Hello! It is that time of the year to upgrade my aging gaming system to
an AMD Athlon 64. I need to know if this ASUS motherboard model is a
good fit for my needs. It uses VIA K8T800 Socket 754 and has ATX Audio,
GbLan, SATA, and 1394.

http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt shows my
current configuration and setup for the primary/gaming computer. I will
be replacing/removing its CPU, motherboard, RAM, sound card, NIC, and
Red Hat Linux 7.2 (going to install Debian to coexists with XP Pro.). I
am planning to get a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card. Everything else will
be the same and untouched, including my HDD partitions (planning a
repair install in Windows XP).

My biggest issue is how compatible will the motherboard be with Debian?
Will the latest Kernel 2.4 driver be enough? I hope this motherboard is
mature and stable enough with all issues out of the way with the latest
revision and BIOS.

I mainly use this box for gaming (newest and upcoming games)n both
Windows and Debian, Internet stuff, Debian, Windows, graphic work,
simple video editing, watching video from TV and movies, etc.

Any tips and suggestions are welcomed. Thank you in advance.
--
"Have I told you how much I like ants, huh? Especially fried in a
subtle blend of mech fluid and grated gears?" --Rampage to Inferno,
"Transmutate" in Transformers (Beast Wars)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx & http://aqfl.net
| |o o| | E-mail: (E-Mail Removed)NT or (E-Mail Removed)
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address if your e-mail was returned.
( )

On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 04:50:39 -0500, ANTan wrote:

> Hello! It is that time of the year to upgrade my aging gaming system to
> an AMD Athlon 64. I need to know if this ASUS motherboard model is a
> good fit for my needs. It uses VIA K8T800 Socket 754 and has ATX Audio,
> GbLan, SATA, and 1394.
>
> http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt shows my
> current configuration and setup for the primary/gaming computer. I will
> be replacing/removing its CPU, motherboard, RAM, sound card, NIC, and
> Red Hat Linux 7.2 (going to install Debian to coexists with XP Pro.). I
> am planning to get a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card. Everything else will
> be the same and untouched, including my HDD partitions (planning a
> repair install in Windows XP).
>
> My biggest issue is how compatible will the motherboard be with Debian?
> Will the latest Kernel 2.4 driver be enough? I hope this motherboard is
> mature and stable enough with all issues out of the way with the latest
> revision and BIOS.

I can't really give you much regarding your choice of mobo advice (try
google?), but I why do you only want the 2.4 kernel. I would have thought
that you'd want to run linux in 64bit mode. If not, why buy an AMD64?

Chris.

>>>>> "ANTant" == ANTant <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

ANTant> Hello! It is that time of the year to upgrade my aging gaming
ANTant> system to an AMD Athlon 64. I need to know if this ASUS
ANTant> motherboard model is a good fit for my needs. It uses VIA
ANTant> K8T800 Socket 754 and has ATX Audio, GbLan, SATA, and 1394.


http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

Go to the above link for information on hardware compatibility for
debian AMD64 port. There is more information concerning the status of
the port.

I would also look at the nvidia 250GB based motherboards also.

Good luck, and report back any success or failures.

Alan

In alt.comp.hardware.amd.x86-64 Chris Cole <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 04:50:39 -0500, ANTan wrote:

> > Hello! It is that time of the year to upgrade my aging gaming system to
> > an AMD Athlon 64. I need to know if this ASUS motherboard model is a
> > good fit for my needs. It uses VIA K8T800 Socket 754 and has ATX Audio,
> > GbLan, SATA, and 1394.
> >
> > http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt shows my
> > current configuration and setup for the primary/gaming computer. I will
> > be replacing/removing its CPU, motherboard, RAM, sound card, NIC, and
> > Red Hat Linux 7.2 (going to install Debian to coexists with XP Pro.). I
> > am planning to get a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card. Everything else will
> > be the same and untouched, including my HDD partitions (planning a
> > repair install in Windows XP).
> >
> > My biggest issue is how compatible will the motherboard be with Debian?
> > Will the latest Kernel 2.4 driver be enough? I hope this motherboard is
> > mature and stable enough with all issues out of the way with the latest
> > revision and BIOS.

> I can't really give you much regarding your choice of mobo advice (try
> google?), but I why do you only want the 2.4 kernel. I would have thought
> that you'd want to run linux in 64bit mode. If not, why buy an AMD64?

Isn't 2.4 the latest one in Debian? I briefly played with it in VMware 4.5
in Windows XP Home and on a Pentium 4. I think the kernel was at 2.4.21 or
something. And yes, I did an apt-get update and upgrade. So I assumed that
was the latest. I am also new to Debian since I am dumping old Red Hat
Linux 7.2.
--
"Have I told you how much I like ants, huh? Especially fried in a
subtle blend of mech fluid and grated gears?" --Rampage to Inferno,
"Transmutate" in Transformers (Beast Wars)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx & http://aqfl.net
| |o o| | E-mail: (E-Mail Removed)NT or (E-Mail Removed)
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address if your e-mail was returned.
( )

In alt.comp.hardware.amd.x86-64 Alan Walpool <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >>>>> "ANTant" == ANTant <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> ANTant> Hello! It is that time of the year to upgrade my aging gaming
> ANTant> system to an AMD Athlon 64. I need to know if this ASUS
> ANTant> motherboard model is a good fit for my needs. It uses VIA
> ANTant> K8T800 Socket 754 and has ATX Audio, GbLan, SATA, and 1394.


> http://www.debian.org/ports/amd64/

> Go to the above link for information on hardware compatibility for
> debian AMD64 port. There is more information concerning the status of
> the port.

Awesome, do I assume https://alioth.debian.org/docman/vie...ainboards.html
means the motherboards are fully compatible with Debian (Athlon 64
build)?


> I would also look at the nvidia 250GB based motherboards also.

Why is that? ASUS has 6 IDE devices supported which I need.


> Good luck, and report back any success or failures.

I am pretty sure I will have issues.
--
"Have I told you how much I like ants, huh? Especially fried in a
subtle blend of mech fluid and grated gears?" --Rampage to Inferno,
"Transmutate" in Transformers (Beast Wars)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx & http://aqfl.net
| |o o| | E-mail: (E-Mail Removed)NT or (E-Mail Removed)
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address if your e-mail was returned.
( )

In alt.comp.hardware.amd.x86-64 Chris Cole <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Sep 2004 04:50:39 -0500, ANTan wrote:

> > Hello! It is that time of the year to upgrade my aging gaming system to
> > an AMD Athlon 64. I need to know if this ASUS motherboard model is a
> > good fit for my needs. It uses VIA K8T800 Socket 754 and has ATX Audio,
> > GbLan, SATA, and 1394.
> >
> > http://alpha.zimage.com/~ant/antfarm.../computers.txt shows my
> > current configuration and setup for the primary/gaming computer. I will
> > be replacing/removing its CPU, motherboard, RAM, sound card, NIC, and
> > Red Hat Linux 7.2 (going to install Debian to coexists with XP Pro.). I
> > am planning to get a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card. Everything else will
> > be the same and untouched, including my HDD partitions (planning a
> > repair install in Windows XP).
> >
> > My biggest issue is how compatible will the motherboard be with Debian?
> > Will the latest Kernel 2.4 driver be enough? I hope this motherboard is
> > mature and stable enough with all issues out of the way with the latest
> > revision and BIOS.

> I can't really give you much regarding your choice of mobo advice (try
> google?), but I why do you only want the 2.4 kernel. I would have thought
> that you'd want to run linux in 64bit mode. If not, why buy an AMD64?

Also, AMD64 = games in Windows. I am dual booting. I don't mind running
a 64-bit version of Debian if it is full supported and all programs
to download are available for it.
--
"Have I told you how much I like ants, huh? Especially fried in a
subtle blend of mech fluid and grated gears?" --Rampage to Inferno,
"Transmutate" in Transformers (Beast Wars)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx & http://aqfl.net
| |o o| | E-mail: (E-Mail Removed)NT or (E-Mail Removed)
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address if your e-mail was returned.
( )

>>>>> "ANTant" == ANTant <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:


ANTant> Awesome, do I assume
ANTant> https://alioth.debian.org/docman/vie...ainboards.html
ANTant> means the motherboards are fully compatible with Debian
ANTant> (Athlon 64 build)?

Yes unless a "?" mark is in a box. I'm not clear what the question
mark notation means. You probably should post in the list to check. If
there are no "?" marks for a board it is fully compatible.

>> I would also look at the nvidia 250GB based motherboards also.

ANTant> Why is that? ASUS has 6 IDE devices supported which I need.

Just to look at another option. That's all. However, the board you are
looking at is rock solid for linux.

Hope that helps.

Alan

In alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus Alan Walpool <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >>>>> "ANTant" == ANTant <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:


> ANTant> Awesome, do I assume
> ANTant> https://alioth.debian.org/docman/vie...ainboards.html
> ANTant> means the motherboards are fully compatible with Debian
> ANTant> (Athlon 64 build)?

> Yes unless a "?" mark is in a box. I'm not clear what the question
> mark notation means. You probably should post in the list to check. If
> there are no "?" marks for a board it is fully compatible.

> >> I would also look at the nvidia 250GB based motherboards also.

> ANTant> Why is that? ASUS has 6 IDE devices supported which I need.

> Just to look at another option. That's all. However, the board you are
> looking at is rock solid for linux.

> Hope that helps.

Thanks Alan. Is the NVIDIA the NForce3 one?
--
"Have I told you how much I like ants, huh? Especially fried in a
subtle blend of mech fluid and grated gears?" --Rampage to Inferno,
"Transmutate" in Transformers (Beast Wars)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phillip (Ant) @ http://antfarm.ma.cx & http://aqfl.net
| |o o| | E-mail: (E-Mail Removed)NT or (E-Mail Removed)
\ _ / Nuke ANT from e-mail address if your e-mail was returned.
( )

>>>>> "ANTant" == ANTant <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:


ANTant> Thanks Alan. Is the NVIDIA the NForce3 one? -- "Have I told


http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2150


Read the above article because there is a major difference between
NForce3 boards. You want to look at the nForce3-250Gb boards.

Good luck,

Alan

Alan Walpool <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
>Just to look at another option. That's all. However, the board you are
>looking at is rock solid for linux.

It depends. I had no problem running 32-bit Linux (Debian Woody with
a 2.4 kernel) on a K8V Deluxe.

But with 64-bit Linux (Fedora Core 1 with the original kernel and a
2.6.5 kernel) I got data errors, and also with Windows when using USB
(see <(E-Mail Removed)>). Assuming this
was a faulty board, I had it replaced, and got a K8V SE Deluxe
instead.

Initially it produced spontaneous reboots under 64-bit Linux every
9-12minutes, unless I booted Windows first. I played around with the
BIOS settings, and nowadays I get a lockup under 64-bit Linux shortly
after booting, unless I have let it warm up under some OS for a few
minutes (warming it up in the BIOS does not help, but letting Linux
lock up, waiting a few minutes, and the pressing reset does; strange).

There also used to be the problem of spontaneous reboots when running
oggenc (maybe once or twice per hour of running oggenc); I may have
managed to reduce or eliminate this by playing around with the BIOS
settings, but in any case I currently don't use oggenc or other
CPU-intensive stuff, so the problem does not appear nowadays.

Overall, I am not happy with the board; the pain is not big enough to
get a replacement, but I would certainly not install it knowing its
faults, even if I got it for free.

As for Debian, I finally got tired of waiting for the biarch port to
become easy to install, and switched to Fedora Core 1 in March or so
(the pure64 port materializing at the time did not seem very
attractive to me, either). I also considered Gentoo, but eventually
was too lazy for that.

Followups set to comp.os.linux.hardware

- anton
--
M. Anton Ertl Some things have to be seen to be believed
(E-Mail Removed) Most things have to be believed to be seen
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/anton/home.html