Need Recommendations for Motherboard

[Phil S]

I am an experienced software developer, OK with electronics hardware,
but building my first PC. This will be a home office LAN and Web
server for two software developers, and will also host a few Linux
apps that scan around the Internet, download and process text
information.

I am looking for a good motherboard /CPU combo that will support:

Single 1.5+ GHz processor (Pentium or AMD?)
Onboard video for simple monitor.
Sound not required.

1 GB Memory
2 120-GB HDD
2 10/100 Ethernet NIC
1 CDROM
1 Keyboard
1 Mouse

Linux system.

I am also considering an Antec Case and power supply.

Recommendations and experience are appreciated!
Thanks J

 

[Matt]

I am an experienced software developer, OK with electronics hardware,
but building my first PC. This will be a home office LAN and Web
server for two software developers, and will also host a few Linux
apps that scan around the Internet, download and process text
information.

I am looking for a good motherboard /CPU combo that will support:

Single 1.5+ GHz processor (Pentium or AMD?)
Onboard video for simple monitor.
Sound not required.

An nforce2 board with IGP, for instance:
Abit NF7-M
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-150&depa=1

or the equivalent by Biostar or Shuttle. The nforce2 graphics chip and
drivers work well with Linux.

AMD Athlon XP Barton (2500+ or better), retail boxed.

Fedora or SuSE Linux.

 

[jpsga]

I am an experienced software developer, OK with electronics hardware,
but building my first PC. This will be a home office LAN and Web
server for two software developers, and will also host a few Linux
apps that scan around the Internet, download and process text
information.

I am looking for a good motherboard /CPU combo that will support:

Single 1.5+ GHz processor (Pentium or AMD?)
Onboard video for simple monitor.
Sound not required.

1 GB Memory
2 120-GB HDD
2 10/100 Ethernet NIC
1 CDROM
1 Keyboard
1 Mouse

Linux system.

I am also considering an Antec Case and power supply.

Recommendations and experience are appreciated!
Thanks J

GA-7N400 Pro2 Ver2 -- only way to go.
Reliable, easy to build, good audio, expandable

This is Gigabytes out proformer!

JPS

 

[Carbon]

Phil S wrote:


An nforce2 board with IGP, for instance: Abit NF7-M
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-150&depa=1

or the equivalent by Biostar or Shuttle. The nforce2 graphics chip and
drivers work well with Linux.

AMD Athlon XP Barton (2500+ or better), retail boxed.

Fedora or SuSE Linux.

I've built a couple of different nforce2 machines with barton cpus and
they're smokin' fast for the money. But I don't think they'd be the best
bet for a linux machine. With an nforce2 motherboard you have to download
binary drivers to get the network up. Hard to do with a dead NIC. What you
want is for all the hardware to be open and documented so there's good
support for it in the kernel. That way everything just works out of the
box, and you don't have to jump through hoops if you use an uncommon
distribution or update the kernel, etc.

I would definitely recommend the Athlon Barton series CPU. For the
money, there's nothing on the market that can though it. I'm honestly not
sure what XP compatible chipset I'd recommend instead of the nforce2.
Anyone?

 

[Phil S]

I've built a couple of different nforce2 machines with barton cpus and
they're smokin' fast for the money. But I don't think they'd be the best
bet for a linux machine. With an nforce2 motherboard you have to download
binary drivers to get the network up. Hard to do with a dead NIC. What you
want is for all the hardware to be open and documented so there's good
support for it in the kernel. That way everything just works out of the
box, and you don't have to jump through hoops if you use an uncommon
distribution or update the kernel, etc.

I would definitely recommend the Athlon Barton series CPU. For the
money, there's nothing on the market that can though it. I'm honestly not
sure what XP compatible chipset I'd recommend instead of the nforce2.
Anyone?

Learning from all this (thanks, guys) & researching I am now
interested in the ASUS A7N8X-E and the Athlon Barton series CPU.

The A7N8X-E uses the nForce2 chipset and supporte dual-channel DDR
400 memory. Downloading the binary drivers for Linux (probably RedHat
9 since I'm familiar with it, or Fedora if it's stable) is no problem,
and I can always add a 10/100 NIC for $15 This motherboard seems
to get good reviews and the extra features will be nice if I convert
my server to my developer workstation later.

I am confused by "dual channel" memory. It sounds like the memory
access is multiplexd to make it twice as fast, but that I may need to
implement my !GB as two 512MB "matched" DIMMs?? Or I am even more
confused than I thought!?

 

[Matt]

The A7N8X-E uses the nForce2 chipset and supporte dual-channel DDR
400 memory. Downloading the binary drivers for Linux (probably RedHat
9 since I'm familiar with it, or Fedora if it's stable) is no problem,
and I can always add a 10/100 NIC for $15 This motherboard seems
to get good reviews and the extra features will be nice if I convert
my server to my developer workstation later.

Fedora Core 1 works fine on my nforce2 except I haven't bothered to try
to get the onboard NIC working. Yes, you can just add a NIC. Probably
you should try FC2 with FC1 as fallback.

I am confused by "dual channel" memory. It sounds like the memory
access is multiplexd to make it twice as fast, but that I may need to
implement my !GB as two 512MB "matched" DIMMs?? Or I am even more
confused than I thought!?

Dual channel is a big win when you use onboard graphics, otherwise not a
big advantage. The matched pairs can be considered to be a scam. I
have used (in dual-channel mode) a couple of PC2100 256MB RAM sticks
that were not even of the same brand.

 

[Phil S]

Fedora Core 1 works fine on my nforce2 except I haven't bothered to try
to get the onboard NIC working. Yes, you can just add a NIC. Probably
you should try FC2 with FC1 as fallback.

That sounds good to me. I'll go with the NIC card and I'll let you
know if I get the onboard NIC working as a second ethernet port under
FC.

Dual channel is a big win when you use onboard graphics, otherwise not a
big advantage. The matched pairs can be considered to be a scam. I
have used (in dual-channel mode) a couple of PC2100 256MB RAM sticks
that were not even of the same brand.

Ha! Thanks ... I'm going to go with 2 x 512MB sticks of Kingston RAM
then

I'll also need to add a video card (no onboard video), so I'll want
something inexpensive & reliable for the server. Performance is not an
issue since it isn't a game machine. Can I use an inexpensive PCI bus
card? I've seen them for about $35.

 

[Matt]

I'll go with the NIC card and I'll let you
know if I get the onboard NIC working as a second ethernet port under
FC.

I've been wondering about how to do that.

Ha! Thanks ... I'm going to go with 2 x 512MB sticks of Kingston RAM
then

Run-of-the-mill Kingston or Crucial is generally a good choice. But
google and check the newegg reviews and the forums at nforcershq.com and
elsewhere for compatibility issues with your mobo. And when you get the
RAM sticks in the mail, see that they have matching model number,
packaging, and appearance, so it will be unlikely that they differ in
specifications.

I'll also need to add a video card (no onboard video), so I'll want
something inexpensive & reliable for the server. Performance is not an
issue since it isn't a game machine. Can I use an inexpensive PCI bus
card? I've seen them for about $35.

Mmmm, newegg has nvidia AGP 8x/4x boards under $40 delivered. I believe
the PCI video cards can be problemmatic with newer mobos. Not much
reason to buy PCI video. nvidia graphics chips go well with Linux.

I don't see much reason to prefer ASUS mobos over the other popular
models. Nothing particularly wrong with ASUS except they tend to cost
$10 to $30 more than their competition. Some people swear they're worth
it, but most don't. Not to worry, ASUS will work for you.

 

[Phil S]

Thanks Matt,

Aaaargh! You're right .... after all of this I've decided to go with
your original recommendation ... an ABIT NF7-M. I got too involved
looking at mobo specs!

I've ordered all of the equipment & it's been received .. so I'll be
assembling & testing as I get time over the next week. I'll post the
results & experience here for fellow newbies

FYI:

ABIT NF7-M Motherboard
AMD Athlon Barton core 2600 (reltail box)
2 512BM Kingston DDR400 RAM
2 Seagate 120GB HDD, 8MB Buffer, 8.5ms access
1 ASUS CDRW
Antec Sonata case w/ 350W supply

Everything from Newegg.

I'm going to run either RH9 (familiar with it), or will use this as
an opportunity to migrate to another Linux (Fedora, Debian or Suse).
I'll have plenty of space to multi-boot

Thanks again for taking time to help.