[kwlug-disc] New Linux PC Build Advice

[Jason]

To clarify - drive space on this machine will just be for the OS, game
installs, and some temporary development scratch space.
I'm not super concerned about losing a drive, other than the
inconvenience of having to replace it and reinstall.

Any permanent data will be stored on my TrueNAS SCALE server.
I share the storage on my network over a 10Gbps switch, and this PC
would have a direct connection via an Intel Corporation 82599ES
10-Gigabit SFI/SFP+ card.
I might even keep my home drive on the NAS and mount it at startup, to
avoid risking files not being backed up if a failure occurs between
rsync intervals.
With that in mind, I think having the drives in RAID-0 is reasonable,
as I'd like to have the extra space for game installs.

@Doug - Thanks, I had forgotten Linux Mint was doing a non-Ubuntu
version.  I'll research a bit, as I'm not sure how up to date and how
much development work it gets.

Cheers,
Jason

On Mon, Oct 23, 2023 at 5:16 PM Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:
>
> Linux Mint Debian Edition? Based on Debian, no Ubuntu.
> "choosing LMDE might be beneficial for those looking for a more Debian-centric experience without frequent updates."
>
> On Mon, Oct 23, 2023, at 4:47 PM, Jason wrote:
> > Hey all,
> >
> > My current desktop PC is 12 years old, and it's time for an upgrade.
> > I use it for gaming and development, and I want something fairly
> > balanced, but leaning more towards gaming performance.
> >
> > More details in this thread:
> >
> > https://old.reddit.com/r/buildapc/comments/16yh3b4/need_advice_12_year_old_gamingdevelopment_pc/
> >
> > I wanted to solicit advice on a few things:
> >
> > =========================
> > 1.  Hardware
> >
> > I put together a parts list, and I've started picking up items, but if
> > there's something glaringly wrong, I can always return parts in the
> > next few weeks.  I'm planning on buying most of the parts around Black
> > Friday in November.
> >
> > https://pcpartpicker.com/user/theoneblackmage/saved/#view=tQdh99
> >
> > I've already picked up the CPU, RAM, and Hard Drive(s).  Jason E had
> > mentioned at the last in-person meetup to RAID-0 the drives, and I got
> > two 4TB SSDs, so that's probably what I'll do.
> >
> > I bought the PSU as well, but it's not on the site list to choose:
> > -Corsair RMx Shift 1200-Watt PCI-E 5.0 ATX Modular Power Supply
> > -Hopefully this is proper ATX 3.0 (it says certified)
> > -Sounds like it has the proper power connectors for modern GPU
> >
> > For brands, I prefer to stay away from Asus and AsRock.  Favoring
> > Gigabyte and MSI.  I've heard a few bad things about Gigabyte warranty
> > support, but nothing concrete.
> >
> > I'm thinking a full AMD system makes sense for a lot of reasons,
> > mainly AMD EXPO and AMD Smart Access Memory.
> >
> > =========================
> > 2.  Linux Distribution
> >
> > I've been using Linux Mint with XFCE, but I want to get away from
> > Ubuntu.  I do like Debian, but I'm not convinced I could keep up to
> > date with newer packages/kernels on Stable. Any advice on staying with
> > a pure Debian setup would be appreciated, but it it doesn't make sense
> > I can bite the bullet.
> >
> > I'm debating switching to Fedora and using GNOME with Wayland.  I
> > haven't used Wayland before (XFCE still uses X11 and is only
> > roadmapping Wayland support).  From what I've read, AMD supports
> > Wayland a bit better, and I like the idea of the open source drivers.
> >
> > I've used Amazon Linux quite a bit, so switching to Fedora wouldn't be
> > a huge stretch and I wouldn't mind the extra hand-on experience with
> > it.  Amazon Linux 2 was based on CentOS, and Amazon Linux 2023 is
> > based on Fedora.
> >
> > =========================
> > 3.  Gaming
> >
> > I don't expect I'll be playing a lot of games with Ray Tracing, and
> > that's one of the reasons I'm pretty comfortable not going with an
> > Nvidia GPU.
> >
> > I plan on gaming at 1440p as close to 144Hz refresh as possible, since
> > I have three LG Ultragear 27GL850-B 27" monitors.  I usually only game
> > on one, and have other things open on the other monitors.
> >
> >
> > I mainly play older titles and I've got a pretty hefty backlog of
> > games on Steam, Battle.net, Epic Games, Good Old Games, Humble Bundle,
> > etc.  There are some "newer" titles I want to play.  Advice on the
> > best way to get these working would be appreciated.  I know I can use
> > Proton for a lot of them, and Lutris or Bottles for others.
> >
> > -Daily Driver:  World of Warships (Wargaming.net Launcher) - annoying
> > to update though
> > -Blizzard Games:  Overwatch 2, Diablo III/IV, Starcraft II
> > -Open World RPG:  Fallout 4, Starfield (not for a while), The Outer Worlds
> > -FPS:  Borderlands 3, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, DOOM/Doom Eternal, Deus Ex
> > -Other:  Minecraft, Nier Automata
> >
> > =========================
> > 4.  Streaming
> >
> > I stream games sometimes using OBS.  Mainly Jackbox, but it would be
> > nice to be able to stream other games.  Want to make sure my setup
> > won't have issues with that.
> >
> > I usually use Twitch, but I could stream on Youtube - it looks like
> > they have better encoding options:
> >
> > https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en
> > https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/broadcasting-guidelines?language=en_US
> >
> > Does NVIDIA NVENC make a huge difference?  Looks like maybe I could
> > use my old GTX 1070 to offload encoding?
> >
> > =========================
> > 5.  Other considerations?
> >
> > Nothing specific here, just anything else I should consider.  I will
> > be doing some dev work on this computer, but a lot of it is deployed
> > in the cloud, and would just be tested locally.
> >
> > I appreciate any advice or recommendations!
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jason
> >
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