Socket AM2 motherboards -- best chipset for Linux, BSD?

[Man-wai Chang ToDie]

I'm putting together an AMD Athlon 64 X2 based PC. I plan on running

(dual-booting) both Windows 2000 and one of the Unix-based OS's
(either one of the more user-friendly Linux distros or something like
PCBSD or Desktop BSD) on this machine.

Do you have a budget?

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
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^ ^ 16:16:01 up 5 days 18:42 2 users load average: 0.02 0.06 0.01
news://news.3home.net news://news.hkpcug.org news://news.newsgroup.com.hk

 

[Igor]

Howdy.

I'm putting together an AMD Athlon 64 X2 based PC. I plan on running
(dual-booting) both Windows 2000 and one of the Unix-based OS's
(either one of the more user-friendly Linux distros or something like
PCBSD or Desktop BSD) on this machine.

I'm currently trying to select a motherboard. I've decided to go with
a socket AM2 type, since I intend to use DDR2 RAM. However, I'm having
trouble choosing a chipset, especially in relation to Linux/BSD. Are
some chipsets less likely to cause problems with Linux and BSD than
others, or are they all equally well supported?

I've heard that nVidia graphics cards are better supported under Linux
than ATI ones; is this true of nVidia chipsets as well?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Man-wai Chang ToDie]

Do you have a budget?

Yes. I'm trying to build the whole thing (including monitor, mouse,
etc.) for under $1000.

All the $1000 would be spent in hardware? No OS needed?

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
/( _ )\ (Xubuntu 7.04) Linux 2.6.23.1
^ ^ 18:41:01 up 5 days 21:07 2 users load average: 0.06 0.03 0.00
news://news.3home.net news://news.hkpcug.org news://news.newsgroup.com.hk

 

[Igor]

Do you have a budget?

Yes. I'm trying to build the whole thing (including monitor, mouse,
etc.) for under $1000.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Igor.

A year ago I built my new system for Vista, starting with this mobo:
http://www.epox.com/USA/product.asp?id=EP-MF570SLI

EPoX is not well known, but this is my 3rd mobo from them and all have
worked well for me. This one cost me $138 from Newegg last December; Newegg
now says it is a "Deactivated Item". EPoX says the price now "starts from
$89.99". This one is AM2, with the NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI chipset. But you
probably should look around the EPoX website to find a newer model than my
year-old one. Mobos change fast these days!

Last December, I paid Newegg $689 for the mobo, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
CPU (boxed with HSF), and 2 GB OCZ Platinum DDR2-800 (PC6400 SDRAM). I'm
sure they would cost much less today, but I haven't priced them.

This was for upgrading my existing system (Athlon 64 3200+), so I already
had hard drives, optical drives, etc. But my ATI AIW was AGP and this mobo
has no AGP slots, so I also had to buy a PCI-e graphics card; I chose an ATI
Radeon X1600 Pro. (I'm neither a gamer nor a videophile.)

I've never run Linux/BSD or any other non-Windows OS, at least since the
1990s, so I can't comment on that aspect. But I've dual-booted many
versions of Windows and Vista, including as many as 8 at one time (on the
prior mobo) during the Vista beta period. Now I've settled down to just
Ultimate x64 and only occasionally dual-boot into x86 or WinXP.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 beta on EPoX MF570sli)

 

[kony]

Howdy.

I'm putting together an AMD Athlon 64 X2 based PC. I plan on running
(dual-booting) both Windows 2000 and one of the Unix-based OS's
(either one of the more user-friendly Linux distros or something like
PCBSD or Desktop BSD) on this machine.

I'm currently trying to select a motherboard. I've decided to go with
a socket AM2 type, since I intend to use DDR2 RAM. However, I'm having
trouble choosing a chipset, especially in relation to Linux/BSD. Are
some chipsets less likely to cause problems with Linux and BSD than
others, or are they all equally well supported?

I've heard that nVidia graphics cards are better supported under Linux
than ATI ones; is this true of nVidia chipsets as well?

Thanks for your time.

Since we can assume everything is supported by windows, did
you take any time to research what is supported by 'nix?
Did you go to the respective chipset manufacturers' websites
to see if there were 'nix drivers, or what the distro you
prefer to use, *natively* supports?

http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html

 

[kyi]

Howdy.

I'm putting together an AMD Athlon 64 X2 based PC. I plan on running
(dual-booting) both Windows 2000 and one of the Unix-based OS's
(either one of the more user-friendly Linux distros or something like
PCBSD or Desktop BSD) on this machine.

I'm currently trying to select a motherboard. I've decided to go with
a socket AM2 type, since I intend to use DDR2 RAM. However, I'm having
trouble choosing a chipset, especially in relation to Linux/BSD. Are
some chipsets less likely to cause problems with Linux and BSD than
others, or are they all equally well supported?

I've heard that nVidia graphics cards are better supported under Linux
than ATI ones; is this true of nVidia chipsets as well?

Thanks for your time.

Well that can be many different board. I will give you my spec on a new
system I just put together, every thing works 100% I am currently running
Gentoo, but linux is linux and any other distro would work just the same.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-M61SME-S2
Proc: AMD64 X2 4000+
Ram: 1 gig kingston valueram DDR2 dual channel
HD: Seagate 320G sata, 200G Seagate ide.
DVD: Toshiba SD-M1222 (old dvd-rom I already had)
Monitor: Westinghouse 21" 1440x1050 lcd

The mobo has a nvidia MCP61 chipset, video is the geforce 6100 (onboard),
sound is HD-Intel (onboard), lan (onboard), it all works great no problems
at all. I can recored and playback, with no droped frams, SDTV and HDTV.

Jayson Garrell

 

[kyi]

Well that can be many different board. I will give you my spec on a new
system I just put together, every thing works 100% I am currently running
Gentoo, but linux is linux and any other distro would work just the same.

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-M61SME-S2
Proc: AMD64 X2 4000+
Ram: 1 gig kingston valueram DDR2 dual channel
HD: Seagate 320G sata, 200G Seagate ide.
DVD: Toshiba SD-M1222 (old dvd-rom I already had)
Monitor: Westinghouse 21" 1440x1050 lcd

The mobo has a nvidia MCP61 chipset, video is the geforce 6100 (onboard),
sound is HD-Intel (onboard), lan (onboard), it all works great no problems
at all. I can recored and playback, with no droped frams, SDTV and HDTV.

Jayson Garrell

BTW all that (execpt the dvd-rom, 200G ide) is new. Cost was under $500. I
bought every thing execpt the monitor @ www.pcclub.com

J Garrell

 

[Arno Wagner]

Howdy.

I'm putting together an AMD Athlon 64 X2 based PC. I plan on running
(dual-booting) both Windows 2000 and one of the Unix-based OS's
(either one of the more user-friendly Linux distros or something like
PCBSD or Desktop BSD) on this machine.

I'm currently trying to select a motherboard. I've decided to go with
a socket AM2 type, since I intend to use DDR2 RAM. However, I'm having
trouble choosing a chipset, especially in relation to Linux/BSD. Are
some chipsets less likely to cause problems with Linux and BSD than
others, or are they all equally well supported?

I've heard that nVidia graphics cards are better supported under Linux
than ATI ones; is this true of nVidia chipsets as well?

Thanks for your time.

I have an Asus M2N32 WS Professional. Drivers and such
are ok, but ithere are some issues. One is that the
chipset gets far, far too hot IMO. And the sensor chip
lies about the temperature and pretends it is about 15C
colder. I find that highly suspicuous. The other is that
the external SATA connector seems not to have hot-plug.

Oh, and it is unreliable, except with the newest BIOS.

I would advise against getting this board. Not Asus-like
quality. Pretty bold to label this "professional".
Seems to be marketing lies at work.

Arno

 

[Igor]

All the $1000 would be spent in hardware? No OS needed?

Cost of Linux = Free

Cost of BSD = Free

Cost of Windows 2000 = already own it

 

[Igor]

Since we can assume everything is supported by windows, did
you take any time to research what is supported by 'nix?

Some would say posting this question to usenet is a part of that
research.

Thanks for the link.

 

[Igor]

I have an Asus M2N32 WS Professional. Drivers and such
are ok, but ithere are some issues. One is that the
chipset gets far, far too hot IMO. And the sensor chip
lies about the temperature and pretends it is about 15C
colder. I find that highly suspicuous. <snip>

If that's true, that does indeed sound very underhanded.

 

[Igor]

Hi, Igor.

A year ago I built my new system for Vista, starting with this mobo:
http://www.epox.com/USA/product.asp?id=EP-MF570SLI

EPoX is not well known, but this is my 3rd mobo from them and all have
worked well for me. <snip>

Honestly, this is the first time I've heard of them. If I see their
stuff listed in any of the catalogs that I'll be ordering from, I'll
remember the good word you put in for them.

At this point, however, I've decided to select a board more by
features, price, and availability (and compatibility with Linux/BSD)
than by brand. I was initially thinking in terms of brand, but after
going through the user reviews at newegg.com, I realized there were an
equal number of horror stories about *every* manufacturer and gave up
on that approach.

Over the years, I've owned PCs with motherboards by MSI, ECS, and
AOpen and never had problems with any of them. A relative of mine
recently replaced a computer she had gotten in '99. There was nothing
wrong with it, she just wanted something more powerful. That one had
an Asus motherboard in it.

So maybe I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that all manufacturers must
produce their share of defective or poorly designed boards, and that
they're probably all fairly equal quality-wise (as long as you're
comparing apples with apples, that is).

 

[Arno Wagner]

If that's true, that does indeed sound very underhanded.

Well, it is displayed temperature in the BIOS vs. an infrared
thermometer directly on top of the chipset cooler. I am fairly
sure my measurements are correct.

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

Honestly, this is the first time I've heard of them. If I see their
stuff listed in any of the catalogs that I'll be ordering from, I'll
remember the good word you put in for them.

At this point, however, I've decided to select a board more by
features, price, and availability (and compatibility with Linux/BSD)
than by brand. I was initially thinking in terms of brand, but after
going through the user reviews at newegg.com, I realized there were an
equal number of horror stories about *every* manufacturer and gave up
on that approach.

Over the years, I've owned PCs with motherboards by MSI, ECS, and
AOpen and never had problems with any of them. A relative of mine
recently replaced a computer she had gotten in '99. There was nothing
wrong with it, she just wanted something more powerful. That one had
an Asus motherboard in it.

So maybe I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that all manufacturers must
produce their share of defective or poorly designed boards, and that
they're probably all fairly equal quality-wise (as long as you're
comparing apples with apples, that is).

I think you are right on this one. I have made
good experiences with Epox, until I needed to repair 4
boards and had problems with BIOS settings vanishing on
occasion with 22 others. A real bother and I will not get
Epox again. Some people believe Asus can do no wrong, but
I have observed otherwise. Server-boards are not that much
better: I have had to send an MSI board back, because of poorly
(visilby !) mounted components. I used to like Tyan, but
not anymore for much the same reason. Best choice is probably
to get a board a bit older, say on the market for a year or so.
Then you should at least be able to google its faults and can
decide whether they are still acceptable to you.

Arno

 

[kony]

More likely it's just measuring the wrong (a different)
chip, or the bios has a bug as many do. It's not likely to
be "underhanded" in any way. I'd imagine Asus would rather
the system integrator can tell what's wrong instead of
causing addt'l RMAs due to the board seemingly
malfunctioning.

Well, it is displayed temperature in the BIOS vs. an infrared
thermometer directly on top of the chipset cooler. I am fairly
sure my measurements are correct.

Arno

The measurement may be correct, but the top of a chipset
cooler doesn't necessarily give usable data unless you
happened to know the exact C/W rating of the heatsink, and
that as-installed including the thermal interface
effectiveness.

More importantly, is it instable as a result? We don't have
a number from you, but a lot of people do jump to
conclusions about something being too hot when too hot
usually means above 70C (unless you're overclocking, making
peak stable operation more dependant on lower temp).

 

[kony]

I trust your measurement. That's quite the discrepancy alright.

Faulty sensor? Software bug? Deliberate deception? I wonder which it
is.

Who cares? you're acting as if this is important.

The only real factor is whether the chipset stays cool
enough to be stable, and if it does not, whether Asus would
rectify the situation or the owner would have to seek an
alternate chipset heatsink instead.

 

[J.O. Aho]

I'm currently trying to select a motherboard. I've decided to go with
a socket AM2 type, since I intend to use DDR2 RAM. However, I'm having
trouble choosing a chipset, especially in relation to Linux/BSD.

No hard evidence, but I guess nVidia chipsets are those "best" supported
nowadays, but of course VIA and ATi/AMD chipsets works fine too, most of SiS
chipsets too, but there may be some that don't.

I've heard that nVidia graphics cards are better supported under Linux
than ATI ones; is this true of nVidia chipsets as well?

IMHO it depends on which way you go with the graphics card driver, open source
or closed source. In the war between AMD and nVidia the winner is

Open source class..: ATi/AMD
Closed source class: nVidia

When it comes to chipset, nVidia has got better on supporting the open source
solution (they dropped their closed source drivers).

I think I will go for a nVidia based card on my next 64bit machine (have that
on my laptop already), the only thing that can be a bit of a trouble is the
built in audio, I do suggest you get a SB Live or SB Audigy for audio and you
will be a lot happier.

 

[J.O. Aho]

Well, it is displayed temperature in the BIOS vs. an infrared
thermometer directly on top of the chipset cooler. I am fairly
sure my measurements are correct.

But thats the cooler temperature and not the chip temperature, those will be
different, the first one having a lower temperature.

 

[right here]

Who cares? you're acting as if this is important.

LOL. You guys really don't know anything, do you ?

I guess it's all on the Web forums these days.