New to MCE/ first build

[Anthony_Molg]

Hello

I found out about this project about a week ago using Stumble-upon. I ordered the parts for my first build last Sunday. I was going to go with a Neuros LINK http://www.neurostechnology.com/neuros-link. I feel that this is a much better solution for me. I still have some question that i was not able to find in the forms/wiki. I am going for a standalone(for now) Hybrid system with one/two PDA orbiters.

My Build

NewEgg Order,
MSI K9N2GM-FIH AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboardhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130164
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.6GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 45W Dual-Core Processorhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103298
4GB of RAMhttp://http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145184
640GB HD http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148335
Bluetooth dongle http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833242001
Smallest case  I could find with full hight PCI slots http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811108092
Tira-2.1 OEM IR tx/rx http://www.home-electro.com/tira2.php

Onhand,
10/100 pci NIC
DVD drive
Harmony remote
wireless KB/mouse
2x HP iPAQ 2215

Still need a tuner card. I want one that is internal dual tuner atsc w/ hardware decoding, but in the forums I did not see any that appear to be working well yet. Please let me know if i am wrong on this.


And my questions,,,

Does the PDA/WinCE orbiter software work over bluetooth? I did not see must about WinCE in the wiki.

I use Fios for my internet and it is going to take a little rewiring to set my Linux box as a gateway/dhcp. It is going to take a paycheck or two to get the necessary hardware. Until then, am I going to have any issues setting it up as a standalone unit running off my current network. Leaving the internal network jack open.


Thank you.

[tkmedia]

You probably will have to update your video and nic drivers to run with 0710.
Maybe as core/hybrid you may have better luck but as a MD it failed trying to load the nic.


However it did seem to work fine as a 0810 MD.

P.S. 4Gb is  a little over kill

Good luck


Tim

[Anthony_Molg]

Thanks
  I have a few nics laying around that I can try. I would like to get the onboard one working because it is 10/100/1000 and what i have around is all 10/100. As far as video, I thought that onboard GeForce 8200 was working ok?

The more ram the better, right? Besides, onboard video uses a lot of ram. Maybe not 4gb, but a lot.

[Anthony_Molg]

Plus there is a wiki for my motherboard. So I should be ok right??? Now you got me a little worried. Oh well I guess i just got to get to building.
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/MSI_K9N2GM-FIH

[colinjones]

The more ram the better, right? Besides, onboard video uses a lot of ram. Maybe not 4gb, but a lot.

No its a complete waste, this is not a Windows platform, it just won't get used for anything other than file caching, which will not improve the performance of your system at that range! The system you described would run with 512MB at a pinch, 1GB would be plenty. If you intend to build out and have lots of MDs and HA, telephony, etc then 2GB is oodles

[totallymaxed]

The more ram the better, right? Besides, onboard video uses a lot of ram. Maybe not 4gb, but a lot.

No its a complete waste, this is not a Windows platform, it just won't get used for anything other than file caching, which will not improve the performance of your system at that range! The system you described would run with 512MB at a pinch, 1GB would be plenty. If you intend to build out and have lots of MDs and HA, telephony, etc then 2GB is oodles

Well we install 4GB of ram on our biggest Core's, as at the margin on a Big system the extra performance is worth it, and the cost differential  between 2GB & 4GB is pretty minimal on the overall build cost.

But I do agree with Colin that in your situation it would not make much sense... 2GB looks to be the 'sweet spot' on ram right now so you probably might as well go to Colins upper end recommendation.

All the best

Andrew

[Anthony_Molg]

Ram is cheap now. I am sure you are right, plus I can always use one stick on a MD later on. If that is my biggest mistake so far I think i am doing OK.

Thanks for the help. I will post here as the my build progresses.