Hello, I'm looking to purchase cheap computer which I can dedicate to learning linux on. I would like to install Redhat 7.2, since most servers have Redhat installed on them. I was wondering what fellow WHT members thought about which computer would be the best fit.

AMD T-Bird 950MHz
128MB SDRAM Memory
20 GB (5400 Rpm) ATA 100IDE Hard Drive
1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
Sony 52x Internal IDE CD-Rom Drive

Intel Celeron 800
128MB SDRAM Memory
20 GB (5400 Rpm) ATA 100IDE Hard Drive
1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
Sony 52x Internal IDE CD-Rom Drive

AMD Duron 800
128MB SDRAM Memory
20 GB (5400 Rpm) ATA 100IDE Hard Drive
1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive
Artec 16x IDE Internal DVD Drive

They all basically have the same specs, just different processors. So what do you think is the best computer and why?

Thanks for any help in advance.

If its only to play... buy the cheapest... :D Seriously... I dont think you will need a pentagon unit to play :D

Thats the best thing about Linux!
It can run on the crapiest machines!
Go get like a P1 or 2.

Chris

hey thanks for your replies, I just want an 800mhz processor or above so the machine won't be slow.

linux runs fast on a 486 90 mhz computer ----

i would go with a 133mhz with like 64 ram and 2 gig hard drive
throw a nic card in ther eand isa modem your set

Personally I wouldn't get any of the machines you listed. Not because I feel that it would be too much computer (my desktop is a 1g athlon that only runs linux), but because the prices on them aren't really worth it. I'd say get yourself an amd k62 500 (you can get them super cheap now). Linux with gnome or KDE will run great on it. You could also get an older duron if you wanted to go that route. Otherwise, I say spend the extra $100 and get the latest athlon.

-Dan

I run linux full-time with Java APPS, and serious multitasking on the following.

P2 300Mhz
4.3GB UW SCSI HD
192MB RAM
Matrox Millenium II AGP 4MB AGP

Machine cost me less than $200 and it has ECC RAM.

From my limited Linux experience I thought that more ram would probably be a better choice then a fast cpu. 600 mhz P 3 is much more then enough for KDE/GNOME.

I really think you should get a slower processor and more ram. Possibly 256 mega-bytes, the main bottleneck in my opinion is the hd.

If i wanted a low cost and speedy Linux machine it would probably look like this:

P 3 600 mhz
256 Megs ram
7200 RPM 10 gig or larger IDE hardrive (you really don't need even half that amount for testing)
8 MP AGP Video card, 32 MB would work just as well... you probably wouldn't even notice a difference.

MHz doesn't usually make much of a difference. A computer with a 1 GHz processor isn't going to be twice as fast as a computer with a 500 MHz processor. In fact, the difference is minimal, except when it comes to intense number crunching operations like unzipping files. If you're looking for speed, make sure you have plenty of RAM and a fast hard drive.

If your going to run a GUI, (presumably you are) You need a little bit of grunt (nothing too excessice mind you). Maybe a P300 w/128mb Ram and a 2gb h/d.

Just make sure you dont get obscure components, because linix doesnt support everything!

More ram will help, but dont get a 486 or anything that old, even an old p133 box which i had mandrake 8 on ages ago was soooo slow....

I use Linux on a computer with 400Mhz Celeron processor, and 64MB of ram. Runs great...and while having multiple programs open 24/7 it'll still stay up forever.

The only problem is when I'm using the GUI, it will be a tiny bit slow....but it's just because of my small amount of RAM, should get more soon :)