I am considering purchasing a new PC from a site where I can configure the PC myself, and I am not compelled to purchase MS-Windows for the PC : klatt.de - Intel-2011 motherboards where I would likely chose a Core i7-4820K, 4x 3.70GHz CPU.
Their selection is limited to the following:
ASRock X79 Extreme4-M, X79
ASUS P9X79, X79
MSI X79A-GD65 (8D), X79
ASUS Rampage IV Gene, X79
ASUS Sabertooth X79
Cost is not a big issue for me wrt which of the above 5 to select. But it need be one of these 5 (unless I go to a an Intel-1150 compatible from same supplier or go to a different supplier for a motherboard where again I want to ideally purchase a PC without Windows). I have surfed a fair amount on each motherboard (for GNU/Linux compatibility) and I have read of both major frustrations and semi-success stories for all of the above motherboards. Because these all support UEFI and that is fairly new, it is not surprising to read of lots of frustrations with these motherboards and GNU/Linux.
The other possibility is an Intel-1150 compatible motherboard from same source : klatt-it.de for Intel-1150 where I would likely chose an Core i7-4770, 4x 3.40GHz CPU.
ASRock H81M-DGS
ASUS B85M-E
Gigabyte GA-H87M-D3H
ASUS H87-Pro
MSI Z87M-G43
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H
but I have not yet researched the above for GNU/Linux compatibility (I am still in the process of doing the same).
I was curious if any openSUSE forum members have any experience with any of these motherboards ?
Lee, I’ve never had trouble with ASUS, they even helped out when I couldn’t get a special keyboard to work, through a chat session. What impressed me was that the person I spoke to was linux knowledgable. A customer is a dedicated Gigabyte fan, they have 12.3 and 13.1 on approx 2 year old machines, no issues.
MSI has brought me weird trouble, but it can be the motherboard wasn’t 100% OK from the start. It ended up sending 12V to all USB equipment (at least that’s what I was told. Wireless mouse and keyboard, webcam, all dead).
These days I would also have a good look at the GPU details. Some i5 and i7’s have a GPU integrated, some don’t. My son recently found out his i7’s integrated Intel is doing much better than the NVIDA 8400 GS. Or are you planning to buy a grapics card to match the i7?
I have both Asus and MSI motherboards at home. I have no complaints with either. But what I am hoping to do is find out specific information (hopefully positive) on some of the motherboards I mentioned to support a decision for purchase. I did find information with GNU/Linux use on each of the first five Intel-2011 motherboards I mentioned (albeit in most cases it was from users complaining about some aspect they could not get working).
For the second group of Intel-1150 compatible, I could find no GNU/Linux use information (yet) on the ASRock H81M-DGS, the ASUS B85M-E, nor theGigabyte GA-H87M-D3H. I did find some information on GNU/Linux use with the ASUS H87-Pro, the MSI Z87M-G43, and the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H, although once again, it was mostly posts by users complaining they could not configure some aspects. Again UEFI almost always was causing problems.
I had been thinking of purchasing a relatively moderate/average performance graphics card (probably the GeForce GTX 650, 1024MB) to go with the motherboards. Having typed that, I still have not researched GNU/Linux compatibility with that graphic card, and I need to do so.
I have not looked at the Radeon HD 6770 either, but I confess to being a user who does lean toward nvidia over radeon as a general approach. Thus far I have been more happy with nVidia support for graphics cards with Linux, than with AMDs support, and hence I prefer to send my money toward nVidia. But I concede others may have different experience than I on this important subject.
wrt graphic cards, out of curiousity I also looked at the GeForce GTX 660 specifications, noting in addition to requiring much more power, and being almost twice the price of the GTX 650 ( 75-euros for GTX 650 vs 154-euros for the GTX 660) , the GTX 660 does have increased functionality (such as SLI for multiple monitors with an nvidia additional card) and has greatly superior specified performance. However I note a number of threads on our forum and on the nvidia forum expressing disatisfaction with the nividia driver and the GTX 660, indicating tearing, where many can not experience the GTX 660 performance. That puts a damper on the GTX 660, and has me looking at the slower GTX 650. … I have not been very successful thou, in finding user reviews of the nvidia GTX 650 with GNU/Linux other than the Phoronix review - which while good, is not an average user assessment.
wrt the Radeon HD 6770 that I mentioned in my previous post, it is not available from the supplier when I am thinking to buy my PC. My radeon options there would be (in order of increasing price):
Radeon R7 250, 1GB (~ 55 € )
Radeon R7 260X, 1GB (~ 99 € )
Radeon R9 270, 2GB (~ 143 € )
Radeon R9 270X, 2GB (~ 154 € )
I decided to look for GNU/Linux compatibility of the Radeon R7 250, 1GB and the Radeon R9 270X, 2GB.
that thread also has some interesting speculation wrt the radeon card’s rebranding:
Still reading the above suggests to me the R9 270X requires a beta proprietary driver and does not yet work well in all respects with the radeon opensource driver.
I could not read any reviews of the lower priced Radeon R7 250, although I do note speculation it could be just a rebranded radeon 8670, and I have seen some obscure links to user comments.
I also did find this AMD Catalyst™ 13.11 LINUX Beta V9.4 Driver release note which indicates support in the proprietary 13.11 Linux Beta v9.4 driver for both the R9 270X and for the cheaper/slower R7 250.
Still, overall thou, I am tempted to go with nVidia. I have purchased radeon hardware in the past, and my experience has been they do not provide proprietary driver support for as long a time frame as nvidia (for less than cutting edge hardware) and given the radeon support for the R9 270X and R7 250 is still far short of the proprietary driver, I’m more inclined to go with a graphic card where the proprietary driver support goes for a longer time frame (which means nvidia).
Hence at the moment, until I read more positive GNU/Linux compatibility reviews on the nVidia GTX 660, I am leaning toward the less expensive and less capable nVidia GTX 650.
Getting back on topic, wrt motherboards I am currently leaning to purchasing the Socket-2011 MSI X79A-GD65(8D) motherboard - albeit I have not decided yet.
The current configuration I am considering, which is not cheap, but I believe should keep me happy for another 3-years (at which time I may move to another continent, and go for a new desktop PC then) are:
motherboard: Socket-2011 MSI X79A-GD65(8D)
cpu: Core i7-4820K, 4x 3.70GHz
housing/case : Cooler Master HAF912 Plus
Power Supply: 650W Super Silent ATX 2.2 Power Supply
RAM : 12 GB DDR3-1600
graphic card: GeForce GTX 650, 1024MB (I am still very much pondering this)
storage-1 : 120 GB SSD
storage-2 : 2000 GB internal SATA hard drive
storage-3 : DVD reader/burner
storage-4 : DVD reader (I may not procure this, although its a very cheap ‘backup’) option
No pre-installed OS - The OS that I likely will install later are:
[LIST]
freedos
openSUSE-13.1
empty partition reserved possibly for Windows7
empty partitions for a second GNU/Linux (possibly for milestone/beta versions of openSUSE)
[/LIST]
I hope to decide within the next day or two, and proceed with the order.
Where possible, I try to confirm information I obtain from any source, from a secondary source, and Phoronix is no exception. Still, between their graphic card and driver reviews, various articles, and their forum, they are a focal point for a reasonable amount of GNU/Linux information.
Back to the ‘motherboard experience’ topic of this thread, and I think I need to research the Socket-2011 MSI X79A-GD65(8D) motherboard a bit more wrt any GNU/Linux user experience.
I found another mail order supplier, who will custom build a PC for me, with no OS installed, and a different selection of motherboards for me to consider (listed below) so I am back into the research phase:
Socket 2011 PCs :
Gigabyte U79-UD3
Asroc Fatal1ty X79 Professional
Asus X79-Deluxe
or
Socket 1150 PCs (listed in order of increasing price) :
Asus A81M-Plus
Asus B85M-E(C2)
Asrock H87-Pro4
Asus H87M-E(C2)
Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3
MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate
Asus H87 Pro (C2)
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC
I’m not a person who plays games (other than chess) on my PC, so likely the motherboards that specialize in supporting overclocking are not important to me. Pretty much all of the above motherboards include USB-3.0, GB LAN, and SATA-3.
Still, thats a lengthy motherboard list for me to research for GNU/Linux compatibility … I can see now it may take me a while to settle on which motherboard (and graphic card) to obtain.
This second supplier also has different graphic cards on offer, including nvidia GTX-650 (1GB), nvidia GTX-650 (2GB), and the nvidia GTX-660, and also Radeon HD7770 (1GB), and Radeon HD7950 (2GB) and Radeon R7 260X (2GB), so I have my hands full there researching GNU/Linux compatibility.
>
> oldcpu;2610367 Wrote:
>>
>> Back to the ‘motherboard experience’ topic of this thread, and I
>> think I
>> need to research the Socket-2011 MSI X79A-GD65(8D) motherboard a bit
>> more wrt any GNU/Linux user experience.
>>
>
> I found another mail order supplier, who will custom build a PC for
> me, with no OS installed, and a different selection of motherboards
> for me to consider (listed below) so I am back into the research
> phase:
>
> Socket 2011 PCs :
>
>
> - Gigabyte U79-UD3
> - Asroc Fatal1ty X79 Professional
> - Asus X79-Deluxe
>
>
> or
>
> Socket 1150 PCs (listed in order of increasing price) :
>
>
> - Asus A81M-Plus
> - Asus B85M-E(C2)
> - Asrock H87-Pro4
> - Asus H87M-E(C2)
> - Gigabyte GA-H97-HD3
> - MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate
> - Asus H87 Pro (C2)
> - Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H
> - MSI Z87-G45 Gaming
> - Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC
>
>
> I’m not a person who plays games (other than chess) on my PC, so
> likely the motherboards that specialize in supporting overclocking are
> not
> important to me. Pretty much all of the above motherboards include
> USB-3.0, GB LAN, and SATA-3.
>
> Still, thats a lengthy motherboard list for me to research for
> GNU/Linux
> compatibility … I can see now it may take me a while to settle
> on which motherboard (and graphic card) to obtain.
>
> This second supplier also has different graphic cards on offer,
> including nvidia GTX-650 (1GB), nvidia GTX-650 (2GB), and the nvidia
> GTX-660, and also Radeon HD7770 (1GB), and Radeon HD7950 (2GB) and
> Radeon R7 260X (2GB), so I have my hands full there researching
> GNU/Linux compatibility.
>
I have a new Gigabyte Z87-D3HP (see Signature below) Have had no problem
with it. have had about one month, openSUSE 12.3 and 13.1 installed on
it. Mine is an I5 but the board does support I7 also.
Many thanks for that. I note the “GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-D3H (Sound7.1 G-LAN SATA3 USB 3.0)” on the list of motherboards being offered by one of the PC suppliers. From what the PC supplier’s site suggests, that motherboard will support a Core-i7 4770, which is one of the two CPUs that I am considering. I’ll take a more detailed look at that motherboard.
I note my main application, where I really want the faster CPU speed, is for video editing and video rendering, which is associated with a home video creation hobby of mine.
Thinking a bit further wrt the Gigabyte Z87-D3HP I am a bit curious as to some motherboard specific experience.
I note you have a nvidia GeForce 8400GS. Does that mean you disabled the on-board graphics on the motherboard ?
Do you use the UEFI firmware in EFI mode, or do you have a CSM legacy (or similar) mode selected ? (and hence do you use GPT for your disks, or do you use the older MBR ? )
Do you have any observations on the USB-3.0 ports compatibility with USB-3.0 devices wrt data transfer speeds ?
How is the motherboard cooling ? I guess a Core-i5 does not run that hot, so have you only a CPU fan and a power supply fan and one PC case fan in your PC housing/case ?
I note wrt the Asus H87-Pro. I’ve read of GNU/Linux users using variants of this motherboard, with varying success. From what I’ve read in all cases, the UEFI implementation has caused GNU/Linux users problems, and a common approach this problem appears to adopt the work around to select the legacy csm mode.
If you’re looking to buy a single-GPU PC to last you three years that you won’t upgrade, and you can’t justify a Core i7-4930K, then I’d just save 100+ euros and get a Core i7-4770 that will usually be as fast or faster, with a newer chipset. It’s faster per clock, has new AVX2, FMA3, and TSX instructions. There’s also a newer i7-4771 out that your vendor might have.
In any case I’d get at least 16GB for video editing, which is a better match for the dual- or quad-channel motherboards anyway.
Going with a Core-i7 930 would mean a Socket 1150 motherboard (as opposed to a Socket-2011). But thats ok with me. The supplier I have identified wants an extra-290 euros for a Core-i7-4930K over a Core i7-4770 so I would stick with the Core-i7-4770.
The Core-i7-4771 is available on their mail order web site (and it costs an extra 40-euros over the Core-i7-4770) but the PC supplier has it listed as a ‘non-standard’ advanced option where they do not guarantee compatibility. When I look at PassMark Intel vs AMD CPU Benchmarks - High End comparison site, I see a small advantage for the Core-i7-4771 3.5GHz over the Core-i7-4770 3.4GHz (that I am considering) but the difference is small, and IMHO likley not worth the extra 40-euros my supplier would charge
The second supplier I have been looking at (Ankermann PC) which offers a PC with no OS (where the 1st was Klatt-IT ->Ihr Spezialist im IT Bereich ) for their PCs that are Socket 1150 compatible, wants about 30-euros more to go from 12GB to 16GB DDR3-1600 and that is likely worth while to do, if one believes the video editing can take advantage of that memory.
wrt motherboard compatibility, I am a bit surprised about how difficult it has been to find information on motherboards and any associated experience/compatibility with GNU/Linux. Possibly the selections that my suppliers offer are too specific/limited. In fact the ankermann supplier offers other motherboards, but if selected they don’t offer other component compatibility guarantee - which for me is important. Its a pain to return a PC ordered via mail order.
>
> upscope;2610425 Wrote:
>>
>> I have a new Gigabyte Z87-D3HP (see Signature below) Have had no
>> problem with it. have had about one month, openSUSE 12.3 and 13.1
>> installed on
>> it. Mine is an I5 but the board does support I7 also.
>>
>> –
>> openSUSE 13.1 (3.11.6-4-desktop)| GIGABYTE Z87-D3HP (Intel(R)
>> Quad Core™ i5-4440 CPU @ 3.10GHz)|8GB DDR3|GeForce 8400GS
>> (NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-331.20)|KDE 4.11.3
>
> Thinking a bit further wrt the Gigabyte Z87-D3HP I am a bit curious
> as to some motherboard specific experience.
>
>
> - I note you have a nvidia GeForce 8400GS. Does that mean you
> disabled the on-board graphics on the motherboard ?
Yes, heard of problems in past with Intel graphics, not
specifically with the one on this motherboard. I have been running the
GS8400 with the Intel 331-20 driver.originally installed the hardway but
recently update to the repo version. No problems but originally
installed with the --no-undefined-memory option. Not sure if repo
version changed that.
> - Do you use the UEFI firmware in EFI mode, or do you have a CSM
> legacy (or similar) mode selected ? (and hence do you use GPT for
> your disks, or do you use the older MBR ? )
EFI is enabled and working , not sure about the GPt as I don’t
fully understand this area. I have secure boot disabled.
> - Do you have any observations on the USB-3.0 ports compatibility with
> USB-3.0 devices wrt data transfer speeds ?
All my ports are USB-3.) and all my devices are 2.0, no problem
except with scanner (Brother MFC Printer) But problem appears to be SANe
or XSANE packages, since Skanlite works. I just bought a Scandisk
thumbdrive whichI am told is USB 3.0 but its still in the wrapper.
> - How is the motherboard cooling ? I guess a Core-i5 does not run
> that hot, so have you only a CPU fan and a power supply fan and one
> PC case fan in your PC housing/case ?
Since I used my old case, etc. I have a main back panel fan. cpu
fan, and two on the front panel for the disk bay 9 used to have four
disk, now only have two 1TB drives. My graphic card fan is dead but so
far no heat problems. I was going to replace it but ran out of money.
>
The motherboard supports i3,i5 and i7.
Sorry I took so long to reply, been laid up with bad back and could sit
for long.
Many thanks for that input. Your success helps move that graphic card up to be a top contender in my decision making selection.
wrt PC suppliers (by mail order) and motherboards, a colleague at work pointed me to another PC supplier where I can custom build a PC without an OS. They seem to favour the MSI-H81M-P33 V2 motherboard in a lot of their recommend PC systems, at a very good price. … but I am struggling to find ANY reports of that motherboard working with GNU/Linux, so I may take a pass on it and go with a motherboard where I have read of some success stories (such as yours with the GIGABYTE Z87-D3HP).
That links was broken. I don’t want to spam the forum so PM me if you can not figure out the proper link from the one I posted (that has a typo in it).
Not sure where the i7-930 came from, but yeah the 4930K isn’t worth the huge premium unless you have some real use for all its cores.
Definitely not for that price increment.
Agreed, I don’t think you’d regret buying 16GB.
Usually once the OS you want to install is confirmed to run well on one motherboard, it’ll run equally well on other boards with the same chipset. Just make sure the board you receive will have a BIOS updated to support whatever CPU you plan to install, especially if it was recently released.
