Hello,

I am looking at building a new system. I will be using an AMD CPU - AM2 socket. I am hopeful to get some suggestions for a motherboard. The motherboard should also hopefully be microATX (to fit in the case I am looking at).

I would prefer online video if possible (I just need basic graphics - no gaming, no video editing, etc.). I was looking at the new ATI 780G - since ATI is now trying to play nicely with the Open Source community. It seems to get great reviews, but I have heard that it and the southbridge it is normally coupled with (SB700 - I think) runs very hot!!!

This system will be geared toward cool and quiet operation (though, I don't think I can go totally fanless!). So, I can't have a north- and southbridge that are untouchably hot (according to one review).

My preferred brand is ASUS, but will consider others as well.

Any suggestions?



Also, I have heard that Seagate hard drives run hot -- any knowledge of that?

AM2+

CPU --> you can try the 3-core ones (if you get them cheap).

Check for good bios support too. Some MSI boards have bios upgrades for M$ only. For some Gigabyte boards one has to hack the .exe file to get the bios file.

ATI chipsets are better than Nvidia ones for Linux.

Seagate -- avoid the drives with a proprietary s/w. Heat is no problem on their latest SATA 7200 rpm drives with 16 or 32 MB cache.


Best

A. Mani

I am using ASUS M2nPV-VM (which is discontinued now) and it is working fine. I think ASUS motherboard with ATI chipset will rock. You can try Hitachi hard drive. Mine was giving no trouble, a bit noisy though.

Hello,

I've already more-or-less decided on the AMD 4850e (AM2, 45W TDP) processor.




But what about the supposed extreme heat output of the north- and southbridges?


I am giving some thought to the M2N-MX SE from Newegg. Sure it is a bit old, but I am not going after blazing cutting edge stuff. My goal is to create a basic desktop system for Linux/Unix development (vim, gcc, gdb, etc.). I am not going to be gaming, editing movies. The most intensive program I will use will be GIMP.

I like that ATI is willing to work with the Open Source Community, but if their products will be scorching hot (as in temperature), then I need to look elsewhere. This will be a low power/low noise system. I want to passively cool where I can. The case I am looking at (Antec Minuet 350) only has room for one 80mm fan. But, I also want to keep heat down to >35C at idle. I have read reports of some getting the temp down to 2C over ambient temperature. This concern for heat is why I am worried about reports of the Seagates (which I would like to get, now that Maxtor is not viable) are running hot.

A GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H will be OK in Linux. I do not like ASUS boards because quality is not there and most of ASUS motherboards contains hardware that is not yet supported. If the board does not have an EPS connector, it is more likely it can not handle high TDP processors. Stick with 95 watt processors or lower.

I am thinking of the following setup.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=6350185

All Northbridge chipsets gets hot these days. One thing to worry about is the limit wattage handling of the power supply on the motherboard when using a quad core processor (usually they consume more power).

You can go fanless if you pick the right case, pick the right processor heatsink, and use the AC (air conditioner) more often. Though there are fans that are noiseless and you can use silicon or cork to minimize vibrations for the fans.

The case that I selected in my wish list contains mounting hardware to minimize vibrations for hard drives.

nVidia chipsets work in Linux. Some people are not that knowledgeable in this OS, so they blame the chipset for their troubles. Though, the motherboard manufacture has some part of the problem if they provide buggy BIOS versions. For example, the following thread states some of the problems what a buggy BIOS does. Though on-board sound has been always produce poor sound.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rboard-637960/

As always, people think that the main power supply should be the most powerful. This is wrong it should provide the highest quality of electricity. Power supplies should have the lowest ripple voltage, well voltage regulation and be able to handle their advertised wattage rating at room temperature and/or in hotter environments. I use Seasonic power supplies because they provide what I am explaining about.

If you are selecting AMD K10 core or Phenom processor, select a processor that have a B3 stepping or models that includes xx50. Adjusting each core's voltage and frequency in Linux is not yet supported.

Western Digital and Hitachi are the best hard drive manufactures. Seagate drives gets very hot, consume more processor resources, and have some problems with some SATA controllers.

Electro's choices look pretty good. I went a cheaper route.

Chose the GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H and am only using the integrated graphics. I've used it for several months now and have not had any real problems. I also read about it getting hot and felt it once during the first few days. It was hot and you couldn't keep you finger on it. I decided not to worry about it and see how it did. So far no problems. I just don't touch it anymore. Am using the F4 bios. I think the AMD/ATI proprietary drivers work with it pretty well since Catalyst 8.5 but worked even at 8.3. Played some old 3d shooters and they work.

My previous nvidia setup used nforce4 and I have separate nvidia 6600gt. Both work perfectly in linux.

I'm using InWin microATX case and have no problem so far with built in power supply. I think its this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811108073

The power supply is pretty quiet as is its single case fan. When my AC is running I can't hear pc even from two feet. It was whisper quiet when first installed but then got a little louder probably with dirt buildup. Every time I think it is a little too loud I turn on my other machine with separate graphics card and am able to recalibrate my ears as to what loud really is.

I'm using the AMD4800 with stock cooler so I like your 4850 choice. It wasn't available when I ordered or I would have got it. I think I'm using same ram as Electro.

Using seagate sata and liteon sata dvd. No complaints. Same 250 GB HD as another identical seagate I ordered over a year ago. These do NOT run 24/7 so I can't comment about that but I've had no problems.

Linux support has been pretty good. The board basically worked with the somewhat early 2.6.24.xx kernels which ID'd the mboard/s.bridge as a SB600 and the PCI items were listed as "unknown", but it worked. At least by the 2.6.25 kernel all PCI items are properly identified. Integrated sound under linux worked right away and I've had some success getting sound out of HDMI (with the 2.6.25 kernel) but considering the effort involved it might have been easier to use separate video/sound cables. It's easier to consistently get sound out of back speakers and optical output than hdmi but xine is able to consistently output to hdmi.

Hope this helps you

Hello,

I don't know about yours, but the reviews for the 4850e say that the stock heatsink isn't all that good (but sufficient for the job). In particular, they warn about a rough base. I think I may just replace the stock heatsink with a copper one and be done with it.

I know everyone is getting on the triple- and quad-core bandwagon, but I am just going to stick with the 45W dual core.

I am liking the ASUS M2N-MX SE. It is close to the same board that I currently have in my other computer (a one-and-a-half year old HP). The only significant differences is that the one I have has 667 RAM and this one has 1066 RAM (an improvement for me!) - and the one I have has a video card (nVidia GeForce 7350 LE), so I still don't know how the integrated graphics would do.

I am also looking at the Western Digital GP hard drives. I know people are saying that they are a bit slower, but for the little bit of speed performance (i.e., 3-4 ms extra average seek time) to better -> heat, power, and acoustic performance - I think I can live with.

But, my goal is not to set world speed records or the ultimate gaming system (in fact, I don't game). My goal is to build a rock solid stable Linux/Unix system that uses low power, runs cool and quiet, and that will be a development platform workhorse.


What I am looking at now:

Asus M2N-MX SE

AMD X2 4850e dual-core 45W TDP - with replacement copper heatsink

2 GB DDR2 1066 RAM (I don't know which brand, yet)

750GB or 1TB Western Digital GP Hard Drive

Antec Minuet350 Case - perhaps with a replacement quiet 80mm fan

19" non-widescreen LCD monitor (I don't know which specific one, yet)

DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive (I don't know which specific one, yet)

2.0 desktop speakers (I don't know which specific ones, yet)

Basic Wired Keyboard and Mouse

Brother HL-5240 Laser Printer

UPS



If you see something that just screams <- hey, lots of known issues!!! -> or something similar, let me know.

An ASUS IDE CD/DVD drive is best. They are low noise compared to other brands.

An GeForce 8100 is a better chipset and uses less power. The XFX MIA78S8209 is better for passive designs since it uses a heat pipe to increase cooling efficiency. If any hardware problem goes wrong, the diagnostic display will help you out. For your LCD screen, a DVI or HDMI connector is the best to use. It also makes it easier to upgrade the memory since it is next to the power supply and not near any drives. A USB to serial or parallel should work just fine in Linux, so getting a motherboard with these connections are a waste.

I would not say Western Digital GP series are a bit slower. They are a lot slower for an OS drive. It does help a lot to spend the money on low latency drives. If you are energy conscious, a SSD will be better or spend the money on a 2.5 inch notebook drive such as the following drive.

TOSHIBA MK1649GSY

Antec power supplies are not that efficient. Seasonic power supplies are the most efficient compared to other power supply brands.

I suggest select a different case if you want low noise and be able to cool off other components. The following chassis is a good case although the fan may have to be changed to a fan that is low noise.

Bgears b-Envi-nw BG01206

Finding low-profile expansion boards is not easy, so that case will help in the future.

I suggest SeaSonic M12II SS-430GM (430 watts) to cut down on the amount of cables inside the case and minimize restricting air flow.

Good speakers are probably the following.

Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 2.0
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1

Early this year I put this system together for under $200 reusing the old case and CD drive. I bought most of my stuff from Tiger Direct. I have a PCChips mother board with the nvidia chipset and an 80 gig Seagate. It runs fairly cool and quiet.

Hello,

Might be nice, but two problems:

1) They are EXPENSIVE!!! The costs per GB are astronomical. And did I mention they are expensive. Maybe in 3-5 years they will become competitive with traditional hard drives pricewise.

2) They don't have a 100% proven track record. There are still some technical and stability issues. This should be taken care of as the technology matures, but for now I don't feel confident with it being the primary drive.