Recommendations for Linux System

[silentpilot]

Hello,

I need some advice on building a Linux based work station. It will be used for web browsing and email most of the time, however I will need to do some software development and network simulation, and that involves running a guest OS in vmware or Xen.

One of my main motivations is to build an energy efficient and quiet PC (that's why I'm here right? ).

So, I am leaning towards a socket AM2 based system, with a Brisbane CPU, probably the Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (65W).

At the moment I am having some trouble selecting a motherboard that is efficient and has only the features that I need. The challenge is finding a modern one that works well under Linux. My requirements are:

- Onboard video and audio
- Onboard LAN
- Supports AMD C'n'Q
- Serial and Parallel port would be nice to have (I like to tinker and using those ports is better than toying with a USB adapter).
- nVidia graphics (better Linux support than ATI)
- Wake on Lan would be nice

I have heard that I should avoid Asus because of poor Linux support. Apparently Gigabyte and MSI generally work well with Linux, is this true?

How is the Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2 board? I have found a few success stories online about this when using the latest kernels. It seems to meet all of my requirements and there was a post here about it being energy efficient. Does the energy star 4.0 label mean anything?

Thanks for your help!

[Hezu]

I need some advice on building a Linux based work station. It will be used for web browsing and email most of the time, however I will need to do some software development and network simulation, and that involves running a guest OS in vmware or Xen.

One of my main motivations is to build an energy efficient and quiet PC (that's why I'm here right? ).

So, I am leaning towards a socket AM2 based system, with a Brisbane CPU, probably the Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (65W).

At the moment I am having some trouble selecting a motherboard that is efficient and has only the features that I need. The challenge is finding a modern one that works well under Linux. My requirements are:

- Onboard video and audio
- Onboard LAN
- Supports AMD C'n'Q
- Serial and Parallel port would be nice to have (I like to tinker and using those ports is better than toying with a USB adapter).
- nVidia graphics (better Linux support than ATI)
- Wake on Lan would be nice

I have heard that I should avoid Asus because of poor Linux support. Apparently Gigabyte and MSI generally work well with Linux, is this true?

I wouldn't say ASUS has any worse Linux support than any other motherboard maker. Basicly how well certain board works under Linux depends mostly on what chips are used, just the other day I was looking at different Intel motherboards and noticed that MSI had included some obscure Ethernet chip, which apparently has no driver on Linux. Another bummer has been Abit's µGuru technology, which has no Linux support. On the other hand, as my motherboard search ended with Gigabyte 965P-DS3, one positive factor for this particular board was Gigabyte's Q-Flash system: you don't need any OS to update BIOS (although, the BIOS upgrades are self-executable archives for Windows...).

How is the Gigabyte GA-M61PM-S2 board? I have found a few success stories online about this when using the latest kernels. It seems to meet all of my requirements and there was a post here about it being energy efficient. Does the energy star 4.0 label mean anything?

I am afraid I'm not familiar with either that board or Energy Star specifications, but I can find one negative thing in that board: no DVI output. I've personally been successfully using an HTCP running GNU/Linux built around Abit NF-M2 nView. Compared to that Gigabyte, it has DVI and slightly more powerful Nvidia GF6150 chipset, while it has no legacy serial or parallel ports. And luckily it has no µGuru...

[Izmo]

I have heard that I should avoid Asus because of poor Linux support. Apparently Gigabyte and MSI generally work well with Linux, is this true?

Not really. I agree with the previous poster - it's the chipsets used, that decide, not the MB manufacturer. Asus are known for making good motherboards, and I haven't heard anything about their boards having problems with Linux.

As for MB I'd recommend the Asus M2NPV-VM. (I've personally used that one successfully with Linux.)

- Onboard video and audio

Check.

- Onboard LAN

Gigabit. Check.

- Supports AMD C'n'Q

Check.

- Serial and Parallel port would be nice to have (I like to tinker and using those ports is better than toying with a USB adapter).

Check. (For the serial ports you'll have to use a separate bracket that eats up one expansion card slot, but if you want 'em you can have 'em.)

- nVidia graphics (better Linux support than ATI)

NVidia NF6150. Check. (1 DVI-out, 1 VGA-out)

- Wake on Lan would be nice

Can't say for sure, since I don't use it myself, but I think most modern mobos support this.

If you absolutely hate Asus, I think that the MSI K9NBPM2-FID has very similar properties, and I see no reason why it wouldn't work with Linux. (But I haven't tested that one personally.)

[silentpilot]

Hi, thanks for your replies!

I have looked more into the Asus boards and I think I have found the almost perfect motherboard for me. It looks like the Asus M2NBP-VM CSM matches my requirements plus it has the following extras:
- DVI and VGA
- ECC RAM
- Wake on Lan
- PXE
- BIOS Flash from USB Drive
- Fan Control (Asus Q-Fan2)?

Asus also claims that this is a AMD Commercial Stable Image Platform and NVIDIA Business Platform board. I'm sure those are just marketing terms, but I take it that the board is designed with stability in mind. The reviews on the board sound good and there are reports of people successfully running Linux on it.

So far, looks good. Now I need to find two SATA disks and a case!

[late2bed]

how did the Asus M2NBP-VM CSM go with your linux of choice?

[RBBOT]

If you are going to be running vmware, I suggest you make sure the CPU supports hardware virtualization - something that is not relevant to the majority of users. I'm not familiar enough with the AMD line up to know which models do and which don't.

[ayemooth]

Asus also claims that this is a AMD Commercial Stable Image Platform and NVIDIA Business Platform board. I'm sure those are just marketing terms, but I take it that the board is designed with stability in mind.

I think they're a promise that the same hardware will be available for a long time, so that companies who buy heaps of them will still be able to find drop-in replacements in the future.

[silentpilot]

So far everything works very well.

I have Ubuntu installed and working fine. The only issue I ran into during the Ubuntu install is that when I selected LVM with guided partitioning the install hung at Configuring xserver-xorg-video-tga. Someone else has filed a similar bug report here. I restarted the install without LVM and everything went fine.

I haven't had a chance to test the sound or NIC, however they appear to be detected. I will test nVidia's graphics drivers once I get the NIC connected.

The CPU (Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (65W)) I chose does indeed have the AMD virtualization extensions. I also went with an Antec NSK3300 case, two Western Digital WD1600JS disks, and a Pioneer DVR-212D (SATA). The shop I went to was out of stock of any RAM from the Asus QVL, so I purchased 2GB's of OCZ RAM (OCZ2VU8002GK).

AMD C'n'Q works well, and with Asus Q-Fan enabled the system is quiet enough for me. I may eventually replace the stock heat sink and fan to something a bit quieter, however at the moment the difference between this and any computer I've used before is night and day. I'm quite happy with it.

Thanks for the replies and help! I will follow up here once I do some further testing.

[johno]

Thanks for letting us know the result. I've just set up at Ubuntu Linux system and went with an Asus M2A-VM (ATI chipset) for the DVI and reported low power consumption. I also recently tried an install with an Asus M2N-MX with NVidia chipset - and found out of the two, the ATI one went a lot smoother - with CnQ frequency scaling plus S3 suspend/hibernate working first off with no troubles on the ATI board. Graphics seems similar, and both need the proprietary drivers.

But its good to hear that the NVidia chipset is working well on some other boards. A lot of Linux users wouldn't worry about CnQ or S3, and so sometimes its hard to know which ones work well and which don't.

[Izmo]

how did the Asus M2NBP-VM CSM go with your linux of choice?

Everything pretty much worked right out of the box with SUSE 10.1. (I also tried Kubuntu Dapper which didn't recognize the SATA HD, though I'm sure that newer versions would.) The only thing I had to tweak was to edit a config file to work around a bug in the audio drivers, which was as simple as 5 minutes of googling, and 20 seconds of editing. I would also think that newer versions of Linux wouldn't require this. (The project is about a year old.)

[silentpilot]

how did the Asus M2NBP-VM CSM go with your linux of choice?

Everything pretty much worked right out of the box with SUSE 10.1. (I also tried Kubuntu Dapper which didn't recognize the SATA HD, though I'm sure that newer versions would.) The only thing I had to tweak was to edit a config file to work around a bug in the audio drivers, which was as simple as 5 minutes of googling, and 20 seconds of editing. I would also think that newer versions of Linux wouldn't require this. (The project is about a year old.)

Hi Izmo, I think late2bed was asking about the M2NBP-VM CSM, which I purchased. It looks like it is a very similar board to your M2NVP-VM. Note the single character difference, B, not P.

Well, to follow up on my earlier post, I have the NIC and Audio working out of the box on Ubuntu 7.04. So far no problems with the board. I think I will try to undervolt the CPU by modifying the powernow-k8 module, as mentioned here.

[adrianmariano]

I'm trying to assemble an efficient and moderately quiet system that will run linux as well. I've been thinking I would base it on core 2 duo (E4400, perhaps). Is this a mistake? It appears that the comparable AMD alternative is the Athlon 64 X2 5600+.

[dougz]

I'm trying to assemble an efficient and moderately quiet system that will run linux as well. I've been thinking I would base it on core 2 duo (E4400, perhaps). Is this a mistake? It appears that the comparable AMD alternative is the Athlon 64 X2 5600+.

If you live in the US, consider Dells to be "moderately quiet," and would be happy with a Core2 Duo Processor E4300, you might look at the new Dell Ubuntu Linux boxes.

If you intend to dual-boot Windows, the same boxes are available with Windows and you know that installing Linux will be trivial.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segt ... l=en&s=dhs
http://desktoplinux.com/news/NS5465909777.html
viewtopic.php?t=39734

[adrianmariano]

I have to admit that when I decided it was time to get a new system (my current one is 7.5 years old) I looked at dell a bit. But it seems like it's hard to know what you're getting, and they cut various corners such as installing slower RAM.

I took a quick look. The price is attractive with their current sale (though I would say not without it.)

How can I tell whether the dell case has air filters and where the front audio/USB ports are located? (I've been struggling to find a "normal" looking case with no doors that has air filters and locates the ports on the front top rather than on the bottom as seems to be overwhelmingly the case. Does everybody really put their tower case on top of the desk???)

How efficient are the power supplies Dell uses? Is there DVI out for the video?

I was also wondering when I made my earlier post whether someone seeking power efficiency should select Core 2 Duo or if Athlon is a better choice. The person who started this thread said he wanted an efficient machine as was therefore selecting an Athlon.

[bonestonne]

personally, i wouldn't buy a dell for anything..just too cheap, can't upgrade them without going through dell...not worth it.

i'd say that what you have going is fine, WOL is more of a BIOS thing, so that would take some looking into.

an athlon will be fine, but reusing the board and upgrading might be an itchy thing in the future, as AMD likes to fiddle around with different sockets all the time.

i'd rather not trust a company to throw a really good computer together, i'd rather do it all myself and know that i have a PSU that pushes 83% efficiency...especially because a lot of OEM PSUs are pretty cheap and end up getting replaced within a couple years.

in the long run, your build will be a lot better. however, at the same time, you may want to look into what intel has to offer, as it might mean you'll find everything you want in one place rather than losing something somewhere

[johno]

I'm trying to assemble an efficient and moderately quiet system that will run linux as well. I've been thinking I would base it on core 2 duo (E4400, perhaps). Is this a mistake? It appears that the comparable AMD alternative is the Athlon 64 X2 5600+.

In speed, I'd put the E4400 closer to 4800+, but it depends on which benchmark you want to follow, and whether or not you want to overclock. Under Linux, the big advantage of the Intel solution is that you can get Intel onboard graphics, which have good open source drivers. With ATI and NVidia, at the moment neither offer open source video drivers.

The main advantage AMD has at the moment is in lower idle power consumption and getting motherboard features (like DVI) at a low price.

[adrianmariano]

From what I saw the 5600+ is a bit faster than the E4400, but it also costs more. I'm not planning to overclock.

Does a motherboard exist for core 2 duo that has the Intel onboard graphics (G965, I presume) and DVI support? I couldn't find one.

[lakefire]

You know you have built a system pretty much exactly how I wanted it. Take a look at this system to see if you would steer it in any other direction. The company is avadirect dot com (apparently my newbieness doesn't allow me to post links). Can you go dual monitors with this mobo?

CUSTOM COMPUTER, Athlonâ„¢ 64 AM2 DDR2-800 Value Series System $396.48 UPDATE $396.48
# COMPUCASE (HEC), 6C28 Black/Silver Mid-Tower Case, 400W PSU, ATX
# ASUS, M2NBP-VM CSM, Quadro NVS 210S, DDR2-800 UECC 8GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA II RAID /4, VGA+DVI, Audio, Gb LAN, mATX, Retail
# AMD, Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 EE Dual-Core 3800+ 2.0GHz, AM2, HT 2000MHz, 2x 512KB L2 cache, 65W, 90nm, Retail
# CRUCIAL, 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz CL5 SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
# SEAGATE, 80GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 8MB cache
# SONY, CRX230EE-B2 Black 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive, EIDE
# UBUNTU, Pre-Installed Ubuntuâ„¢ Linux Operating System, No Media, No Support
# WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

[jfeldt]

If you don't mind getting an Intel CPU instead, you might want to look into something with their new integrated graphics, like their P35 chipset, since the video driver is open source and reportedly pretty good. Both the ATI and nVidia drivers are only available as binary blobs.

[silentpilot]

You know you have built a system pretty much exactly how I wanted it. Take a look at this system to see if you would steer it in any other direction. The company is avadirect dot com (apparently my newbieness doesn't allow me to post links). Can you go dual monitors with this mobo?

CUSTOM COMPUTER, Athlonâ„¢ 64 AM2 DDR2-800 Value Series System $396.48 UPDATE $396.48
# COMPUCASE (HEC), 6C28 Black/Silver Mid-Tower Case, 400W PSU, ATX
# ASUS, M2NBP-VM CSM, Quadro NVS 210S, DDR2-800 UECC 8GB /4, PCIe x16, SATA II RAID /4, VGA+DVI, Audio, Gb LAN, mATX, Retail
# AMD, Athlonâ„¢ 64 X2 EE Dual-Core 3800+ 2.0GHz, AM2, HT 2000MHz, 2x 512KB L2 cache, 65W, 90nm, Retail
# CRUCIAL, 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz CL5 SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
# SEAGATE, 80GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA 300MB/s, 7200 RPM, 8MB cache
# SONY, CRX230EE-B2 Black 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive, EIDE
# UBUNTU, Pre-Installed Ubuntuâ„¢ Linux Operating System, No Media, No Support
# WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)

Hi lakefire,

I haven't tried a dual monitor setup yet, but according to the reviews on newegg it should be possible. Note however that the DVI output is DVI-D only, you can't connect it to a DVI-VGA adapter. I went with a SATA based DVD drive (Pioneer DVR-212D), cleaner cable management, and I heard good reviews about Pioneer drives. Maybe someone else can offer their opinion on the case and PSU, I'm not too familiar with that stuff.

[lakefire]

If you don't mind getting an Intel CPU instead, you might want to look into something with their new integrated graphics, like their P35 chipset, since the video driver is open source and reportedly pretty good. Both the ATI and nVidia drivers are only available as binary blobs.

I would/will consider Intel if I can build a system for around or under $400. My main linux machine went out on me (it was a 2100xp w/ 768mb ram & 128 4200ti video card). It was loud and hot. It was the motherboard that went out and figured it'd be easier to build (or buy) a computer, than replace the mobo.

avadirect has a limited selection for CD-RW drives, and that suits me fine because I barely use the machine for burning CDs, or watching DVDs. Also it shouldn't be an issue to have DVI direct connection. One computer is LCD and the other is CRT. Thanks for the heads up on that though.

[johno]

From an efficiency and heat point of view, I wouldn't expect much from a generic power supply. A system with an inefficient supply over an efficient one can draw 60W from the mains rather than 45W - as an example.

Also, you have a 90nm athlon specified. That is the old series, and the newer 65nm series give better performance for the power used. They are both marked 65W, but the old ones will actually reach that, where a new 65nm 3600 or 4000 won't.