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Which AM2 motherboard and chipset do you use?



Hello,


As mentioned is a previous thread, my current computer is having some 
hardware problems that prevent me from installing Debian (It is 
currently running Mandriva). 

Since I have some cash coming in, I am now definitely looking at 
buying a new computer on which I will exclusively install Debian.

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. 

Right now, I am in the middle of researching and comparing socket AM2 
mainboards.
My problem is that there are so many chipsets and I am a bit lost.
I am looking for a list of chipsets available on AM2 mainboards so 
that I can clarify a bit things in my mind.

Unfortunately, I cannot find such a list. Wikipedia has good lists of 
Video cards per generation, a list of AMD CPU for the socket AM2, but 
no list of chipset that I could find. 

Searching online I find a lot of mainboard reviews... but there are so 
many AM2 mainboards...

Also, since the new computer is meant to replace an existing one which 
has some hardware problems, I would like to be 100% sure that the 
hardware I am going to purchase is 100% supported by the linux kernel 
in etch (or at least by the newest stable kernel). 

I am going to use (at least at first) the onboard video chip, the 
sound chip, etc...
But again, where do I see a list of such chips and check whether they 
are supported by linux?
Can I be 100% sure that whatever desktop PC mainboard I buy will be 
supported by linux? 
Or "only" 95% sure (e.g. if one or two chips are known to cause 
problem and are better avoided)?

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???)


Which (socket AM2) motherboard do you use? 
Do you use the onboard video chip (i.e. you have no video card)?
Sound?
What is the chipset on your AM2 board?
Have you experienced any problem.


Whenever I receive help on a mailing list, I would like to contribute 
back the information preferably in the form of a wiki article that 
others could improve after me. 
I am tempted to do this at wiki.debian.org but I am afraid that some 
people would say this kind of hardware related information is not 
suitable for the wiki (there is a discussion page about this on the 
wiki).
Maybe I could create a stub on wikipedia: how do you suggest I 
proceed?
Or where else?

I am asking this because I have already spent an awful lot of time 
doing my homework, and YOU are going to spend some of your time 
replying to me... I that if there is an ideal place to put this 
information, it could help other people to find answers quicker than 
I did.


thanks,


-- 
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http://minguo.info/ better election methods
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