i recommend Fedora 22 Workstation version. Or one of the other spins of Fedora 22. I love it.
if you wanna build something just look for affordable parts, u dont need a very powerfull computer for linux as a media center
if thats all u gonna do i think that an intel processor like a pentium or something with integrated graphcs is all u need
as for the linux flavor just choose the one you like the most
If you want to try something different give a RPM based Distro a try like Opensuse or Fedora.
install gentoo
Here's an option for ya:
Virtualization -- you have a gaming desktop? Install virtualbox and you can run many, many (nearly all) the linux distributions right there. You can run as many at the same time that your gaming rig specs can handle. No extra hardware needed. This'll also let you figure out which ones you like, which in turn will give you an idea of what hardware you should buy to support it. (i'd recommend Linux Mint for starting out, or ubuntu). Or you may want to run a server after all. You never know until you try, and virtualizing will let you try quite alot without risking anything.
If you're determined to get hardware, i'd purchase the following at minimum. This should run most distros out of the box.
CPU: Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz or better
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
HDD: 250 GB SATA
PSU: Nvidia PCIE, 512 megabytes or better
(note: PSU's can be a problem with linux. Older Nvidia's are pretty solid. ATI is a driver risk, be prepared for that)
@pchawk, you're wrong when it comes to AMD.
AMD is the best choice for media, because it will work out of the box with the open source drivers. No need to install the proprietary drivers, as you need to do with NVIDIA.
I got myself an Intel NUC D34010WYK last year and put Ubuntu 14.04 on it. It has USB 3.0 ports on it, mini HDMI out, and an i3 CPU. There are other flavors of the NUC with i5 and other options. I primarily use mine as a Kodi media center and I use either Yatse or Kore as a remote to run Kodi from my Android devices. If the OS itself needs attention, I typically use JuiceSSH or PuTTY to manage it. I also use it as an SSH jump host to let me grab other computers behind my firewall so I don't have to open up more ports unnecessarily.
If you decide to get yourself a NUC, you will need to buy memory and storage for it. I got a Crucial M500 CT120M500SSD3 120GB mSATA drive and a pair of Samsun 4GB SO-DIMMs M471B5273CH0-YK0 to complete the build.
You know, i'd actually love to be wrong in this case. In fact, i'd be delighted if both NVidia and AMD released the firmware for their cards instead of playing coy most of the time.
However, on my workbench as we speak are several cards. None of the ATIs have properly functioning, manufacturer released drivers. (They are all of the Radeon HD line, varying specs) The drivers ATI did release crash X11, hard. With ATI/AMD you may very well be stuck with Nouveau, and that's a problem for serious applications.
On the Nvidia side, I have a GTX 670, a GT 640, and several lesser models, all with nvidia-updates working properly in the repository. I don't even have to download it from Nvidia! Click- driver installed and done. Now my virtual machines will properly work.
Nouveau is a stopgap, it is a patchwork reverse-engineering attempt to make the card work, nothing more. It's like stuffing a steering wheel and peddles through the top of your car because you've been locked out of the chassis. At least Nvidia lets you in the drivers seat. Both makers need to let us pop the hood, but that hasn't happened yet.
Note that I plugged for OLDER (well-proven) cards, ones I use daily and can honestly recommend with first-person experience. Also note that i said AMD is a risk. I most certainly did NOT say anything derogatory concerning performance (provided the AMD-supplied driver works).
I think we might be misunderstanding each other.
I was saying that you don't need the proprietary drivers if you're using AMD for a media computer.
I wasn't commenting in any way on the proprietary drivers (for either AMD or Nvidia) because you simply don't need them if you're watching media and you're using an AMD card (except for 285, those still don't have support with radeon).
And you don't need to install or click on anything with the open source driver, it just works. Even with ancient kernels like the one that Mint uses. Even Debian stable has a newer kernel than Mint, lol.
There are cheap tiny boards that can be used for media PC's like the Banana Pi and Orange Pi, but the choice of OS there is mostly limited to Raspbian. For anything more expensive than that, you should be looking at a mini-ITX board with an onboard CPU. Linux Mint actually have a thing called MintBox in their store that has a Core i5 in it.
http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/view_group.php?id=6101
The concept of tiny (real full functional, not Pebble consumer superficialware...) linux computers is not new.
Think of it, if IBM made Linux watches with full PC functionality in 1999, what size are their linux devices by now... what's the MAC-address on that fly on the windows over there right?...
Linux runs on very very very very very cheap SoC boards. These boards cost between 10 and 20 bucks, and have everything on board to be hooked up to a TV or run headless with full functionality. PC's, even "small form factor PC's", are a thing of the past. Not because the SoC's are as powerful, because they aren't, but because the PC's are only available in hardware configurations of which the entire hardware is controlled by corporations that completely limit what you can do with the hardware, even, and especially, with open source software, and that makes this non-open-source-hardware slow down in evolution, whereas open source hardware evolution speeds up, and is catching up in terms of functionality.
Example: Bay Trail, Cherry Trail, etc... aka the "Atom" platform: Intel is willingly sabotaging the open source development on this platform. Intel was always known for linux support, they have always had fully functional open source drivers in the linux kernel for everything, etc... but the support for the latest Atoms, is abysmal, it's the worst ever, it's as bad as nVidia hardware. I think that's not the way to go if you want a linux machine.
The alternatives are to go with open source hardware designs (ARM for instance), which works great, and gives decent performance in a small power usage package, or to go with a less efficient but more powerful AMD design, which is not open source hardware, but AMD is moving towards ever better open source support, and has been developing all of its hardware primarily for linux for a couple of years now, with commercial closed source software consoles as a secondary development. IBM does a similar thing, if you can get hold of IBM hardware, that seriously rocks and is pretty efficient. In praxis, if you do everything with linux and open source software, Intel and nVidia have become less attractive choices lately. Of course, that means that even though Intel cores have about 50% more benchmark performance per clock than AMD cores for the moment, that means that in terms of net performance or even net performance per watt, AMD used on a linux system still wins easily, and the best Intel can do in terms of performance is not in competition with AMD, but in competition with ARM on mobile very low power devices running a commercial non-free operating system...
Myself, I just love ARM-based SoC's and small devboards. I use them quite extensively. They are dirt cheap, don't produce heat, are tiny, use very little power, and they just always work, no problems to solve like running linux on modern Intel platforms... I wish I had access to those linux flies from IBM though, takes cloud computing to a whole new dimension...
Kernel 4.1 has a bunch of patches for Bay Trail and Cherry Trail so it should be getting better.
Correct me if i'm wrong here, but ARM is not open source hardware. Major difference from x86 is that ARM Holdings has a business model where they license only the design and let various companies do their own implementations. In no way do any of the ARM SoC manufacturers like Broadcom, Rockchip, Allwinner etc. contribute back their improvements nor is the ARM architecture available for non-licensees to use. Still, it's much better than the situation with Intel and x86 and i'd love to see more ARM boards on the desktop in the near future.
If all you're doing is simple media browsing, Nouveau covers AMD and NVidia. Most CPUs have enough onboard graphic chops to handle that without a PCIE card.
So it makes sense to approach the purchase of a PCIE card asking oneself the following - what's in it for me?. Nouveau just doesn't cut it for a graphics solution.
So, for a newbie who'd like to explore around, and will probably try other things in 6 months time, I recommend a graphics setup that can actually render graphics.
Also, let's say to OP bought an AMD card, and had not been forwarned about AMD's driver issues. This is exactly what would happen.
1.) "Driver manager? What's this? -- Oh neat, I think i'll try this other driver (click)"
2.) "Ok, I need to restart for the changes to take effect"
3.) "Huh. A bash line. Wow, some improvement that was. How do I get back to my desktop?"
4.) "I need to what? Edit this file? What the hell is vim? Wait this tutorial is 3 years old..."
5.) "Why the hell would that driver be an option if there's a 2 year old bug reported on it!? Why did they tell me to buy this card? F(redacted) this noise!"
6.) Genie = "What is your wish?"
Noob = "I'd like to commence fisticuffs across the internet. Also, a piece of toast."
Don't make the OP wish for a piece of toast. That would be sad.
I have been running AMD omega drivers without issue (It self updates) for a while now.
Hell I get 60 FPS in most games with the open source drivers. They haven't really been an issue since 2012
Oh the AMD open source drivers are called Mesa BTW not Nouveau that is for NVIDIA. It will soon be called AMDgpu and will be built straight into the Kernel.
I have one question for the OP, are you wanting to do this because you want to learn linux or because you want to build another computer and learn linux on it?
If you just want to learn linux just run it in a vm on your other machine you just built, otherwise just pick a micro/mini itx/atx a dual core and some low end card with 4gb of ram, ssd will help a ton with performance but a HD will be fine.
as for amd vs nvidia I can't speak for amd but on my build, gtx 980 i have no issues currently, and have been steadily getting better performance with each update, When i first built this build not long after dying light came out, which at that time was unplayable after a few updates now runs on ultra.
@lessershoe Could you post exactly what graphics cards you have with supported Omega drivers? I'll add it to my list of buy and try. Cheers. I'll look further into this AMDgpu kernel addon. Possibly we'll see it on Arch soon?
The entire point is to put options on the plate for the OP, that are known for working well.
This is my experience in the matter: (keeping in mind that my specific rigs are linux hosts with virtualized windows clients- virtualization support is mandatory, mesa/nouveau don't support it. )
The Radeon HD 8490 driver (downloaded right off AMD's website) has bricked X every time. Most graphics troubles I've had are indeed out of the Radeon HD line. There was 1 nvidia quattro card that gave me trouble, but i think it was a failing board. In my hands-on experience, I have to carefully pick and choose from the Radeon line, or i'll suffer for it. Keep in mind everyone reading this is from my own experience. I am NOT the internet, god of all computing knowledge, a boss to be taken down. I've got no problems with people who have made it work, and can post exactly what and how so. This is simply me stating "this GPU line has given me problems before, so be careful." Is that really so offensive?
Does that really justify people saying "You are wrong", just like that, as if I can't possibly have dealt with it firsthand? Are you in the habit of telling Saturn owners "so you've had several of those cars, and you caution people about them. I say you are wrong."? Forums are a place to share your own knowledge, and learn from what others have experienced.
Instead of attempting to discredit my experience, post your own! Specs, drivers, chipsets, etc. - This is the kind of knowledge that enriches a forum. I'm not so closed minded as to think AMD GPUs are bad. In fact, i'd be a moron to not consider it for future builds. That's part and parcel of technology, it's complex and ever-changing. So opinions need to be ever-changing. People rely on forums like these to make informed decisions, so it benefits us all to share what we've experienced.
Running an r9 280 non x using opensuse with the flgrx repo
The open source performance was with kernel 4.0
I little of both in a way. I want to learn more about linux, while also learning more about computers and building another. I've been using Linux on a laptop for a couple years now but since it's starting to bite the dust, I want a machine to play around with it more. And also using for media while I'm at it. It will also be much easier to take to other places than my giant gaming desktop.
This is more expensive then the other builds $500, But will serve you for time to come, it comes with 4GB stick can hold another 4GB later, can also swap out the dual core all the way up to an i7 if you wish, comes with WIFI, kinda works in linux but not great(motherboard is the one i am using) I am not sure on the video card, it will work but might be out paced by something from amd IDK.