Re: tyan board
On Fri, Sep 22, 2006 at 10:13:32AM -0400, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 21, 2006 at 09:18:50PM -0400, dtutty@porchlight.ca wrote:
> > I'm building my new computer and am ready to look at boards.
> > I've settled on AMD AM2 socket.
>
> The Asus boards have always treated me well (although I have only ever
> bought the higher end models), and anything with an nvidia chipset
> generally does well with linux. Via can be a bit tricky although it
> will usually end up working within a few months (2.6.18 added support
> for the most recent via chipsets), and ati is simply a nightmare with
> linux.
>
> Is esata necesary? Is it supported by linux (I don't think hotplug is
> implemented for sata yet, although people are working on it).
>
> > I want a solid reliable board as I usually only get a new computer every
> > 10 years or so.
> >
> > I understand that Tyan boards are very good and generally well supported
> > in Linux. So far I've found the Tomcat n3400B and the h1000s.
> >
> > The Tyan website under 'drivers' has them listed specifically for
> > RHES and SLES. How does this translate to using these boards under Debian?
>
> For etch, probably not a problem. For sarge (which is about as old as
> RHES's last release I suspect) you would probably have driver problems
> due to the hardware being much newer than the kernel. It really just
> depends on what components does it use and whether the kernel has
> drivers for those in the release you decide to use.
>
> Well I only use Asus boards myself. I have never used a tyan, although
> they do seem to have a good reputation (and they can run linuxbios
> apparently).
>
> --
> Len Sorensen
>
Thanks Len,
I hadn't heard of Tyan (I haven't looked at boards before; the last
computer I bought was an IBM 486 in 1993) but it was recommended to me on this
forum. Asus seems to cater to the gaming crowd while Tyan seems to cater
to the server/workstation crowd and it is this latter which more closely
matches my use of a computer.
Both the Asus Crosshair (nVidia 590 SLI chipset) and the Tyan Tomcat n3400B
have a MSRP about the same at $200. The Tyan gives me video while the Asus
would mean I'd have to get a display card as well.
eSATA isn't necessary right now, and I could add a card later. Since I only
buy a new computer every decade or two, I'm trying to think ahead (as much
as is possible with computers). eSATA seems to be the up-and-coming way
to connect external storage instead of SCSI (expensive) or USB (slower).
My concern here is how to backup in the future, but that's a problem for
later. I don't need hotplug.
The Tyan also has a serial port. While I can add a USB serial port, I don't
think I can use one for a serial console. Depending on how I'm using a
computer, I sometimes like to use a serial console and keep messages
from showing up on the VCs (if I am still using video). I guess thats a
bit old-fashioned of me, but then again, 99% of what I do is text-based
(why can't lynx do javascript?).
Given the price similarity, I'm assuming at this point that while Asus
puts the value in making it stable for overclocking, Tyan puts the value
in making it stable for the long-run.
Whatever board I go with, it will be mounted in a CoolerMaster stacker
with cross-flow fan with drives in the 4-in-3 fan cooled modules. The
processor will be the last thing I buy because of all the components
in a computer, the processor drops in price fastest.
Comments on my assumptions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Doug.
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