# Motherboard recommendations?

## blixel

I'm done with my motherboard.  I can't deal with these endless crashes (under Linux only by the way) any more.  So...

Can someone recommend some good boards?  Boards that you have personally had long term success with?  As opposed to "I just setup this system yesterday and it runs great!"  Motherboards are pretty much all in the $50 - $175 range ... that being the case, I don't care how much it costs.

From my own experience, and from what I've read, it seems that nForce2 based boards are the worst for Linux.

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## hds

i am running 3 different EPOX boards here, and am happy with all of them.

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## blixel

 *hds wrote:*   

> i am running 3 different EPOX boards here, and am happy with all of them.

 

Do you have a specific model and chipset you can recommend?

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## hds

well, as you can see from my signature, they are not UpToDate. however, i think the EPOX support is excellent. you will get BIOS updates and such regular, you could check out at http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/index.php

i am using VIA chipsets btw.. they are supported well in linux (lm_sensors, etc..)

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## blixel

 *hds wrote:*   

> well, as you can see from my signature, they are not UpToDate. however, i think the EPOX support is excellent. you will get BIOS updates and such regular, you could check out at http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/index.php
> 
> i am using VIA chipsets btw.. they are supported well in linux (lm_sensors, etc..)

 

Maybe a board like this?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-123-215&depa=1

All the other EPoX boards newegg has are either nForce2 or AMD64.  I refuse to get another nForce2 board, and I'm not ready to take the 64 bit plunge.

Edit:  Eh ... that board doesn't appear to support Dual Channel memory.  That's kind of discouraging.  Anyone have an opinion about the VIA KT880 chipset?  Specifically - this board:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-501&depa=1

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## gringo

I bought several asus boards three years ago and they work very nice with linux, no problems so far. And at home, im running gentoo on an Abit IS7-G for a year right now and i had no hardware related troubles til now.

MSI and Aopen boards are very nice too, and not as expensive as abit or asus. Check out their webs! 

cheers

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## blixel

 *gringo wrote:*   

> I bought several asus boards three years ago and they work very nice with linux, no problems so far. And at home, im running gentoo on an Abit IS7-G for a year right now and i had no hardware related troubles til now.
> 
> MSI and Aopen boards are very nice too, and not as expensive as abit or asus. Check out their webs! 
> 
> 

 

I've always had good luck with asus so I'm probably partial to them.  The one time I tried a different brand, IWill, I wasn't real thrilled with it.  I'm not opposed to trying other brands, but I just want specific recommendations this time around.  I think the chipset is probably more important than the manufacturer though.  My current asus board has an nForce2 chipset and is very problematic under Linux.  But other people who have other brands are also having problems with this chipset.

So I guess I should be asking what specific chipsets people are recommending?

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## gringo

 *Quote:*   

> So I guess I should be asking what specific chipsets people are recommending?

 

yea, maybe... my votes go for VIA and INTEL  :Smile:  . I didnt try nforce chipsets so far so i cant say how they perform on linux.

cheers

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## blixel

 *Quote:*   

> yea, maybe... my votes go for VIA and INTEL  . I didnt try nforce chipsets so far so i cant say how they perform on linux.

 

Don't take my word for it - just do a goole search for "Linux nForce2" and that should tell you all you need to know.  Bottom line - avoid.

But I don't want to go from one bad chipset to another.  I think I'm going to order this asus a7v880 board ... can't imagine it being any worse than what I have now.

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## micmac

Hi,

I myself bought an ASUS A7N8X-X for my TV-PC some time ago. It's very basic, but that also makes it quite easy to set up with linux. The drawbacks:

- IDE transfers are fast only with kernel 2.6. With 2.4 things like burning DVDs are painful

- I heard there are probs with onboard sound. I can't tell much about that because I don't use it.

Other than that the board runs fine.

Laters

mic

P.S.: One of the main reasons I bought this board was that it itself activates "AMD Powersavings". Normally you would have to use tools like setpci and/or athcool for that and often things break. This one does it on its own  :Smile:   :Razz: 

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## zhitch

My 2 cents...Ive got an ATI 9700 Pro and an Nforce 2 Mobo and all I can say is Ive never had a problem with Gentoo. Other distros had something that didnt work that was supposed to..but I can websurf..runa webpage..create documents..even game on Gentoo and not have hardlocks. The gaming performance sucks..but thats mainly due to the lack of good drivers on ATI`s part. The Nforce drivers have solved most if not all the problems I had with the 2.4 Kernel..and Nforce2 is supported in the 2.6 so all my hardware including the network adapter is supported in-kernel.This was NOT the case 6 months ago however. If you can afford a brand spankin new Intel or Asus mobo and the fastest Pentium 4 go for it. Im happy with my setup tho  :Smile: 

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## ewan.paton

just a thought but have you considered a socket 940 board, the low speed opterons cost the same as amd64s but you as do the boards but the get a very high end workstation board that suports ecc ram and should have server build quality

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## feld

I say also GO FOR EPOX! I have had a board of theirs for a while and it RULES!

Epox 8RDA3+ Socket A Nforce2 Ultra Mobo = I have NO problems at all with this board. I have NOT tested onboard sound, though, as I have an Audigy 2.

http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/products_content.php?ps=230

Gah tried to get a link to newegg but cant get their site rite now - its cheap like 70-80 dollars

check out all its features you'll be impressed!

Also ROUND IDE Cables included!   :Twisted Evil: 

-Feld

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## blixel

 *feld wrote:*   

> I say also GO FOR EPOX! I have had a board of theirs for a while and it RULES!
> 
> Epox 8RDA3+ Socket A Nforce2 Ultra Mobo = I have NO problems at all with this board.

 

Hmmm... well - nForce2 is not an option.  I suppose it's possible that it's just the asus+nforce2 combo and that epox+nforce2 would be OK, or maybe it's some strange combination of hardware I have - but whatever the case, I'm not willing to gamble on another nForce2 board.

Actually I already ordered the ASUS A7V880 anyway - so it's kind of a done deal.

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## jonnevers

whats wrong with nforce2?

I have a nforce2 board and I swear by it, the support for nforce2 under gentoo is great... the only hitch in the giddy up is, forget about the built in sound. BUT that hitch is for a lot of other motherboards with built in sound based on the AC'97 codec, the intel8x0 alsa driver just dosen't support hardware mixing and it blows, bad.

nforce2 is a great performing chipset and well supported by linux, maybe you need a newer kernel... but as far as I know all of the nforce2 drivers have been merged into mainstream 2.6.

but as far as brands go, Abit, all the way.

Their boards are top notch, perform well and are stable.

Forget Asus, i've had three of their motherboards crap out on a friend of mine... one crapped out after a day of use.

if you don't want nforce2, go with an intel setup, a p4 with an intel chipset, that will be the best supported in general terms.

intel themselves make damn good motherboards but they tend to be more conservative. DFI on the other hands makes good boards that are more cutting edge (in terms of performance). But really I recommend Abit, high performing, customer oriented mother boards (overclocking ability, etc) + all the latest bells and whistles in some of the most stable long living boards I've seen.

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## neonik

If you want a number of features and high stability, there are Gigabyte and MSI mainboards. Chipset either i865 or i875, for a P4, Celeron and P4-EE on a 478 socket. But I guess you've got an AMD Athlon CPU, anyway see the links below.

Check there: 

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/index/index.html#g

http://tomshardware.bizrate.com/buy/products__cat_id--419,keyword--Gigabyte,rf--tom026.html

http://tomshardware.bizrate.com/buy/superfind__cat_id--4,keyword--MSI,rf--tom026,sfsk--1.html

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## LynZ

I  vote for ABIT. Had got 4 mobos of em.... all of em are PERFECT in overcloacking and stability, complectation and support...

Yes they're quite expensive.

Don't buy ASUS, it's the worst nforce2 board for linux... and other boards... i don't know anyone who prefers ASUS, at least noone who is really smart =))

I have an NF7-S from ABIT. Had lockus after bios 2.4 upgrade, but since 2.6.6 nothing more.. and great performance. DUAL DDR, overcloacking, net.

Used built in sound via alsa.... not bad.... but u have only 2 speakers playing...

Since i got SB Live! i don;t need it anymore

RESUME:: GO ABIT OR EPOX AND NFORCE2

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## KingPunk

 *blixel wrote:*   

> I'm done with my motherboard.  I can't deal with these endless crashes (under Linux only by the way) any more.  So...
> 
> Can someone recommend some good boards?  Boards that you have personally had long term success with?  As opposed to "I just setup this system yesterday and it runs great!"  Motherboards are pretty much all in the $50 - $175 range ... that being the case, I don't care how much it costs.
> 
> From my own experience, and from what I've read, it seems that nForce2 based boards are the worst for Linux.

 

Socket A = Gigabyte VIA KT600 or KT600a chipset. they're great boards.

and relatively cheap on newegg.

Socket 939 = hold out for the VIA KT900 chipset, PCI-X for Athlon 64...mmm  :Smile: 

 :Wink: 

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## goulash

no probs with nforce2 here o_O

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## AnXa

I can warmly recommend ASUS. I have used nVidia, Ali and via. Most workable was Ali, but I think that Via chipset will work best.

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## oggialli

Nowadays ABiT and MSI seem to have the best voltage regulation (both have 3/6-phase in almost all boards ?) which counts to both overclocking and even more to stability.

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## feld

Gigabyte is CRAP!

I hate them now!

After 6 months of standard use for no reason the P1 connector MELTED on my motherboard. MELTED!!!! i had to cut the power supply cable to get them apart! It also fsck'd my AGP slot! I sent it in to warranty and they sent it back with a replaced P1 connector on the motherboard. They didn't even bother to replace the DEAD Northbridge fan that happened in all this. Also, they sent it back with the AGP slot all screwed up. I sent it back and bought another Gigabyte board. I received it DEAD. Sent it back and told them to shove it and went and bought an EPOX which has worked flawlessly.

BTW it wasnt my powersupply being cheap because it was an expensive Antec and thats what I got again. Antec rules the PS department.

-Feld

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## woZa

Had several via based boards (KT133 & KT266 - abits) and all had audio problems.

Now running an epox 8rda+ v1.1 nforce2 based board. Had very few problems other than crackling audio - an old pentium 1 heatsink on the southbridge soon cured that.

Depending on your budget I would recommend an nforce2 based board. They are fully refined as they have been around for a few years and all the bugs have been ironed out, cheap and loaded with features. Then you can get a Barton pretty cheap these days too.

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## JackDog

I used to be a computer builder in college. Brand name wise, Epox and Gigabyte where the best. I highly recommend Epox as I only remember one bad board out of ~1000 that was dead. Gigabyte was more like 20 out of ~1000.  Asus and Abit were 50-60 per ~1000.  I think they all make pretty solid boards, comes down to probability and revision number. Epox had the lowest return rate and didnt suffer from release problems (when released too early and bios/driver/timing problems occur). I built many a server on Epox boards, rock solid. They are very underratted. 

As for the chipset, nForce all the way. VIA is ok, SIS is borrible horrid.  Nforce3 is a great board and every component on mine works perfectly under linux. nVidia is becoming a major linux player so I think their support will only get better.  

Anyways, just my observations.

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## KingPunk

 *feld wrote:*   

> Gigabyte is CRAP!
> 
> I hate them now!
> 
> After 6 months of standard use for no reason the P1 connector MELTED on my motherboard. MELTED!!!! i had to cut the power supply cable to get them apart! It also fsck'd my AGP slot! I sent it in to warranty and they sent it back with a replaced P1 connector on the motherboard. They didn't even bother to replace the DEAD Northbridge fan that happened in all this. Also, they sent it back with the AGP slot all screwed up. I sent it back and bought another Gigabyte board. I received it DEAD. Sent it back and told them to shove it and went and bought an EPOX which has worked flawlessly.
> ...

 

that has nothing to do with your motherboard.

and you couldnt in good reason say that any vendor is "CRAP" merely because of your experience.

you could however, say that your experience with them, based on X experience,

has much to be desired, ...if in the event that it had anything to do with the  vendor or hardware.

yours, doesnt. you might want to speak with your power supply vendor,

and ask others who have that identical one, to see any issues that have come from that. its dangerous.

as for your issue with them fixing stuff, its warranty issues.

if your powersupply caused it, it wasnt the vendors fault that the board, sequentually failed.

thustly, they don't have to replace a single transitor on it. its called getting screwed.

and all the big players screw you, its common fact.

as for your replacement board being DOA, you should rma that bitch, to the people you bought it from.

unless you paid OEM-vendor prices straight from Gigabyte, it isn't Gigabyte's fault it has failed.

chances are you got it from somebody whos shady, or tends to screw people over.

needless to say, you should really stick to common pratice, and by from estlabished vendors, & resellers..

not overly blame any one company/product/vendor for things that they can not control,

and get on antec's ass for shipping you a horrible powersupply, as for it IS your issue.

best of luck with your EPOX, i've heard horror stories about them too..

and i've given many people the same speach, about many other products, and vendors alike.

with all due respect,

KingPunk

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## blixel

 *Quote:*   

> Depending on your budget I would recommend an nforce2 based board. 

 

Hmm... did you not read my original post?  I have an nForce2 based board and that was the reason for the post.  My board is extremely problematic.  And all my searching keeps pointing back to the nForce2 chipset as being the culprit.  Or maybe it's just that ASUS did a really crappy job of implementing the nForce2 chipset on this particular motherboard.  Or maybe it's my combination of hardware combined with the nForce2 chipset.  But whatever the case, I don't think getting another board with the nForce2 chipset is going to solve anything.

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## dcrook

Don't you think that you might be a bit quick to blame the nforce2 chipset for your problems when it might just be your particular motherboard, and i don't mean the brand and model.  Your board might just be a lemon.  Your powersupply or ram are much more likely candidates to be the cause of sporatic trouble.

I have an nforce2 based motherboard by Albatron and its been running like a rock for almost a year now and I have had the thing slightly overclocked since I put it together.  Its a dual-boot box for gentoo and windows XP and its on all day, almost everyday.   The 2.6 kernel works great with the nforce2 and has drivers that work with the onboard ethernet and sound.

The main drawback to the nforce2 is that it requires a proprietary driver from nvidia to use the audio to its fullest extent and that driver is still buggy.  Without this driver the soundstorm encoder is just taking up space.  But since this feature doesn't exist with any other chipset anyways its not like you are going to get a better alternative.   

Both the nforce2 and via KT600 chipsets are mature solutions and either can be used to make great motherboards for the athlon xp processor.   Its also possible to make a crap motherboard based on either one.

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## blixel

 *dcrook wrote:*   

> Don't you think that you might be a bit quick to blame the nforce2 chipset for your problems when it might just be your particular motherboard, and i don't mean the brand and model.  Your board might just be a lemon.  

 

I have already pointed out that possibility.

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## squeegy

 *blixel wrote:*   

>  *feld wrote:*   I say also GO FOR EPOX! I have had a board of theirs for a while and it RULES!
> 
> Epox 8RDA3+ Socket A Nforce2 Ultra Mobo = I have NO problems at all with this board. 
> 
> Hmmm... well - nForce2 is not an option.  I suppose it's possible that it's just the asus+nforce2 combo and that epox+nforce2 would be OK, or maybe it's some strange combination of hardware I have - but whatever the case, I'm not willing to gamble on another nForce2 board.
> ...

 

My ASUS A7N8X nforce2 motherboard works fine with linux, aside from the onboard sound not having hardware mixing, but I hear you can get it working with dmix assuming you're using ALSA.

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## KingPunk

just for redundancy, i vote VIA KT600.

i have never had a problem with it, its great.

err, i take that back. every problem or issue i've run into, was self inflicted.

 :Wink: 

linkage: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-197&depa=1

thats my board, its stable as a rock. i love it.

but i am going 64bit soon. and im holding out for VIA's KT900-based boards,

as it includes PCI-X for AMD mmmm   :Twisted Evil: 

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## lots

Do you mean PCI Express?

PCI-X != PCIe

 :Razz: 

You've been able to buy boards with PCI-X on them for quite some time...  :Wink: 

I dont trust gigabyte as a brand.  I was shipped a KT600 based Gigabyte with a bad bios, took a flash to get the thing to work (by work i mean install an OS), and it still has problems.  Random data corruption for example.  In my opinion, the board should work when i take it out of the box  :Wink: 

This may have been just my experience, but I found many many problems all over the web about people having the exact same problem.  

I'd stick to Asus MSI or Epox.  Soltek isnt bad either.

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