plenty of space
>   and ventilation. The 630W "Haswell ready" PSU might be able to to
>   serve a while longer too. But I'd like to upgrade the mainboard, PSU,
>   and memory up to 32 or 64 GB.
>   So is there an easier way to go about purchasing a new mobo/CPU
>   combination for Linux now? One that will work right out of the
>   box(es)? I apologize if I seem skittish, but I've had a hit and
>   miss track record for picking compatible hardware over the decades.
>   It's been a long time since I dipped a toe in these waters, but the
>   motherboard manufacturers I've had the best luck with are ASUS, MSI,
>   and Gigabyte. From past experience I've had better luck installing
>   Linux on hardware that is not brand new, as the drivers tended to lag
>   behind the intended OS market (Windows). But these are just general
>   rules of thumb.
>   I'd love it if the answer is not to worry, just buy a new setup from
>   reputable brands and throw on the latest distro release. But if it's
>   not quite that, I'll be happy to have your thoughts on how to approach
>   this!
>   Thanks very much, Scott C. in Gafanha de Aquem, Ilhavo Portugal
>   --
>   This message was sent to: Scott Chilcote <scottchi at rocketship.com>
>   To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org from
>   that address.
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> References
> 
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>   2. https://www.trilug.org/mailman/options/trilug/scottchi%40rocketship.com
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> -- 
> This message was sent to: Chris Bickhaus <bick at bickhaus.net>
> To unsubscribe, send a blank message to trilug-leave at trilug.org from that address.
> TriLUG mailing list : https://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug
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