I know nothing of Linux but any of the Intel i3/i5 chips and any of the corresponding Gigabyte mb's including the micro's will give flawless service regardless of configuration.
If you can give me a link to a copy of Linux I would be happy to test it for you. I have many cpu's/gpu's to work with. How many games work with that OS?
http://www.ubuntu.com/
or it's more gaming/effects oriented brothers
http://ultimateedition.info/ultimate-edition/ultimate-edition-2-8/
http://live.linux-gamers.net/
or the Hardcore - modern gamer distro
http://supergamer.org/
For actual awesome games check out:
http://www.amnesiagame.com/#main
Word is out that Steam is releasing a Linux Client sometime in the Q1.
With wine and crossover around, I'd say a lot. However, it aint easy at all with the configs and such. Its like playing russian roulette.
Not if you look for Native Clients of popular games like Quake and such.
...and that is why you don't see a lot of Linux based gamers...
On the contrary,
http://sandboxgamemaker.com/
Basically none. Despite what people say, even using Wine is ineffective 90% of the time in my experience. I'd stay away completely from Linux based OS for gaming.
Then you obviously haven't configured or built wine very well.
i3 intigrated graphics are too new for what linux supports right now. HD streaming etc would be almost impossible. youll need older stuff.
I watch HD streaming stuff all the time. Then again I have an ATI Radeon HD 5850.
Im leaning Nvidia as their Linux Drivers work best.
I'd have a rethink about starting a pc building business. For a start if your main target buyer is going to be students then you should be thinking laptops & note books rather than custom towers.
Plus you'll need to be buying loads of hardware really really cheap to have any chance of making money. One thing you have to think about is almost everyones going to expect windows 7 to be installed, yet knowones going to want to pay an extra $100 + for the legit cd key.
& why would they theres plenty of second user pc's with win7 installed out there for sale.
Unless you can get win7 cd keys for next to nothing this is going to be a big prob.
I wouldn't base anything off linux because everyday you have knocks on your door asking you how to install microsoft office on them
True, and i have found a few Laptop Barebones i could work off from. I work for a computer company doing Tech Support and I have hundreds of people everyday wanting Office installed and who are too stupid to put the Disc in the drive and follow the on screen instructions.
As for the windoze software, We have been given a large quantity of XP discs by our local school and thought of VMware-ing XP on Ubuntu boxes. There is a new Unity Mode that makes the VM ware window disappear so that the program looks native. And it can be set to run at Start like that. You can still access all the linux stuff while using windows stuff.
As for buying up lots of hardware, since it is a small operation and custom machines, we (using a tried and true method) have the Customer agree on the parts, buy them and ship them to us and we put them together and customize them the way the Customer wants it.
If the Customer wants windows 7 then they will get Windows 7 (at a discounted price(OEM))
Since they are having the parts ship to us, the OEM copy is legit as we are the system builders.
Yes, i can build a linux box with my eye closed but I need input on the components that are worth it in the intel field as intel components just seem to work flawlessly with Linux.
