To: suse-amd64@suse.com Subject: RE: [suse-amd64] motherboard recommendation - slightly off topic :-)

Jonathan Brooks wrote on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 8:57 PM::

...

Hi!

Thanks for all the feedback - it's only going to be a regular PC, not a server/workstation so I think I'll go with my initial thought which was to go with Asus (A8N-SLI Deluxe). I may end up running Linux through VMware anyway, so the hardware is sort of irrelevant....

The only thing I would add to others' comments is that I used to have an A8N-SLI Deluxe and was really happy with it, but the chipset heatsink/fan dislodged (without any help from me!), frying the chipset. Subsequent examination showed that the clamps were really flimsy. I upgraded it to the A8N-SLI Premium which replaces the HSF with a heatpipe & haven't had any problems.

Over the years, most of my hardware problems have been due to dying fans, so the elimination of the fan can only help reliability (and makes for a slightly quieter PC too).

I think it was well worth the tiny (~5%) additional outlay

for the extra reliability.

Just looking at the Asus website, you might also consider the newer A8N32-SLI Deluxe which is also fanless (the 32 refers to the 2x16 bit PCI-E bus - double the width of the A8N). It also appears to have a few other improvements (e.g. faster

memory bus, more efficient power use leading to lower temperatures) It appears to carry about a 20% price premium (which is still tiny compared to the combined cost of mobo+cpu+ram).

Phil --

I too have the ASUS Premium (A8N-SLI), the heat pipe is neat-o, and quiet and no chipset fans to die on you. Also I really like my Antec NEO 550 He (High Efficiency) Power supply. It is COOL to the touch, even after running torture work for 8 hours. The fan inside this PSU has yet to turn on. Totally silent, makes almost no heat. Very nice PSU for server or workstation. I had an nvidia card in my server and the GPU fan went all melty after a few years. Didn't know it until I looked inside case. Now I have an ATI AGP with a large heat sync on the video chip....