Hardware ompatibility with Suse

English Hardware
1

hello,

I plan to get a new PC in the following months, it’ll be custom build and I like to ask for compatibility with Suse. So here are some questions.

  1. Compatibility with the major components:
  • CPU: Intel i7 4930 - 3.9 Ghz
  • MOBO: ASUS P9X79 Deluxe ATX (‘deluxe’ just means a few more USB ports)
  • RAM: Corsair Pro DDR3 1600

The components are compatible as far as hardware goes, the question goes for Linux/Suse.

  1. Compatibility of Suse with SSD (Solid State Drives).

    At least for the ‘root/boot’ drive, will add a secondary drive fro data, can it be SSD or a more common SATA.

  2. GPU: NVIDIA GeoForce GTX 690

    At first I’ll use the build-in Intel graphics from the CPU, as I save more money I’ll try to get this NVIDIA Card.

  3. I may dual boot with Windows 8.1 (because they support SSD), I heard of problems at least with new Dells or HP that come with the OS already in, in my case if I add the Windows partition then it’ll be an off-the-shelf copy (or amazon.com copy).

Ok, those are the more common components, if any knows of important issues with these hardware and Linux/Suse please let me know, this PC is for work as far as the Suse partition goes.

Thank you

2

On Tue, 19 Aug 2014 17:16:01 +0000, mhunt0 wrote:

> 1) Compatibility with the major components:
>
> - CPU: Intel i7 4930 - 3.9 Ghz - MOBO: ASUS P9X79 Deluxe ATX (‘deluxe’
> just means a few more USB ports)
> - RAM: Corsair Pro DDR3 1600
>
> The components are compatible as far as hardware goes, the question goes
> for Linux/Suse.

Should be fine AFAIK. In general, Linux doesn’t care about memory or the
CPU so much. Motherboards can sometimes be an issue, but it’s usually
when it comes to proprietary stuff like integrated winmodems (if those
are even a thing).

> 2) Compatibility of Suse with SSD (Solid State Drives).
>
> At least for the ‘root/boot’ drive, will add a secondary drive fro data,
> can it be SSD or a more common SATA.

I just set up a new system that has an SSD for the root drive and SATA
drive for data. Works fine here.

> 3) GPU: NVIDIA GeoForce GTX 690
>
> At first I’ll use the build-in Intel graphics from the CPU, as I save
> more money I’ll try to get this NVIDIA Card.

To my knowledge, should be fine with the proprietary drivers. You may
want to check for specific support, but nVidia has been pretty good about
supporting their current cards.

> 4) I may dual boot with Windows 8.1 (because they support SSD), I
> heard of problems at least with new Dells or HP that come with the OS
> already in, in my case if I add the Windows partition then it’ll be an
> off-the-shelf copy (or amazon.com copy).

The new system here is actually a Dell XPS 8700. Dual boot works fine,
though I did have to disable secure boot. Windows 8.1 doesn’t seem to
care that I did that.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

3

Thank you for the response, I’ve keep reading, so far it’s as you say, save for some dual-boot problems with W8.1, but I’ve taken note of what you did to solve the problem.

True about the motherboards, this one (ASUS P9X79) does not have integrated graphics so that 's good, it does have integrated network at 1 GB, Wi Fi , BlueTooth and audio… so I hope that won’t be a problem.

4

On Wed, 20 Aug 2014 19:56:01 +0000, mhunt0 wrote:

> Thank you for the response, I’ve keep reading, so far it’s as you say,
> save for some dual-boot problems with W8.1, but I’ve taken note of what
> you did to solve the problem.
>
> True about the motherboards, this one (ASUS P9X79) does not have
> integrated graphics so that 's good, it does have integrated network at
> 1 GB, Wi Fi , BlueTooth and audio… so I hope that won’t be a problem.

Find out what the chipset is (shouldn’t be too difficult to find out -
maybe even asking the seller) and then you can check the compatibility
that way.

Jim

–
Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

5

The chipset is Intel X79, according to Phoronix, Linux/Suse does supports the chipset.





  - Storage[INDENT=6]**Intel® X79 chipset : **
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), white
4 x SATA 3Gb/s port(s), blue, 
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
**Marvell® PCIe 9128 controller : **
2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), white
**ASMedia® ASM1061 controller : **
2 x Power eSATA 6Gb/s port(s), green[/INDENT]

  - LAN[INDENT=6]Realtek® 8111E , 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s)
Intel® 82579V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s)
Dual Gigabit LAN controllers- 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) appliance[/INDENT]

  - Wireless Data Network[INDENT=6]Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n[/INDENT]

  - Bluetooth[INDENT=6]Bluetooth V3.0+HS
ASUS BT GO! Utility[/INDENT]

  - Audio[INDENT=6]Realtek® ALC898 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC 
- Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
**Audio Feature :**
- Absolute Pitch 192kHz/ 24-bit True BD Lossless Sound
- Blu-ray audio layer Content Protection 
- DTS Ultra PC II
- DTS Connect
- Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel

[/INDENT]

6

and Houston we have a problem -.-

Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
My name is Lijay and it is my pleasure to help you with your problem.

Sorry. The motherboard doesn’t support Linux, please reinstall the OS which is supported and reinstall all the drivers from the support CD.

Thanks!

7

As someone who in the past has had to take Asus to near court to get my RMA - I can pretty confidently say that Asus support doesn’t know jacking ****ing **** about anything.

8

lol, yeah, I know customer service is very limited in knowledge, they have their little manual and if something is not there then it doesn’t work, unless you speak with a real technician who will say something like 'it should work but I cannot guarantee"

Phoronix, who test hardware against Linux says the chipset works, so I accept that, I only worry about the other included features in case those may cause trouble so I’ll have to check about them (integraded network, wifi, bluetooth, integrated sound), specially the integrated sound.

9

On Thu, 21 Aug 2014 13:46:01 +0000, mhunt0 wrote:

> and Houston we have a problem -.-
>
> ************************
>
> Thank you for contacting ASUS Customer Service.
> My name is Lijay and it is my pleasure to help you with your problem.
>
> Sorry. The motherboard doesn’t support Linux, please reinstall the OS
> which is supported and reinstall all the drivers from the support CD.
>
> Thanks!
>
> **************************

It’s not surprising that the “official” position is that - but the
reality is likely very different.

I’ve run into situations (dealing with an ISP in particular) where the
tech actually was a Linux user as well, but the company wouldn’t let him
say that it was supported or even let him help people who use Linux.

Jim

Jim Henderson
openSUSE Forums Administrator
Forum Use Terms & Conditions at http://tinyurl.com/openSUSE-T-C

10

I’m still reading and searching. I have found some topics on different forums where the Linux user had a problem with dual-boot with Windows, or another that had problems with the integrated sound where the solution was to add a sound card and disable the build in sound, or another who had a 40 second ‘freeze’ during boot but his build was for virtual machines, mine won’t.

From what I have found so far, it should work, just trying to find more information that will make me feel more confident into buying it.

True to that of Linux and customer support form companies, during the search for the MOBO and linux I found a pdf on Asus website where the ‘pro’ version of this board is listed as supported by Suse 11.4

11

This is when this would come in handy :-).

12

:slight_smile:

too bad about the last panel.