Linux Server (NAS)

[oimi]

If all you need is 6 SATA ports, then an Abit IP35 Pro XE can be had for £69. And another £16 will net you a PCI wireless card.

Sounds pretty good, do you agree with my theory?

Hmmm, I've never dealt with Abit before, are they reliable? What about a cheap graphics card?

[oimi]

Also, how many PCI slots are there on that board and what is the source you got those prices from?

[oimi]

I've read good things about this board: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=151501

[aidanjt]

Hmmm, I've never dealt with Abit before, are they reliable?

Well, Abit themselves are no longer in the motherboard market. Because their parent company wanted to get into more mainstream consumer electronics, that failed. Now Abit only exists to honour warranties. This particular board design is quite mature, and the BIOS has been well hammered out, so you shouldn't have stability issues with it.

What about a cheap graphics card?

You can get cheap PCIe graphics cards for 20 quid from scan. You don't need any more than that.

[aidanjt]

Also, how many PCI slots are there on that board and what is the source you got those prices from?

3 PCI slots, 2 PCIe 16x slots, and 1 PCIe 1x slot. Price from: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...d=5&subcat=913

You might find it cheaper with a bit of froogling though.

[oimi]

Well, Abit themselves are no longer in the motherboard market. Because their parent company wanted to get into more mainstream consumer electronics, that failed. Now Abit only exists to honour warranties. This particular board design is quite mature, and the BIOS has been well hammered out, so you shouldn't have stability issues with it.

Sounds good to me, can you please give me the link to the cheapest source you know of for this motherboard?

You can get cheap PCIe graphics cards for 20 quid from scan. You don't need any more than that.

I just looked in the garage and I've got a load of old PC hardware, would a GF MX4000 128MB DDR TV Graphics card fit on this motherboard or have I kept it in storage in vain?

[mycarsavw]

Sounds good to me, can you please give me the link to the cheapest source you know of for this motherboard?

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=A...ntel+P35&hl=en

Come on, you've got to do something yourself

[oimi]

Meanie! I use comparison websites, but the problem is that sometimes they list variants of the model you search for and without a lot of probing it is hard to work out whther the moel offered is the same one that has been specified.

[mycarsavw]

Most people tend to have their favourite retailers.

I start with Scan, ebuyer, OcUK (puts on tin foil hat). If they have wildly different prices I'll go down to my second list, Misco, dabs, PCW.

Completed fleabuy (buy it now, business seller, new items) is sometimes a good marker of price ranges too.

[oimi]

Okay, sticking to http://www.overclockers.co.uk/, what RAM, Processor, Graphics card, Wireless card and DVD-R/W drive do you recommend?

[oimi]

Oh, not forgetting PSU as well? Something energy efficient, offering enough connections for at least 6 SATA devices.

[Maccer101]

my 2 cents for a file server, an AMD 740g mobo plenty of sata ports very low power comsumption and m-atx.

An energy effiicient Sempron/Athlon processor. You can pick up a single core one for under £20 on ebay or one of the e seriies dual core athlons

[oimi]

my 2 cents for a file server, an AMD 740g mobo plenty of sata ports very low power comsumption and m-atx.

An energy effiicient Sempron/Athlon processor. You can pick up a single core one for under £20 on ebay one of the e seriies dual core athlons

Do you know this board to be reliable?

[Singh400]

my 2 cents for a file server, an AMD 740g mobo plenty of sata ports very low power comsumption and m-atx.

An energy effiicient Sempron/Athlon processor. You can pick up a single core one for under £20 on ebay one of the e seriies dual core athlons

I would agree entirely. AMD is great for the low power market. That being said, I still went with Intel

[oimi]

I would agree entirely. AMD is great for the low power market. That being said, I still went with Intel

I had bad experiences with an AMD motherboard in the past. My last build used Intel and I have no complaints.

[oimi]

So if I am looking for an Intel board, consensus is on the ASUS SKT-775 P5Q S/L 1600FSB?

This offers the most SATA ports, LAN any everything else specified... Is it an efficient motherboard?