On Tue, Sep 03, 2019 at 09:27:28AM +0100, Phil Thane wrote:
Hello folks,
Looking for hardware advice. My desktop PC hasn't had a hardware upgrade for about 5 years when I bought a MoBo bundle and a secondhand graphics card. It's an AMD Quad core CPU running at 3200MHz with 2G of RAM and Nvidea GE Force 8400.
For the most part it's OK, I don't do video editing or gaming so it doesn't work too hard. The graphics card has always been an issue though, it refuses to run 64bit Linux distros. I've tried several in the past, Debian-based and others, and always get the same result, installs OK but on boot just gives a black screen. Annoyingly it will run 64bit distros from DVD so you think it's going to be OK after an install, but it isn't. It hasn't been too much of an issue running 32bit versions until recently but it seems they are being phased out. I'd like to try KDE Neon for example, but there is no 32bit version.
So:
Any recommendations for a cheapish graphics card that will work?
I've always gone for intel graphics on board after a few issues like yours in the past. Intel board with intel graphics 'just works' in Linux in my experience. So I'm not a lot of use unless you go for a new motherboard.
Is it worth getting 4GB or more RAM?
Probably, RAM is relatively cheap, I have 8Gb in my refurbished Fujitsu system.