Ok, so, I do have a main computer with Windows 10 that I use for most of my personal use - gaming, web browsing, and most of my normal home use.
I have a second PC, a small desktop, Haswell era Pentium G3220, 4GB RAM, that is a dual-boot Windows 10/Lubuntu 17 (supposedly somewhat lighter-weight than standard Ubuntu). I can't recall the last time I used the Windows 10 OS on it, but when I work from home, I use Linux with it for a few simple things:
- Using VPNC to connect to my work PC (with Remmina as the RDP client)
- Using Firefox locally for some web-browsing
- Using Chrome so as to use GoToMeeting without the standalone application
- Occasional watching of a video (either embedded in FB feed, or YouTube).
- ok, I've also run an old Windows game, Heroes of Might and Magic III, via PlayOnLinux, on this - but that was more of an "I wonder if this will really work" thing.
All that ever gets attached to it are, via a KVM that doubles as a USB hub:
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Logitech G933 USB wireless headset
- Logitech QuickCam (model 960-000217, I got this in 2009)
Now, I don't have a huge amount of experience configuring Linux - maybe back in the late 90s I started getting into a it a little, but then haven't touched it in almost two decades, until recently - though I do at least remember my way around the basics of bash.
So, the desktop PC, despite being a low-end machine, is a bit of overkill for what I'm using it for (though, Chrome does seem to be a bit of a RAM hog, and, well, get a half dozen or so browser tabs of Facebook open in Firefox, and the memory usage gets pegged.
The biggest potential issue - my monitor at home is 3840 x 1600. I needed this to get the horizontal real estate that the dual 1080p monitors at work give me. That's what made a Raspberry Pi a no-go.
The good part of all this is that my entire Linux installation is about 12GB, and I'm pretty sure there are things installed that I likely don't need.
So, if I get either a 2 or 4GB variant of the Rock64, and an 8GB SD card, would I be able to replace that desktop PC with this? Not having 60Hz is fine - the integrated Intel video on the machine I'm using can only run 30Hz on my monitor's resolution anyway - there's some tearing in video sometimes, but it's not a big deal.
If I need to use a different/lighter-weight/simpler desktop environment, I'm fine with that as well.
I haven't purchased anything yet, and I want to sort of know what I'm getting into, and get all my ducks in a row, before I try this. The idea of replacing that desktop with such a tiny, low-power board to accomplish the same thing is fascinating.
Any and all thoughts, suggestions, and guidance would be greatly appreciated!
I have a second PC, a small desktop, Haswell era Pentium G3220, 4GB RAM, that is a dual-boot Windows 10/Lubuntu 17 (supposedly somewhat lighter-weight than standard Ubuntu). I can't recall the last time I used the Windows 10 OS on it, but when I work from home, I use Linux with it for a few simple things:
- Using VPNC to connect to my work PC (with Remmina as the RDP client)
- Using Firefox locally for some web-browsing
- Using Chrome so as to use GoToMeeting without the standalone application
- Occasional watching of a video (either embedded in FB feed, or YouTube).
- ok, I've also run an old Windows game, Heroes of Might and Magic III, via PlayOnLinux, on this - but that was more of an "I wonder if this will really work" thing.
All that ever gets attached to it are, via a KVM that doubles as a USB hub:
- Keyboard
- Mouse
- Logitech G933 USB wireless headset
- Logitech QuickCam (model 960-000217, I got this in 2009)
Now, I don't have a huge amount of experience configuring Linux - maybe back in the late 90s I started getting into a it a little, but then haven't touched it in almost two decades, until recently - though I do at least remember my way around the basics of bash.
So, the desktop PC, despite being a low-end machine, is a bit of overkill for what I'm using it for (though, Chrome does seem to be a bit of a RAM hog, and, well, get a half dozen or so browser tabs of Facebook open in Firefox, and the memory usage gets pegged.
The biggest potential issue - my monitor at home is 3840 x 1600. I needed this to get the horizontal real estate that the dual 1080p monitors at work give me. That's what made a Raspberry Pi a no-go.
The good part of all this is that my entire Linux installation is about 12GB, and I'm pretty sure there are things installed that I likely don't need.
So, if I get either a 2 or 4GB variant of the Rock64, and an 8GB SD card, would I be able to replace that desktop PC with this? Not having 60Hz is fine - the integrated Intel video on the machine I'm using can only run 30Hz on my monitor's resolution anyway - there's some tearing in video sometimes, but it's not a big deal.
If I need to use a different/lighter-weight/simpler desktop environment, I'm fine with that as well.
I haven't purchased anything yet, and I want to sort of know what I'm getting into, and get all my ducks in a row, before I try this. The idea of replacing that desktop with such a tiny, low-power board to accomplish the same thing is fascinating.
Any and all thoughts, suggestions, and guidance would be greatly appreciated!
