PC Build - Will This Dual Boot OK?

[ComputerUserOnEarth]

Hi, the PC spec is below along with the configuration link and I'm hoping someone can give me some feedback. I'm mainly wondring if all the hardware would be supported by a Linux distro and I'm currently looking using Parrot OS.

Thanks!!

General Answers​

Budget: Up to £1,600 including VAT (This is the cost of the below build).
Usage:

• I eventually want to transition to Linux as my daily driver OS
• Dual-boot:
  • Windows for VR gaming (EG:/ Civ, PUBG, WoW) & development with Visual Studio (.NET)
  • A Linux distro for development with VSCodium. Probably Parrot OS Home
• In both OSs I want to make use of multiple virtual machines
  • Windows - Hyper-V
  • Linux - KVM?
• The only upgrade I want to buy in the next 5 years is maybe a graphics card

Monitor: 4k 27" Samsung I've had a for a few years. Not looking to change it.

My Questions​

1. Will this hardware work under Linux?
2. Is dual-booting with Win 11 a bad idea?
3. Do these builds come with any manufacturer bloatware?

Specification​

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 24-Core Processor i9-13900 (Up to 5.6 GHz) 36MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z790 GAMING X AX (DDR5, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU) I will install an NVIDIA GTX 1080. I understand that this card would be the bottleneck of the system for gaming but it's good enough for games I play.
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3300 MB/R, 2900 MB/W). 100GB for Windows, 100GB to Linux, remaining space as NTFS partition available to both OSs
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00005]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account



Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/zsyHHzKHFG/

 

[RichLan564]

Why not just run Linux in a VM and use Windows 11 and HyperV as the host, seems like Windows is going to be doing most of the work anyway?

 

[ComputerUserOnEarth]

Why not just run Linux in a VM and use Windows 11 and HyperV as the host, seems like Windows is going to be doing most of the work anyway?

Mainly because I want to move to Linux as my daily driver. Eventually, Windows would only be for gaming and any weird dev that depends on it.


I'm hoping for someone to validate this build as being good for both OSs and give me some advice on dual booting.

 

[sck451]

I would definitely do some division of the SSD situation. Have one drive for the storage and either one drive partitioned into two for the operating systems or two separate drives (i.e. three in total) for that too. Trying to run all this off one drive sounds like a nightmare to me.

 

[RichLan564]

Mainly because I want to move to Linux as my daily driver. Eventually, Windows would only be for gaming and any weird dev that depends on it.


I'm hoping for someone to validate this build as being good for both OSs and give me some advice on dual booting.

As above, i would sort the drives out into logical physical parts, just have a 2 x 500GB M.2 for OS's then a 2TB M.2 drive (or larger SSD if not third M.2 available) in there somewhere to hold the VM images and host VM storage.

Also personally i would go 64GB RAM on any machine running VM's, not sure about needing DDR5 really.

 

[ComputerUserOnEarth]

Thanks. From the replies I guess everyone thinks Linux should be fine with this hardware.

Why separate the OSs to different physical devices when only one will run at a time?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks. From the replies I guess everyone thinks Linux should be fine with this hardware.

Why separate the OSs to different physical devices when only one will run at a time?

Partitioning isn't really done on SSDs, through price and the difference in the way SSDs seek data Vs an HDD it's generally reckmmended to have dedicated drives for each OS, and then DATA, libraries etc

 

[RichLan564]

Thanks. From the replies I guess everyone thinks Linux should be fine with this hardware.

Why separate the OSs to different physical devices when only one will run at a time?

Because its a damn site easier to manage and reinstall a borked OS on a physical drive than a partitioned drive

 

[sck451]

Because its a damn site easier to manage and reinstall a borked OS on a physical drive than a partitioned drive

This, this and a thousand times this.

Windows in particular does not like installing on a partition. Linux is happier about it but probably needs reinstalling more often. Getting separate drives is a choice you will thank yourself for in future years.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just additionally, if one partition fails on an SSD, you loose the whole SSD, the other partition is affected also, they don't degrade like an HDD does.

 

[Martinr36]

Just additionally, if one partition fails on an SSD, you loose the whole SSD, the other partition is affected also, they don't degrade like an HDD does.

No, when they, they go as I know from recent experience, mine was fine, shut the laptop down, tried starting it later and no go

 

[SpyderTracks]

No, when they, they go as I know from recent experience, mine was fine, shut the laptop down, tried starting it later and no go

absolutely, an unfortunate design limitation of SSD's. It's worth spending the extra on premium ish drives, they tend to be a little more reliable.

I know yours was a top tier Samsung, that was just unlucky unfortunately.

 

[Martinr36]

I know yours was a top tier Samsung, that was just unlucky unfortunately

Yeah, unlucky, but couldn't fault the Samsung RMA, good fast turnaround