Building a New System: MoBo

So the first decision is the motherboard. There are several steps you can take to break this down into something that is manageable since there are so many choices out there. First off, what CPU will you go with, Intel or AMD? I rely on the Ars Technica system guides to an extent. These guides which come out every few months tend to at least point me in the right direction. For their low end Budget Box, the recommendation is to go with AMD. Getting a dual core processor is quite reasonably priced at this time so if you are choosing most bang for buck, this seems to be the way to go (for all out performance, Intel seems to have the upper hand at this point in time though).

The next step, socket type, is a bit easier. The AMD AM2 socket is the recommended type now as it will be supported for some time to come, meaning easier CPU upgrades in the future if desired. Choosing a CPU to go with this is just a matter of deciding how much money you want to spend. If you think single core is good enough, you can have a fairly inexpensive system. From what I see of the cost though, a dual core CPU is not too expensive and I think I will go with this.

So with these two things selected (AMD and AM2 socket), now I head over to Newegg, narrow my search to AMD, AM2 motherboards and start reading reviews. Since this will be a 100% Linux based system, what I do is look for a MoBo which has a good number of reviews. Then I go and look at all the reviews, searching on the word Linux. What I am looking for is specific info. I would prefer mention of the distribution and if they are going through any contortions to get it working.

At this point, I can also narrow things down by considering my preferred Mobo vendors (Gigabyte, Abit, Asus are three). I have a Gigabyte Mobo on my work desktop and it has worked flawlessly since I have had current job. Although I have never tried Abit or Asus, both these manufacturers have solid reputations. I see that the Asus M2NPV-VM has a couple hundred reviews. Searching through these, there are several Linux Ubuntu references, almost all are very positive. I am leaning towards this Mobo. This board uses the Nvidia 6150 chip set with on board video so the price of the board includes a video card which should be satisfactory for most of the work we do at home. If not, we can always get a separate video card at a later time. I might sit on this for a bit before I get the plastic out but it seems, from what I can see at this point, that this would be a decent choice.

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