[Clug-tech] Motherboard recommendations?

[Mark Carlson]

On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 6:52 PM, John Jardine
<john_e_jardine at spamcop.net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I need to build up a machine as a test harness.  I want to put a
> quad-core and at least 8GB of RAM.  RAID5 on the mother board would be
> nice - it'll be added on an external controller otherwise.  I'd like to
> get at least a couple of 1GB NICs on board, otherwise I'm looking for
> multi-port cards.
>
> I went to TomsHardware looking for a motherboard comparison - they used
> to have alot of that sort of thing back in the day.  They seem to have
> hidden it now:)
>
> The only selection I'm close to making is the CPU: Intel Q9450
> I'm open to nominations for everything else.
>
> The reasoning for the CPU selection is price/performance.  I don't need
> the fastest box out there but I want a machine that can be calibrated
> against a faster server so that performance timing can be extrapolated.
>
> Thanks,
> J.J.
>

I assume you're running Linux on it, so here's the best advice I can give you.

Just pick one of the reputable motherboard manufacturers products that
looks like it will work (and has only the features you need.)  Don't
get something super cheap though.  Then, do a quick search of the
major kewords + whatever OS/distribution you are going to run.  Start
specific (motherboard name and model,) then work down to chipset and
features (X38 Express Raid 5, for example.)  Then one last one to see
if there are any BIOS issues (sometimes distros will only install if
you upgrade or downgrade your BIOS, or use a newer kernel than is on
the CD for the install.)

That pretty much covers all the issues I've had lately when picking
new hardware.  Except for the time I chose a motherboard with only
PCIe x8 slots and tried to put a new video card in... whoops!

-Mark C.

P.S.  Anybody know if onboard RAID 5 stopped sucking yet?  Last I
heard, you were lucky to get 10MB/s out of it :-(