AMD AM2 processor Motherboard that works with Linux?

[deanjo]

Are these problems relevant for typical end-user systems, or just servers that need massive disk throughput?

My current system is I think SB700 based (Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H), and it seems to have better SATA disk I/O performance than any other desktop system I've ever used (hdparm -t says around 120 MB/s, and disk-intensive operations also "feel" very fast)... in my case at least I suspect it's the disk that's the limiting factor.

If your not doing intensive write operations (multiple write operations at once) you probably won't notice it. It is very noticable when copying from one drive to another using multiple copy commands or doing items like building a large db.

[Adarion]

Well if this data throughput is noticeable more on server side applications then one should probably review the AMD server chipsets. The SB750 is normally sold on mainboards targeted for the normal home users. Just that theres RAID 5 and other stuff that would make it suitable/interesting for servers probably doesn't mean that it is really meant for professional server building.
Though I guess a lot of people (also in business) use the cheaper mainboards for server use. I mean back at the times you'd find nearly only SCSI hdds in servers and later some hosters e.g. seemed to use normal IDE pata drives.

[deanjo]

Well if this data throughput is noticeable more on server side applications then one should probably review the AMD server chipsets. The SB750 is normally sold on mainboards targeted for the normal home users. Just that theres RAID 5 and other stuff that would make it suitable/interesting for servers probably doesn't mean that it is really meant for professional server building.
Though I guess a lot of people (also in business) use the cheaper mainboards for server use. I mean back at the times you'd find nearly only SCSI hdds in servers and later some hosters e.g. seemed to use normal IDE pata drives.

There are many cases where enterprise class servers would be overkill. Besides when it comes to motherboard logic chipsets many "enterprise" chipsets are rebranded chipsets that are found in the consumer class.

[Adarion]

Besides when it comes to motherboard logic chipsets many "enterprise" chipsets are rebranded chipsets that are found in the consumer class.

Humm, well, yes. That may be the case. I'm currently not informed which chipsets are currently on the market for servers by AMD or nvidia for AM2/+/3. But yes, I think they're often at least design-based on consumer chipsets (or vice versa). Just rebranded would be kinda... "cheap".

If it's overkill or nor depends on what exactly you're going to do with your server I guess. But then you shouldn't complain about a slower I/O in SB.

[imitation]

The sata speeds posted earlier are from a 790FX. Those were originally paired with a SB600. Boards with a 780G feature the newer SB700, 790GX and newer 790FX use the SB750.

Personally i am on a Asus M3A78-EM (SB 700 / 780G).
Everything works just fine. I'm getting great speeds both through sata and usb. The only issue i'm having is that linux (including splashtop) doesn't turn off usb power on shutdown, so my keyboard always has it's status-leds shining when the pc is turned off.
Everything else works perfectly!

Fedora 10 /// KDE4
AMD 5400+ @ 3,1G (Board is ok for overclocking) /// 8G DDR2-800

And yes, i've gone for a dualcore, and it's been worth its money. For a cripple (err... triple) core i would have payed more than three times as much (and getting less clock).

[RagingDragon]

Those are the exact issues I'm referring to. They have yet to be fixed.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/13628/10

Uhm, the linked article was posted Nov. 2007 - it covers the SB600 and doesn't tell us anything about the latest AMD south bridges. So here's some better supporting evidence for your point:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/14261
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15256

So looks like SB700 and SB750 still have SATA performance issues. As for USB, AMD and Intel seem to have similar performace, while Nvidia beat both (so let's just call this one an exceptional implementation by Nvidia rather than a failure by Intel and AMD )

As it happens the motherboard on my second PC (Athlon X2-3800) is failing, so I'm looking for a new AM2+ motherboard. Either that or I'll splurge on a new i7 primary system, and replace the old secondary with my current primary .

[Adarion]

My ASUS M4A78-E arrived yesterday and I'll have to check it out. It features a 790GX and SB750 chipset combination. But it may take some time until I put my Gentoo hdd on it (basically I prepared my kernel to run the chips on it) since I'm quite busy a.t.m.. Later I will hopefully get a Phoronix test suite running and share some test results.

[DeepDayze]

I would stay away from nvidia chipsets, would probably pick a 780g board, they seem good value for money, something from Gigabyte/Asus

I currently have an Abit KN9 mobo and it has the nVidia nForce4 Ultra chipset. This board's been rock solid under Linux and I had no issues even after owning this board for over 2 years

lspci listing for this board in my system:

00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev f2)
00:07.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:08.0 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies Inc. VT1720/24 [Envy24PT/HT] PCI Multi-Channel Audio Controller (rev 01)
01:09.0 Serial controller: 3Com Corp, Modem Division 56K FaxModem Model 5610 (rev 01)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G71 [GeForce 7900 GS] (rev a1)

[LenS]

I just got a Gigabyte GA MA790X-UD4P from Newegg and it works fine with SUSE 11.1. I'm having trouble getting 2 monitors working, but I expect that's a problem with the ATI video drivers not liking my Viewsonic VX900 (SXGA) pairing with a Acer X243W (WUXGA). Everything else works fine so far. I may try a nvidia card later.

I liked the customization abilities it has, with 8 SATA ports able to be used as IDE, RAID, or AHCI in any combination ot 4,2,2. This is useful if you want to run Linux in AHCI mode and still use a SATA DVD RW or dual boot windows. Check out the Gigabyte site for specs. Newegg's has errors, though their link to Gigabyte is accurate. The price is pretty good too for the specs: $109.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...GA-MA790X-UD4P

I've mated it with a Phenom X4 which is getting cheaper, and a HIS 3450 vid card (512M). There's not much advantage in using a 4 core chip right now, but I expect that to change swiftly in the next year. Even now system monitor shows all 4 core active installing updates.