From owner-freebsd-hardware@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 7 17:13:50 2007 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [69.147.83.52]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 90D3D16A49C for ; Wed, 7 Feb 2007 17:13:50 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from scott@sremick.net) Received: from out5.smtp.messagingengine.com (out5.smtp.messagingengine.com [66.111.4.29]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 68F1813C4A7 for ; Wed, 7 Feb 2007 17:13:50 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from scott@sremick.net) Received: from out1.internal (unknown [10.202.2.149]) by out1.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id D86D11A900B for ; Wed, 7 Feb 2007 11:49:53 -0500 (EST) Received: from heartbeat2.messagingengine.com ([10.202.2.161]) by out1.internal (MEProxy); Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:49:53 -0500 X-Sasl-enc: gBvZYNSNx3yewRPQc2az7eA5b5aLFum0eVvuObK7ALj9 1170866993 Received: from [10.185.6.114] (unknown [65.213.7.6]) by mail.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 96D7A1AA9C for ; Wed, 7 Feb 2007 11:49:53 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <45CA0331.2090500@sremick.net> Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:49:53 -0500 From: "Scott I. Remick" User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.0.9) Gecko/20061207 Thunderbird/1.5.0.9 Mnenhy/0.7.5.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Building new AM2 system, advice needed X-BeenThere: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion of FreeBSD hardware List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:13:50 -0000 So it's been a while, but I'm ready to build a replacement system for my desktop. It seems a lot has changed since I last built one, and the decisions (hardware support) are foggier than last time. I'm not so rich that I can afford to keep buying stuff and sending it back, so I could use some advice. My criteria are: AMD socket AM2 (going to use a 65W Athlon64 X2 Windsor, as Brisbane doesn't seem better) DDR2 (800 preferred) integrated video not necessary (need nVidia DVI card) integrated sound fine if it works, even basic, but not necessary since cards are cheap. NIC needs are basic (10/100), so support of integrated NIC is nice as it'll save me a slot, but not critical as cards are cheap SATA2... I'm 99% positive I'll be wanting to do some RAID, at least a mirroring of my system/OS drive. So it'd be REALLY nice if FreeBSD supported whatever on-board RAID the MB had, since this will save me buying a 3Ware card (which are NOT cheap) I have traditionally gone with Asus motherboards but I read they aim more for bleeding-edge gamers than the rock-solid stability I expect from my FreeBSD system. I can't help but wonder how many of my occasional FreeBSD lockups are a result of that...? I hear that Tyan is more-stable, however FreeBSD's support for Tyan boards that meet my needs is questionable/fuzzy. So I'm having a hard time. Can anyone offer some advice? Even if not specific models, insight/thoughts/opinions are appreciated too. Once I get the MB picked out, everything else will fall into place. Thanks :)