New build, first Linux PC, what could go wrong? ;)

[climatepete]

Hi all, I'm new here and have not built a system since the early PC days. I hope to soon have a new rig with only Linux. It will be a budget build, but not too budget since I want a spiffy Z97 mobo and the new unclocked pentium. Surely the pentium will work with Linux.

Will all Z97 boards work? I am looking at:
ASRock Z97 Pro4 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
$100 after the rebate.

Or what about the new Z97 from Biostar?

Printer: Epson WF2530 - just a matter of finding the driver?

Keyboard: I hope to use one with LED key caps that make the letters stand out. I see no reason why this should be a problem.

Graphics card? I do not need one.

After all is working I must find out what SteamOS is. I am not a gamer but I ordered a steampunk case so I ought to learn a game or two.

Thanks for any help!

[hooly]

H... I ordered a steampunk case so I ought to learn a game or two.

the Deepcool Steam Castle by any chance? i think that will be my new case. what colour you going for? black for me.



anyway, sorry, no info for you on the Z97s. i seem to recall Michael saying we should be good to go on those boards but i don't have the refence for that at hand.

[climatepete]

I'm going ahead withthe AsRock mobo

Hi Hooly, I see that Michael expects things to work, based on his considerable experience.

Case? I am just using an outdated Corsair spec-01 that was being cleared with a $30 rebate. The side window is the big feature, along with some red LEDs.
My case will not be impressive to regular system builders, but none of my friends will know the difference

[rbmorse]

I'm running Mint 17 on an ASUS Z97-Pro with an i7-4970 (non-"K") CPU. Works fine. Ubuntu 14.4, too.

Fedora 20 installed just fine, but I could never get it to recognize the network adapter (Intel 1218-V). Same story with some utility distros like SystemRescueCD and the AVGRescueCD. They probably don't have the driver...or perhaps just lack the device ID info. Intel has a Linux driver package for the 1218-V available and I suspect installing that would resolve the issue, but I didn't find it until after I got Mint up and running and decided I liked it enough to stay with it for the time being.

[mike4]

Works perfectly on Ubuntu/Win8/OSX86. Bought that last August:

Processor
Intel Core i7 4770K
Processor Cores
4
Processor Speed
ovc to 4.6 Ghz
RAM
16 GB (Corsair Vengeance Pro Red 2x 8GB, DDR3-2400)
Video Board Manufacturer
Nvidia
Video Board Model
Asus GTX-770 DirectCU II 2GB GDDR5
Video Memory
2 GB
Mother Board
Asus Z87 PRO
Hard Drives
Samsung SSD 840 Basic, TLC, 500GB and 1TB HD
Monitor
LG L225WT
Operating System
Ubuntu etc.
Joystick
CH
Yoke
CH
Rudder Pedals
CH
Other
Corsair H90
Asus DVD Burner
Logitech cordless usb MK260 and QuickCam? Sphere?

[brosis]

Printer: Epson WF2530

If you are not printing with all-pigment inks (durabrite) then find another printer manufacturer.

Check if your printer is supported via Gutenprint. Epson native driver is a serious joke.
Will have to reset printer via cracking utility (10-20$) or epson service (100$) after certain amount of time. Google up waste ink counter. Only epson has it.
Original cartridges are expensive, non-originals will have a hard time because of self-destructing chip at 20% and hard encoding that is hard to break. Non-original cartidges cost a lot more or are filled with much lower ink quality.
There are at least three preprogrammed weak spots:
- printhead is deeply integrated into system (can't take it easily out like on HP or Canon), it will be extra hard to clean it, and connected via a bus that is not isolated from fluids;
- the printhead is usually gliding on non-dedicated shaft, that is actually a metal piece of housing itself, that is preprogrammed for early wear out. Only cheaper models are affected, but check out that you don't get such.
- nearly all epson printers, the fins touching each chip on each ink cartridge are double-sided and every single of them is prone to breaking after certain amount of cartridge insertions.

Basically, if you print a lot - get epson only if you print pigment (native ink - durabrite, NOT claria), otherwise get other brand; and install CISS with waste ink external bottle mod.
Otherwise, get laser.

[mike4]

My Epson Stylus Photo RX500 works fine out of the box, but I got tired of those expensive ink boxes.- If I ever buy a new printer it will be laser or alike.

[doom_Oo7]

My Epson Stylus Photo RX500 works fine out of the box, but I got tired of those expensive ink boxes.- If I ever buy a new printer it will be laser or alike.

As a student who mostly needs to print administrative stuff in B&W, a Laser printer is a breeze. Changed the toner once in three years, and it was maybe only 10 - 15 ? more than an average color printer (i.e. about 70 ?).

[Mat2]

Hi all, I'm new here

Hello!
Welcome on Phoronix Forums!

[brosis]

As a student who mostly needs to print administrative stuff in B&W, a Laser printer is a breeze. Changed the toner once in three years, and it was maybe only 10 - 15 € more than an average color printer (i.e. about 70 €).

I said - use laser if you print SMALL amounts.
1)toner(1xk or 1xc,m,y,k, each 100$)
2)fixer/transfer unit, 20-50$
3)laser unit or laser/drum unit(can be 1xk or 4x - each cmyk, each 100$)
When all the above materials are depleted, laser "housing" costs no more than 30$.
Hence bw laser is ~250$, but a color laser can be very pricey. Especially if it costs LESS, because lesser the unit/part cost - usually lesser the resource, so the $/page costs quicky skyrocket at entry models. Printing like 4,000 pages and costing 50$ toner+50$laser/drum unit, no mater what.


If you print a lot, there is no way around inkjet+ciss.
For example, I support five CISS in productions and have one CISS at home. I use inktec inks, but also used other brands.
1 ink package for 1 Liter(3x200ml cmy,1x400ml k) of inks costs ~25$.
1 liter of ink is sufficient to print 400,000 a4 pages (@25$). Even if you purchase new printhead or even new printer after 0,5 mln pages, its still runs around in circles of even corporate laser printing stations. Even if you buy pigment, its still never more than 40-80$/Liter (depending on manufacturer/year time).

Many industrial inkjets get equipped with factory CISS, like HP Designjet, Epson L series, Ultrachrome K3 inks etc. But they cost a fortune, of course
There is simply no point to not equip an inkjet with CISS. If done correctly, just throw out the used ink from time to time and print print print.

But if you print like 30 pages in a month, inkjet is not worth the effort/know-how time investment.

So there is only ONE advantage of laser - it doesn't give a damn about drying up. Mostly (if no more than 2-3 years standby).

My Epson Stylus Photo RX500 works fine out of the box, but I got tired of those expensive ink boxes.- If I ever buy a new printer it will be laser or alike.

Buy a CISS (~30-40$ incl s^h from China via ebay) and forget troubles.