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I'll be needing a new PC soon, but I've decided to build my own, so my question is...what's the best hardware for Ubuntu? Specifically, in terms of graphics cards; I'm looking for something that will run smoothly (for Compiz's effects and Unity) but will be quite modern (IE: have a HDMI output)

The machine itself is just a generic computer, nothing special; I just want to future-proof it. I'm looking at quad-core chips and 3-4 gig of RAM. I want something that will play nice with Ubuntu; now, and in the future...

I used to build machines years ago, but I've fallen behind (that was in the Windows 98 era...so yeah, quite a while ago!)

My main problem is the graphics card; I'd prefer to stick with NVIDIA, but only a tiny amount of computers I've seen play nice with Nouveau.

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4 Answers

up vote 7 down vote

Tough time to future proof things. I know graphics is important to you but when we talk about performance hardware, most of the cash goes on the motherboard, CPU and RAM. Unfortunately for you, I would put money on both AMD and Intel moving their flagship desktop processors to new sockets within the next 2 years.

Nonetheless, the Intel i7 920/930 gives you a lot of horsepower for a reasonable price. Good triple-channel 6GB DDR3 RAM kits are quite cheap too.

That should give you the scope to upgrade the CPU within the next 18 months without having to replace the mobo and RAM.

As for graphics, even though the driver still hasn't quite reached feature-parity with earlier models, NVIDIA 4xx cards provide a lot of bang and the driver is still better than the AMD/ATI one. I'm talking about the closed source drivers here as they unarguably provide the best performance and support. The 4xx range will shortly start falling in price as the 5xx range is just being launched.

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Thank you, Oli. Could you give me a recommodation from the 4xx series? When I left the computing world GPU's weren't found in a domestic computer... – Dante Ashton Nov 20 '10 at 0:57
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@Dante The 460 and 470 are the middle-of-the-range cards. The 480 (despite having a replacement -- the 580) still carries a hefty price tag that isn't justified by its performance. How much you want to spend will ultimately set the card. The 460 is probably the best value. – Oli♦ Nov 20 '10 at 1:50
up vote 4 down vote

I recommend a graphics card by Intel because there are official open source drivers for almost all of their graphics cards (see here). If you buy a Core i* CPU, the GPU is integrated with the CPU. This series of CPUs can have up to 6 cores (see here).

Also have a look at the hardware support wiki page.

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Only some of the i-range chips have onboard graphics processors. The high end ones don't at all. And those mid-range ones that do perform worse than a dedicated graphics card, even a cheap one. Their drivers are mostly good but that doesn't offset the poorer hardware. – Oli♦ Nov 19 '10 at 0:04
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@Oli: still, the Intel IGPs are more than fast enough for what most people need, which is why they own half of the market probably... – JanC Nov 19 '10 at 1:34
Wow...THIS is what happens when you step out the field...a chipmaker comes along and starts making graphics cards...any good for graphics work, though? – Dante Ashton Nov 20 '10 at 0:54
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It's quite easy at the moment. All the Core i3 and i5 processors with two cores for the socket 1156 have integrated graphics. All others (quad core 1156 and all socket 1366 ones) don't. If you don't care for gaming, or only very rarely play something, intel graphics are not merely bearable; They are joyously marvellous because of their excellent drivers. <3 – Stefano Palazzo♦ Nov 20 '10 at 1:10
up vote 4 down vote

Currently Intel and AMD (formerly ATI) graphics are best supported by open source drivers (intel & radeon), but the nouveau driver for nvidia hardware is getting better too (but AFAIK it isn't as good as the other two yet).

Certainly avoid anything that comes with SiS graphics.

I don't know the current state of open source drivers for other GPU manufacturers.

If you need powerful graphics (e.g. for high-end gaming, Blender, etc.), you probably want an AMD or Nvidia with the closed source drivers. Nvidia is said to have better performance on linux with those drivers.

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up vote 3 down vote

I found this handy page the other day from a link on Planet Ubuntu:

Ubuntu-certified hardware

Worth a look...

EDIT: It's now been updated so that you can search for individual components. Don't know if you're still after this information, but thought I'd update this post anyway:

Component catalog

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Umm...that's things like laptops and desktops. I'm looking at the hardware, like the motherboard, CPU and graphics card...thanks for your input though, they need to work on that list! – Dante Ashton Nov 20 '10 at 0:53

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