[discmeister]

Hi all,

My PicoPSU is now ordered and I'm about to press the button on a G620 CPU, in the hope of using its integrated graphics (I only want 2D 1080p - no need for 3D or 24fps).

I'm looking at mobos now - my preferred choice, frankly, would be Gigabyte, since I've never had a problem with their boards. However, I notice a lot of the Gigabyte stuff - B75 chipset, primarily - use an Atheros LAN chip. Would I be better going for another brand that has Realtek?

This is one option - http://www.ebuyer.com/261401-asus-p8h61-...h61-m-r3-0

This is a Gigabyte option - http://www.ebuyer.com/351614-gigabyte-ga...a-b75m-d3h

Has anyone any thoughts before I go for it?

Thanks in advance for any input,

Discy

[Michael.F]

i'd buy a cheap h61 mobo.
theres no need to buy an ivy bridge mobo for the g620.

the network chip shouldn't be a problem. I'm pretty sure all of them are compatible with linux and of course windows. WoL is also a standard feature.

[discmeister]

Thing is, I need an HDMI socket on the mobo because of my plan to run the G620's graphics. And by the time you find an H61 mobo with HDMI, you're only about £3 off a Biostar B75 with faster SATA anyway...?

Discy

[live4ever]

Go for an Intel LAN chipset if anything.

[thethirdnut]

Go for an Intel LAN chipset if anything.

+1. Some of the newer RealTek LAN chipsets do exhibit the odd misbehaviour in *nix.

Intel NIC's are always smooth sailing...

Intel mobo

[argh!]

The Gigabyte.

[discmeister]

Big bucks for an Intel board that's got HDMI. You're talking another £20 over the Gigabyte B75 board - is it really that much better LAN-wise?

Thanks for all your advice,

Discy

[thethirdnut]

There's a driver issue with some of the later revs of the RTL8111/RTL8168 chipsets.

Crappy speed, sometimes no link on boot, etc. I had this on 2 recent mobo's. Driver 'fix' kinda works - knocks a GigE to 100 Mbps and spotty service - but when you have auto-scraped libraries that show up empty with no network connection you find yourself yearning for a more reliable NIC.

[discmeister]

...and the most reliable NIC is Intel, right?

[thethirdnut]

Cha-ching! Yes...they're more or less universally recommended to just work for any form of *nix, BSD, etc. That's why most servers sport Intel NIC's plus also some of the higher-end non-Intel desktop mobo's too.

NOTE: if you're going to be using Windows then the RealTek driver may be a non-issue...in *nix land it may also work based on the rev of the RealTek chipset too. I have an older board using same RealTek chipset, but older rev of controller and its been problem free without any futzing. Newer mobos I just threw a $30 Intel NIC and carried on.

Going forward I'm likely just going to stick basic Intel brand mobos so I don't have to piss around with an extra NIC.

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PS: here's one of the older threads on this topic http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t...11&page=12

It may or may not be fixed with newer kernel and/or RealTek hardware version - I don't know. Basic point I'm trying to impart is that I chose just to avoid the whole issue moving to the Intel NIC route....

[discmeister]

Hmm. I'll try to see if I can find a reasonably-priced Intel board, although their distribution over here in the UK sucks big time. Embarrassingly few of the big retailers even carry them.

I'll also look to see if any of the other mobo manufacturers stick Intel NICs in their units; think Asus may do it in a few.

Discy

[thethirdnut]

Might also be worth your while to do some more googling too on the whole topic - like I said it 'may' be fixed now, but hard to say.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=131056&page=3