Subj : Coming back to Linux
To   : hyjinx
From : Accession
Date : Thu Sep 11 2025 04:40 pm

Hey hyjinx!

On Thu, 11 Sep 2025 21:29:22 +1200, you wrote:

 > For virtualisation, I've never used proxmox before, but the brochure
 > looks nice, it might satisfy the virtualisation host needs I have.

I'm unsure if you understand how Proxmox works. It is usually installed on bare metal, much like Windows or Linux themselves.

So, if you're looking for building a Linux machine, you may want to look at other options that you can run as an application on your Linux distro, like Virtualbox, or something similar that won't take up your whole system.

 > Re your advice on CPU, I think most people are going to say something
 > similar to you - go with AMD, so I think I am in safe hands with your
 > advice. On the downside, an RTX 5090 studio PC with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D,
 > 4TB storage, 64 GB RAM and an NVIDIA RTX 5090 will set me back a cool
 > $10,350 in New Zealand (I just price checked it). That's a lot of cash.
 > Too much cash.

You're pricing out a build with a $2000-$3000 (USD) GPU. Don't do that. lol

There's no need for all that. My i9-9900K and RTX 3060 is still doing just fine. Try pricing that out and see the difference. I'd imagine a 4060 is probably just as cheap as the 3060 was when it came out now, too.

 > All I remember from previous rants and raves over the years is that
 > NVIDIA was a no-go because the drivers sucked so much balls. I did have
 > an NVIDIA on Linux a while back and whilst it ran OK, whenever I
 > upgraded the kernel, something broke badly and I was back to the
 > framebuffer on tty0, running the TUI NVIDIA installer. Not much fun if
 > you want to get work done. Admittedly this was years ago.

I'm fairly certain that has been fixed by now. I do remember those days also. The open source drivers work pretty damn good these days, too (which weren't available and/or didn't support much of anything in the days you are referring to).

 > Yes, it sounds like my need in GFX is probably pretty low. I'm not a
 > gamer. It's always nice to spin up a game or two to let off speed, I've
 > never really had a rig capable of running games, so I've never really
 > invested much time in gaming. The only thing I can imagine doing with
 > graphics is rendering video.

An RTX 4060ti and 5060ti 12gb are around $400-500 USD it seems. The 5060 is only about $300. You definitely don't need a 5090 for what you want to do.

 > There is no Amazon or any of the others you mention in NZ. We are
 > completely in the arsehole of the world. Anything coming from the USA is
 > immediately taxed to shit, so we have to get everything parralel
 > imported from Asia. Donald Trump (I'm not political, it is just fact),
 > has completely destroyed USA based imports here.

Not sure how to answer this one. Anything I can find (even on NZ websites) says things like:

New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, has indicated that New Zealand will not impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports, and therefore businesses sourcing from the US should not experience a direct impact.

and..

Most tariffs range from 0% to 10%, mainly affecting imports like clothing, footwear, and carpets. Nearly all computer software and hardware are duty-free. Alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and certain petroleum products incur excise duties, which also apply to domestic equivalents.

So, are you being lied to and/or overcharged for stuff? Or does the stuff you get from the USA go through somewhere else first, like China?

 > So my spec sounds more CPU heavy than GPU. Probably nice to go for 64GB
 > RAM and 2-4TB storage too. But spending $10,400 on the latest and
 > greatest is never going to be an option for me!

Don't do it, then. When I built this PC, everything except the GPU was already a year or more old (previous generation, etc). I probably saved over a couple thousand not going with the latest and greatest, and.. it still runs great quite a few years later.

Regards,
Nick

.... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
 * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (21:1/200)

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