Best motherboard?

[fos]

I'm looking for a reliable long term motherboard for a CentOS based server. Asus seems to be mentioned often. What about Intel or some other brand.

Any opinions?

[Ed]

I've had good luck with Gigabyte and Biostar MBs. I like the AMD CPUs over Intel's because of price/performance ratio. You can still get a 45 watt Sparta single core AMD CPU for $30 shipped at newegg. This would make a good 24/7 CPU if you get a good aftermarket quiet CPU cooler and install a good quiet case fan. If you get the right MB you may even be able to undervolt it a little and be even "greener".

- EdK

[fos]

Thanks Ed,

I would definitely like to go the "green" route.

I noticed at one of the specialty ITX sites that the new Intel Adam processor is now available. It doesn't have a lot of performance but consumes less than 2 watts. With energy going through the roof there should be more incentive for conservation.

Jeff

[danieldk]

I'd never ever use AMD CPUs (and mainboards) in a server. I know people who did that, the quality of components is often subpar, and they often had to go to the DC to fix things.

Our server uses Intel hardware only: two PIII CPUs, Intel chipset, ECC memory, RAID-1 on SCSI disks. And it has been very reliable (never had any problems).

PIIIs consume very little power, Core 2 Duos use relatively little as well (my Mac Mini uses just over 20 Watts idle). We use Xen to run multiple virtual machines, which is green, because it doesn't require us to have separate servers. We have a fully protected dom0 (administrative domain) where only I and two others can SSH into. We can manage the domUs from there when necessary. Since dom0 is rock solid, we never had to go to the data center, just fix stuff from dom0.

If you have the money to shelve out, I'd also use ECC memory, and maybe SCSI disks (or enough redundancy through SATA disks). If you use RAID with SATA, buy disks of the same size from different vendors, if the series/types/vendors are different, there is less chance that disks break down at the same time.

[Leon]

Intel mobo's used to be reputed as stable and reliable; that is why I bought a used 850 with a P4 2.2 gHz and 512 RIMM memory. The board finally succumbed after 5 years, apparently to a bad capacitor. Intel mobo's are mortal too.

I wound up buying another 850 mobo, which at least had upgraded USB support, since I had a good CPU and memory I did not want to waste.

I took the precaution of replacing the power supply with a PC Power and Cooling unit, and added two muffin fans; my box now has two fans for exhaust and two fans for intake to balance the airflow. I noticed when I disassembled the case that there was a lot of dust around the external drives where air was being sucked in. Cooling airflow should be balanced when using auxiliary fans or the case will be literally "sucking wind" through every opening. Also, route ribbon cables out of the way, and accordion-fold them or replace them with round cables if there is not enough clearance.

[fos]

Capacitors, usually the electrolytic type, are most frequently the culprit even when temperatures moderate. When I was in the electronic repair business int the 70s and 80s that is usually what had to be replaced.

For a time, Via made a heavy duty version of their M1000 board. They advertised that it had long life capacitors.

Would you believe I still have an old 9600 baud Intel modem in the closet that still works? It is larger than one of my mITX computers here on the desk.

Jeff

[Ed]

Just as Leon says, Daniel, Intel MBs are mortal too. I have been building computers for over ten years now and I've seen both Intel and AMD CPUs and MBs go bad. I've also built systems with AMD components that are still running 6-7 years later. A lot depends on aftermarket application of good thermal compound, heatsinks, fans, and quality components in general.

Besides, I think fos is likely to go ultra compact with a mini ITX system from the sound of his second post. I guess he wants a quiet, low wattage system with maybe one of the new Intel Atom CPUs. That's going to rule out any of the proven Intel or AMD MBs or CPUs. I guess he'll take his chances that low watts = low heat = long life. :)

[danieldk]

Just as Leon says, Daniel, Intel MBs are mortal too. I have been building computers for over ten years now and I've seen both Intel and AMD CPUs and MBs go bad. I've also built systems with AMD components that are still running 6-7 years later. A lot depends on aftermarket application of good thermal compound, heatsinks, fans, and quality components in general.

Sure, everything comes to an end, that's a fact of reality. But I have managed many production servers running 24/7. I have always used Intel hardware, normal heatsinks and fans, nothing special. In ten years time the only thing that ever broke was a hard disk. Some friends have been running production servers with AMD hardware (and more importantly mainboards), and they often had to go to the data center because of hardware problems. One of the factors is that its is much harder to get quality mainboards for AMD CPUs. Most non-home servers ship with Intel hardware, so it's easy to get good server-class boards.

Can't change my experience/observations. Btw. for me, the same thing applies to desktop hardware. In the past I've had two broken AMD mainboards, since then I have never bought AMD-based hardware again. In the past year I have never had an Intel-based computer break down, except for (you guessed it) one hard disk. I have to add that I stopped assembling systems myself, and primarily buy HP/Compaq and Apple hardware.

Besides, I think fos is likely to go ultra compact with a mini ITX system from the sound of his second post. I guess he wants a quiet, low wattage system with maybe one of the new Intel Atom CPUs. That's going to rule out any of the proven Intel or AMD MBs or CPUs. I guess he'll take his chances that low watts = low heat = long life. :)

I have to ask why. Some Core 2 Duo systems use just above 20 Watts with low CPU use, but when you need it, they are much much more performant. Atom is more useful for smartphones, UMPCs, etc.

[fos]

Great information!

I have four computers running at home. Three are Via mITX. They are all several years old. The only failure so far has been a hard drive. I have one AMD based computer that is two years old. No problems yet. I gave my oldest computer to one of my brothers. It is a very old Intel PII Dell that was built like a tank. It was given to me after it stopped working with a version of Windows. The hard drive was generating errors. I reformatted the drive with ext3, and installed CentOS 4. I used it as the original home sever for months, never turning it off. It is currently running PCLinuxOS, with no complaints. It is just about 9 years old.

[fos]

PS. I will probably go with an Intel Core2Duo motherboard. I'm shopping for one that supports ECC ram.

Thanks for all of the input,
Jeff

[danieldk]

It is a very old Intel PII Dell that was built like a tank.

Hmm, PIIs. I had an IBM machine with a PII 300 MHz as a home server. At some point the CPU fan stopped working, the machine continued work fine for one or two years (after which I have replaced it).

[Ed]

I have no interest in an Intel vs. AMD flame war, Daniel. But I know from experience that just because you've had a friend have problems with AMD hardware doesn't mean it's all crap. I like Intel HW, I just think AMD can be more cost effective. Although Intel is getting its act together and that might change.

Both my professional and hobbyist experience just doesn't see any real difference in failure rate between the two CPU makers. I can't change that experience either.

[danieldk]

I have no interest in an Intel vs. AMD flame war, Daniel.

No need to ;). I guess the CPUs are fine, because most defects I heard about and experienced were mainboard defects. The probably are good mainboards out there as well, in fact, I'm sure Sun uses nifty stuff in their Opteron lines ;).