Re: [Semi-OT] Need advice on AMD mobo
On 2009-07-19 02:51, Mark Allums wrote:
ron.l.johnson@cox.net wrote:
Just got an ASRock A780GXE/128M, and it seems to have difficulty
seeing more
than 4 devices. (I've got 4 SATA HDDs, a SATA DVD-RW and a PATA HDD.)
Here are my needs: - AM2 socket - ATX form factor, - 6 (or even 8)
SATA sockets, - 4 DIMM slots.
On-board 1394 would be useful.
The A780GXE has all those features, but apparently doesn't implement
them well. Just in order to get it to boot from CD-ROM (I'm now
running from an Ubuntu 9.04 Live CD), I had to disconnect the lone
PATA drive.
I'd break down and get an AM2+ CPU if the mobo were *great* and didn't
support AM2.
Also, I'm running Sid with 2.6.30, so "modern" doesn't scare me.
Thanks
I have had the best luck with ASUS and MSI MBs.
My advice is, if you are forced into getting not just a new board, but a
new CPU as well, for a desktop machine, then you would be better off
with rethinking the brand loyalty.
Right now, much as I hate to admit it, Intel X58/Core i7 is the way to
go. The Core i7 920 is a very good good price v. performance choice,
and it overclocks very well. I like the ASUS P6T Deluxe V2, a Core i7
board I have successfully installed 5 times, so far. Debian runs fine,
with a recent enough kernel.
The down side is, the memory is DDR3, so you can't reuse the old sticks.
But, you can put in six of them! Garden-variety sticks from OCZ or
somewhere will take it to 12GB, or you can pay a premium, go with 4 Gig
sticks, and have 24GB.
That's impressive and a half...
(If you like to overclock, though, stick with three memory sticks. Yes,
three, not two or four. The LGA 1366 processors---i.e., Core i7s---are
triple-channel, they have an onboard memory controller that supports
three memory channels. Anyway, higher clocks on all-slots-filled
configurations are not supported.)
I have installed one GigaByte X58/i7 board, the EX58-UD5, and I dislike
it. Not recommended.
Core i7 boards are somewhat pricy, though. The new P55 chipset is
cheaper, and it supports the new Lynnfield CPU, that is, the core i5
chips. i5 just has double-channel support, so less costly to get
started. But I have no experience with them.
The point being that an Intel chip is, in my opinion, the current
overall winner.
I looked into Intel, but I'm trying to reuse the CPU and RAM.
--
Scooty Puff, Sr
The Doom-Bringer
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