[kwlug-disc] Suggestions surrounding KDE installation these days - hw, distros?

[B.S.]

For various reasons, including speed (processor, ram size, sata III, 
streaming), I'm thinking about a new (used/refurbished) system to 
replace the current one connected to the TV. [Not 1080p capable; hdmi - 
so audio goes that way into the hdmi switcher. Besides, with my old TV, 
hearing, age, and the extra bandwidth required - not convinced to date 
that 1080p is worth it to me.]

32-bit is becoming problematic / unsupported.

HT isn't standard any more, so seems quad core is de rigeur. Even 
browsers are chewing up more and more memory while getting slower and 
slower - (due to the dozens or hundreds of tabs I can't be bothered to 
winnow out from opening - but have been making good use of 'the great 
suspender' to at least freeze them in the mean time.)

 From past experience (for past experience), P4's ~3GHz (with HT) did 
good enough for this box's purpose in the past. I guess ~3GHz (or 
2.66+?) is appropriate going forwards. Also from past experience ... 
anything not in a tower, e.g. SFF, is just going to be aggravating, 
eventually. (Less true for white boxes, but watch the case doesn't 
require slots/jacks reversed from 'normal'.)

Bumbling about googling, seems most Core 2's or Dual Cores aren't HT, 
and most i5's are quad (no HT). Feels like single cores (with HT) aren't 
quite fast enough, so dual cores (no HT) aren't going to do it either. 
Quad (no HT, for price) seem minimal. (And cut out most chaff?) [And not 
willing to put out for i7 quad with HT just for the TV.]

Looking at kijij, people seem to want ~$150-$250 for such. [Problematic 
is getting sufficient information to find specs, but that's another 
story.] kijiji also has some vendor ads (useful) to find refurbers in 
the area of possible interest.

e.g. (1) http://eco-techrecycling.com/quadcorei5.php - response from 
them says this is an Intel DH61BE - 
http://www.cnet.com/products/intel-desktop-board-dh61be-classic-series-motherboard-micro-atx-lga1155-socket-h61-series/specs/

e.g. (2) 
http://techwreckers.ca/product-category/refurbished-desktop-computers/page/2/?product_orderby=price&paged=&product_count=30 
(find 'quad' on page).

Charles - if CR has 2.66+ quads on hand, shout out.

(As I sling rsync backups all about the house every night, Gbps nic, 
SATA III, and at least 3 drive bays, have become de rigeur. And it's 
just been easier to throw on another drive via direct sata temporarily 
when needed, rather than put external/docks or usb 3 into the mix on 
these one offs.)


Then comes distro ... current are 32-bit, so won't be able to just clone 
the drive into a new system. Let alone, the past has shown that there is 
less aggravation by fresh LTS installs than upgrades. Browser cloud 
syncs help that some, 'though are no magic wand, either.

I see Kubuntu (remember, I'm KDE centric) 16.04 LTS is out in the last 
month. Quick googles seem to indicate waiting for the .1 release (again, 
as usual) would be prudent. However, looks like they've squished LTS 
from being 5 years down to 3.

Which makes Debian 8 longevity about the same. Feels like less to favour 
Kubuntu (hw updates) over Debian now. Let alone debian testing over 
stable hasn't been any real trouble for me in the past. No more so than 
any Kubuntu LTS, long term, at least.


Current KDE thoughts, these days? Be it hw, or distro?


(PS, FWIW, aptitude seems to have gotten rather psychotic lately. I've 
switched from 'aptitude update ; aptitude upgrade ; apt-get autoremove' 
to 'apt-get update ; apt-get upgrade ; apt-get autoremove' now.)