Motherboard Recommendations Please.

[ff103]

Do we still have a link somewhere to a hardware data base? I want to build a new computer this year and would like to have some motherboard recommendations.  What is everyone using that everything is working (bios, video,audio, sata) ? And also, building vs buying, I looked at HP, but they seem to only use 200 watt power supplies, and ATI video, I have always used at least a 400 watt, is 200 sufficient ? Also I have ALWAYS used Nvidia video, Is ATI just as good with PCLinux? I appreciate any help you can offer.

[bicol_willem]

My rule of thumb is a AMD based board and Nvidia for video. That has proven for long time without trouble with Linux.

[T6]

if you are buying a hp assembled machine you end up buying a weak machine designed to use the cheapest hardware with the lowest power consumption parts possible

i hate hp desktops, the quality and support is mediocre now

a 200w psu is only for a weak cpu, low power consumption ram , no video card, one hard disk and no cdrom or only one dvd-rw drive, the psu itself is low quality, the most basic possible

the amonunt of watts in a psu depends on what you are going to put on the machine, if you don't use a video card using 130w you can use something around 350w but if you have a big video card 450 or more is required, more hard disks and drives also means more watts, 550w

if you buy a intel 6 cores this things requires big psus but if your target is a atom nettop your psu can be as small as that 200w psu, you can't find a small psu everywhere but you can find a 350w

if you give us a more precise idea of what you are going to assemble we can give you a better idea of what you need to buy here

if you buy a normal mainboard, not the latest or the greatest chances are high that it will work with linux out of the box without any problems

ati doesn't exist anymore

only you can buy amd cpus, mainboards using amd chipsets and amd radeon video cards

the amd video cards offers decent drivers for linux but they are popular for offering multiple problems so most users will recommend you to use nvidia

i personally had good experiences with most amd integrated cards including hd4000 but haven't used any more recent video card, if you avoid via and sis integrated video cards you will be fine

if you prefer intel for cpu avoid intel mainboards, sound card on most intel mainboards is problematic unless you hear reports here that a specific model has good parts in it, also some problems with the gigabit ethernet cards on those(i don't like intel mainboards)

for brands of mainboards is always recommended gigabyte, asus, msi, biostar(some fans here)

forget asrock

for hard disk western digital or seagate, for optical drives lg is good but if you have your preferred brand that is good too

om ram you decide, i personally buy whatever brand is decent at the moment, samsung, kingston, markvision or el cheapo brand

on cases thermaltake is very popular, their psus too, coolermaster is good too

[JNibski]

My rule of thumb is a AMD based board and Nvidia for video. That has proven for long time without trouble with Linux.

b-w ...here's my thumb!  

....and now the question IS : a full tower{ATX} or a mATX size...? Single core or Multi-core cpu?  etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...

NOT for GAMING?  - onboard video is ok.

DDR2 ram is pretty cheap today..............        I used to solely use SEAGATE ide HD's - but now with sata some other brands have 3 to 5 year warranties...eg; WD caviar "black"....500gb w/5yr warr = around $59.usd.

forget asrock

  .......come on....ASRock came from ASUS!!!  MSI / BIOSTAR has as many NON-fans... The Fact is only a handful of MB MFG's actually 'MAKE' all the motherboards out there.... Over the past few years many have diversified... ..{clik on NEWS tab}

Asrock : Any good?...  


  ---------Wiki on ASrock...  

Just to run PCLOS stuff? : eg. mATX HERE...

..ff103 has to be more specific with wants/needs :because there is a plethora of possibilities out there...

Keep in mind {motherboard} things change every day.    {I've been custom building for 14 years...}

DO NOT SKIMP ON THE POWER SUPPLY :  BUY THE BEST! = ULTRA.

JN.

[T6]

with ultra are you suggesting that h should get a 1000w psu?

the psu should be bought according to the requirements of the machine and leave space to grow

[JNibski]

......i don't know of the "1000" number, my link shows units from 350 on up....with the 500w unit showing?  You are correct - he needs to specify.

But for a few bucks more than a {minimal} 350, a good 500w unit should keep him running nicely with anything he could throw at it > less than a serious "GAMING" machine.  ...Just "guessing" he isnt doing CADD, making movies, or extensive scientific programs... 

JN.

[ff103]

Thanks for all the input, No gaming, just work. This last one I built is  4 or 5 years old, so I wanted to see if anything has changed. I would want a AMD duel core, on board video is OK, also on board audio. I am a big fan of Seagate HD's, I would be using two. I don't do any heavy work, but I need a mother board with at least two more PCI slots for a fire wire card and a TV card. I use my machine mostly for constructing web sites, and doing Photo work, some video. I just want to make sure everything is compatible with PCLinux. I think this last MB is MSI and I think I am using an AMD Athlon 3500.

[T6]

that makes everything complicated

pci slots are not common anymore(but not rare yet)

the firewire could come in the mainboard so you can stop using it but the tv card is a problem, this limit the list of possible mainboards

this could be a possibility and comes with 2 pci slots and uses ddr2

http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=N9gfnjYUinlROPLf&templete=2

another option but with ddr3 and only 1 pci slot

http://gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3745#sp

cpus supported by this one

http://gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3745

your target should be a mid price amd 4 cores or a intel 2 to 4 cores

[JNibski]

..........Well....   ff103 should then shoot for a full ATX tower and find a motherboard that has more PCI slots....

There are many choices, depending on CPU.....All that MULTI CORE stuff was designed mostly for WINDOWS o/s's...  ff wants it to WORK WITH PCLOS....out of the box...
> When one tends to aquire the "NEWEST" - then that's where he might run into probs with stuff {completely} working in/with LINUX.
...The largest dual core he could afford will suffice...although a 2.++ gig single core works just fine, also...
...2 gig of RAM is plenty...DDR whatever. {for now}...

that makes everything complicated

NO BIGGE...all that FIREWIRE / TV card stuff can be "rectified" with pci type adapter cards for the peripherals...
  SEE HERE.



There are also USB-firewire {IEEE 1394}adapters/cables to use in an existing USB port....
...Firewire has its place but USB has superceded the need...especially with the upcoming USB 3.0

....but {read this}...


...a FULL ATX board has 4 pci slots (or more)...and with an INTENSIVE search - he can find a board that will accommodate his needs.......{but is probably a bit more expensive than mATX board}  

.......Like i said - things change every day. 

JN.

[bicol_willem]

Thanks for all the input, No gaming, just work. This last one I built is  4 or 5 years old, so I wanted to see if anything has changed. I would want a AMD duel core, on board video is OK, also on board audio. I am a big fan of Seagate HD's, I would be using two. I don't do any heavy work, but I need a mother board with at least two more PCI slots for a fire wire card and a TV card. I use my machine mostly for constructing web sites, and doing Photo work, some video. I just want to make sure everything is compatible with PCLinux. I think this last MB is MSI and I think I am using an AMD Athlon 3500.

If I had to buy now .... I would look for a board supporting DDR3 (That mem stuff got quickly obsoleted). Remeber EDO, SDRAM, DDR, DDR2?  It's now time for DDR3 imho.

[T6]

" .......come on....ASRock came from ASUS!!!"

are you trying to say to me that asrock quality is the same as asus quality?

ROFL!!!!

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASRock

"ASRock was originally spun off from Asus in 2002 in order to compete with companies like ECS and Foxconn for the commodity OEM market"

compete with the miserable quality offered by ecs?

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!

If I had to buy now .... I would look for a board supporting DDR3 (That mem stuff got quickly obsoleted). Remeber EDO, SDRAM, DDR, DDR2?  It's now time for DDR3 imho.

i agree with this, but sometimes ddr2 prices makes it a possibility, right now not much

[JNibski]

..........No i'm not saying anything - you seem to be reading things in between the lines...

If a MOTHERBOARD MFG screws up with a faulty product - it will not last.   I am saying that.

You can NAME name brands - they all have a small percentage of failures {which by the way are very, very small}...

FYI ECS makes a good portion of the world motherboards and others put their name on it...

There is lots of counterfeit stuff out there - maybe to which you are experiencing?

Lotza "refurbished" items also.

For ff - he can try THIS - but it does'nt even work for Windows 7 {all the way} yet.

I'm thinking if he wants something to WORK - he should stick with a bit older technology...thats all.

The poster wanted something that worked with PCLOS.....you can name your famous brands but i have tried several of the "name" brands and have had success / failure with all...{yes even Asus.}
One of my PARTICULAR specific board recommendations does not BLACKBALL ,CONDONE , or ENCOMPASS all the mfg's products...
...you can think what you think.
My recommendations are from experience with LINUX in general, is NOT the absolute - and one could probably get almost anything to "work" - but that is not what ff has conveyed...I hope he isn't confused.

There is a 'LIFESPAN" to these things you know - and I don't SEE more than a 1 year guarantee on MB's ...

Years ago 'ASUS" was a name to recon with - but with technology and the advancements thereof -and a little competition mixed in - todays motherboard mfg's are producing decent products for the average PC user.

To downplay ANY mfg product just by NAME recognition, is unproductive,confusing, and unnecessary here...

Over the years there has been flame wars on forums just talking about various CPU's....

I'm also thinking there's nothing wrong with the motherboard he has now - too bad its MSI.  {just kidding}...

>The 'JUMP' in performance and workability with what he has NOW-{if he has enough ram} might just not be that noticeable/worthwhile... I'd hate to see him experiment with his money in todays economy.
In the end, the final choice will be up to him...

JN.

[bicol_willem]

OK OK guys .... Here we go: Nice and reliable stuff most can afford. Of course it could be any brand maybe but I have build a whole lot of PC's with these boards and have not seen one single one fail so far.  And ... it's Linux friendly (stick to the AMD versions)

(Now you know my secret!) 

[ff103]

All good info, and JNibski makes a good point, how much would I be gaining by upgrading this 4 year old box to some "newer" old technology just to gain a little cpu speed and more ram. I found out when I built this one that I had to be very careful building a box for PCLinux specific. The first MB I bought had a ethernet chip that would not work. So this is a slippery slope. To be assured that everything will work. So I am hesitant to buy newer technology for fear that parts of it may not work.  

ff wants it to WORK WITH PCLOS....out of the box...
> When one tends to aquire the "NEWEST" - then that's where he might run into probs with stuff {completely} working in/with LINUX.

My concern exactly.

[T6]

"FYI ECS makes a good portion of the world motherboards and others put their name on it..."

you are confusing the idea of a same laboratory assembling a mainboard for many companies and the idea of that same laboratory using the same quality of components, soldiering techniques and materials and quality of pcb

it is not the same, we talked about this on another post, about cdrom drives if i remember correctly, completely true, the same laboratory does this but the final product is not the same, one lasts longer than the other

about quality of ecs, i won't talk more about it, i only used it one or two times and it was terrible

that microatx, very very nice but for the moment linux doesn't offer complete support for the video card on the cpu, soon i believe but not yet

"I'm thinking if he wants something to WORK - he should stick with a bit older technology...thats all."

i already said that, not the latest and greatest mainboard will give the best results

"One of my PARTICULAR specific board recommendations does not BLACKBALL ,CONDONE , or ENCOMPASS all the mfg's products...            ...you can think what you think."

i recommend certain brands because i am a pc technician, i can't remember the first pc i fixed, so many i used and fixed

i can assure that some brands are terrible and others are very decent, the most common failing brand i find is asrock, guaranteed to fail in a time of 3 to 5 years, ecs is very similar

"To downplay ANY mfg product just by NAME recognition, is unproductive,confusing, and unnecessary here..."

sorry to completely disagree, if i recommend some brand and this brand fails miserably that will be bad for the owner and will make me look like a idiot, i won't say that all are good never.