On Wed, Nov 21, 2007 at 12:39:58AM +0800, Augustin wrote: Hello Augustin, I'll try to put comments in-line where they'll make sense. > I am set to buying a socket AM2 mainboard, with a slow CPU, a minimum > amount of RAM and use the onboard graphic unit, but I would like to > buy a fairly good/excellent mainboard + very good power supply unit, > so that I can over time, as prices drop, upgrade CPU, RAM and buy a > good, dedicated video card. > > For the power supply, I am thinking to buy a 500~550 Watt, 80plus > certified unit.
If you're thinking long-term, start with a good case. One with lots of room (more room means more airflow with less noise, easier to swap stuff around). I have lots of room in my room so have a CoolerMaster Stacker. Takes any MB you like, has two PSU bays (I put the PSU in the lower bay and two 80 mm fans in the upper bay), and 11 5.25" bays all at the front, and comes with one 4-in-3 fanned 3.5 drive adapter. For power, I went with a CoolerMaster 600W iGreen. Lots of power available for the drives. For main board, I went with Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe: lots of SATA and USB ports, great sound (for me), etc. It doesn't have integrated video but an Asus EN7300GT Silent cost $40. Everything works with standard Debian Etch and stock kernel. I choose to use the pre-packaged nVidia X driver for a bit better DVD playback but its only slightly noticeable on my 21" drafting CRT during movement; I don't know if it would show up on an LCD. The issue is the mpeg conversion: the nVidia driver does this in hardware whereas the nv driver does it in software and the result isn't as clear, especially if its deinterlacing/blending while showing full-screen. > In terms of Linux support, what other things should be looked at when > purchasing a mainboard (again, I couldn't find a page with such > information: can we really assume that linux can be painlessly > installed on 100% of the mainboards on the market???) > Mostly its philosophical. Look for a manufacturer that provides hardware info freely available. Good luck. For example, the nVidia chipset on my Asus board runs with the forcedeth driver in the kernel which is a reverse-engineered solution since the data isn't available. > > Which (socket AM2) motherboard do you use? Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe > Do you use the onboard video chip (i.e. you have no video card)? no: Asus EN7300GT silent with nVidia 7300GT chipset. > Sound? on-board > What is the chipset on your AM2 board? nVidia > Have you experienced any problem. I have the bios set up to control the fan speed based on its theremo sensors. I run amd64 and find that sensord can't see the sensors properly. It doesn't matter to me to troubleshoot. None. Last and not least (should be first), is what is the box for? Is it a home (entertainment?) box or a server? Does running a binary-blob driver like the nVidia X driver cause you any concerns (security or otherwise)? You say you'll start with a cheap CPU and move up later. When I bought my box close to a year ago, the only CPU I could get in AM2 was an Athlon64 3800+. Its still pretty fast; there may be one faster out in single-core. Will dual-core be something you're interested in or is your task a single-threaded thing? Are you at risk of finding that you really wished you had gone for an Opteron instead? Different MB, different CPU, different memory. On the other end, do you need a new box or would a good used box be more economical? You see, the only specification you gave us was the CPU socket and a preference for integrated video, to run Debian. These seem rather artifical. Doug. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
