What motherboard should I purchase? (Solve, Completed)

[mtw85]

Hello I am new to the Gentoo forums, anyway I just want to have a suggestion for what motherboard should I get for my custom computer, like I'm using this computer for gaming and as a workstation any suggestions? Thank you.

P.S. I was researching for one and I looked at the GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO Wi-Fi (AMD Ryzen AM4/ATX/M.2 Thermal Guard with Onboard Wi-Fi/HDMI/DVI/USB 3.1 Gen 2/DDR4/Motherboard) would be fine but I don't know. Also I'm not going for like the latest tech and not very expensive, just some hardware that was made like 2 or 3 years ago. Thank you.

[NeddySeagoon]

mtw85,

Welcome to the forums.

Don't think about the motherboard in isolation. You need to consider the motherboard, RAM and CPU requirements together.
e.g. If you will ever want more than 64G RAM in the life of the system, you need 4 DIMM slots.

If you expect to upgrade the CPU, buy a motherboard that can take the best CPU you are likely to want.

Any motherboard chip set less than the X570 will only give you a single PCIe Gen 4 slot, for the primary graphics card.
Will that be OK for the life of the system?

Personally, a motherboard is for the life of the system, I don't replace them. GPUs and RAM on the other hard are upgrade targets and the old ones get passed on as upgrades to other family members.

I put a new system together in early September. They are in short supply. I had to get a motherboard with features that I'll never use because I couldn't get the one I wanted.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[mtw85]

Thank you for the suggestion, yeah I do need 4 DIMM slots because I want to maintain this computer for a long time. Also what about the type of brand because I researched and some other companies like AS Rock and MSI are not a great idea, which should I choose thank you. Also this computer is going to have AMD processor and Radion graphics card to be specific. The processer that I want to have is AMD and it about three to two years old like a Ryzen 7, but not the latest processor.

P.S Sorry I'm kind of new to building custom computers.

By the way thank you for welcoming me to the community I really appreciate it.

[technotorpedo]

Was hoping NeddySeagoon could link to a posting about the bucket list system, thing sounds like a monster and I'd be interested to read more about it. What geek and Linux user doesn't like talking about their hardware and specs afterall ?

@OP .. Seems like such a potentially complicated subject I don't have anything to offer, plus ... am not a gamer, never bothered focusing much on the topic ... outside of basics and that subject has to be almost a specialty field of gnu/Linux. Do think it couldn't hurt joining and/or stalking forums devoted to the topic and asking in those communities too. Gaming is no doubt a specific niche in gnu/Linux and like any niche that has a lot of interest, do know there are distro's dedicated to it. Would imagine they'd know plenty about the hardware side of things too. Have some good discussion and info for whoever wants to look over. Hope your build turns out well.

[mtw85]

Well this system is not like a beast of system, like I want to use it for some gaming and mostly like a workstation so like nothing to fancy. And sorry. Maybe not a Ryzen 7 something lower but I will research. So to sum it up a system that is not too latest tech something that you could still game on, use mostly like a workstation, and hardware that can last a long time. Also Thank you for the suggestion.

P.S. sorry for my grammar.

[DaggyStyle]

[mtw85]

So you think that the motherboard I selected could be alright for what I need like just for some gaming and mostly use of college and workstation (GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO Wi-Fi (AMD Ryzen AM4/ATX/M.2 Thermal Guard with Onboard Wi-Fi/HDMI/DVI/USB 3.1 Gen 2/DDR4/Motherboard) . If so, I do need to have it support expansion slots like two or three max. Sorry If I'm confusing the topic a bit. Also I don't plan to overclock.

[technotorpedo]

No worries my grammar (how badly it sucks) is the stuff of legend in some circles.

For whatever reason got the impression gaming was more of a focus. Still think there's merit in what was suggested. Such communties (gamer distro's or boards) should be discussing topics like best bang for a users buck hardware and pitfalls or OEM's known to be trouble. Comes to Linux and hardware overall, still think is a complicated affair but I tend to over-think just about everything. Things are subject to changing, up and downs, a brand might be good here, fall off there. A few times I've taken a stab at what you're describing, trying to zero in on sources of info which make it easier to identify OEM's that are consistently good for open source and those who are known to be problematic.

Never came across an authority database on it and that would be awesome if such a thing existed. Many distro's, quite likely this one tend to have a list your specs or show your system kind of threads. Always seemed like one place maybe worth checking. Sounds like you've already done some research and are thinking things through. I tend to agree with you that cutting edge hardware maybe not being best on the Linux platform, with open source taking a bit of time to catch up, am happy to think that's changing though.

You also mentioned AMD/Radeon, with them working more closely and open sourcing graphics drivers etc. Would stand to reason future would be getting brighter for people using that brand. Don't quote me on that though, as don't want to mislead you/anybody. Just the impression I got. Been awhile since comparing AMD vs Intel but generally always gotten the impression AMD offers a bit more, for a bit less. Definitely don't quote me there and then there's the Intel side-channel fiasco, Spectre and Meltdown and rampaging Gremlin on crack or whatever the latest exploit they've found in those old Intel's may be.

Only graphic's entity that's long been on my avoid list would have to be Nvidia, am sure there are plenty of people getting good results with their stuff too, only seen many a horror story from a Linux user related to them and if Linus Torvalds resorted to publicly giving them the finger ... you know ?

Personally don't think OEM's not jumping to support gnu/Linux are so much evil, it's just business and they reasonably enough don't want to invest a ton of effort into a small market segment, they're in it to make money. Still also as more people start using Linux, more users .. more potential profit. Thus do think things are changing for the better and more people are taking notice. Still always gotten the impression Nvidia has demonstrated a tad more hostility towards Linux users than needed. Thus the one finger salute from a guy like Linus T. Anyone who watches him on stuff like Youtube, a person can tell he's a fairly nice and level headed guy.

Must be bad for him to have gone that far with it. Well actually have read about it and yes, he and other people openly discuss Nvidia treating open source like a red-headed stepchild. Only 2 cents, too much coffee and A LOT of typing.

[mtw85]

Thank you for the response I really appreciate it, I will check with other gaming topic forums on the subject. And thank you for your help. Also yeah I done some research I believe that this mother-board is the best for my needs (GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO Wi-Fi (AMD Ryzen AM4/ATX/M.2 Thermal Guard with Onboard Wi-Fi/HDMI/DVI/USB 3.1 Gen 2/DDR4/Motherboard) I just thought there might be some other options, but I think I'll stick with it. Also what processor type should I use for both gaming and workstation, I want to stick with the Ryzen series anything from 5-7 or something like that not too old and not too new. Thank you.

[DaggyStyle]

[mtw85]

Alright thank you so much for the help so I'll keep that in mind to get fast ram. Thank you for help everyone have a nice day.

[technotorpedo]

^ Think dang good point too DaggyStyle. This has prompted my starting a thread. You're welcome for the wall of babblings @mtw85 and you're in the right place, no doubt a TON of very knowledgeable/experienced Linux users and techies among the Gentoo crowd. Think previous posts made it clear I kind of favor AMD but don't want to champion them exclusively. Sounds like you're already leaning towards a mobo/AMD based system.

Have seen Linux users in places discussing Ryzen's and believe overall gotten good reviews from those users. Errrr .. though I excel at finding new and exciting ways to bork Linux operating systems, more than in assembling of hardware. So ya may want to wait for more qualified feedback. Could help a bit too giving people here some idea of price range you're looking at. I mean it might influence suggestions somewhat.

Personally I favor buying used anyway, as I tend to stay broke. So really Intel/AMD doesn't so much matter to me, will still tend to avoid Nvidia, of course depending on spec$ and price, though mentioned I don't game, so nouveau would suit my needs anyway. Only ever use pc's for the same thing majority of people do with them and thanks to Linux, even dated hardware blazes along fine ...

[Anon-E-moose]

[technotorpedo]

Way over my posting quota but another good tip if don't already know it OP is using google advanced search, I really like the site: operator such as in the following search example ...

[NeddySeagoon]

mtw85,

I chose an X570 based motherboard because I wanted some future proofing.
My last PC was used for 12 years. If this PC lasts 12 years it may last longer than me.

The B... chipsets would do me today but maybe not in 5 years.
Having settled on the X570 chipset, the motherboard needed to be passively cooled. Mostly because small fans are noisy and don't last very long.

Passively cooled X570 chipset motherboards narrows the choice quite a lot.
It had to have 4 DIMM slots. My old motherboard started out with 2x2G sticks in 2009 and that was plenty. In 2019, its 16G maximum was no longer enough.

I did think of fitting 32Gx2 now and adding another 32Gx2 later but I'm supposed to be a pensioner, so there will not be much spare cash for PC updates.
I have a part time job right now, so I put the 128G max RAM in from day one. Its supposed to be 3200MHz capable but that needs over volting various bits and pieces, so it won't be happening here.

The CPU is a AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor because I'm not likely to have cash for updates once I retire again :)

I did not get a new video card. There are none to be had in the UK for sensible money. The video card was migrated from the old PC. Its a Radeon 540/540X/550/550X.
I'm not a gamer but I do have a 4k display. A video card, possibly a Radeon 5600 based card is a possibility.

Back to the motherboard. I expressly did not want WiFi or Bluetooth. My home network is physically segregated into trusted (Gentoo devices), untrusted wireless devices, e.g. Android devices. I did not want any accidental combined devices. While I found specs of suitable motherboards, there were none for sale.
I also did not want any flashing lights. The PC just sits there almost out of sight, its not a work of art. I had to have flashing lights too.

The 1TB NVMe card is PCIe4 to match the slots it goes in.

The PSU is well derated. Its an 850w unit bu probably never goes much over 500w. It will be quieter and last longer that way.

There is some rotating rust storage too. My /home is huge as almost nothing gets deleted. distfiles and packages are OK on conventional HDD, as magnetic drives are good at sequential access.

That's my rationale for my choices.

"Choices" is a bit of an overstatement. After that, it was a case of whats in stock, nowish or with believable dates.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[Anon-E-moose]

Neddy, about the memory, if the memory chips have xmp capability (many do) then you could use that setting and the mb should adjust all power settings properly for the "3200" speed.

That's how I set my mem, which is 3600, and it runs stable, I just set the xmp profile on the mb.

Edit to add: I'm glad I bought mine parts early 2020 before the supplies got ridiculous out/short supply/etc.
Should have bought another video card, as they were reasonable at that time. "oh well"
_________________
UM780, 6.12 zen kernel, gcc 13, openrc, wayland

[NeddySeagoon]

Anon-E-moose,

I'm a retired hardware engineer. XMP is another name for 'overclocking'. :)
The BIOS says its supported.

Maybe in a few years but while rust builds in under 15 minutes

[mtw85]

Thank you for an example bucket list and yeah that a bit expensive but I check this motherboard out, but I'm going to stick with my original picked board. Is it ok for a start cause I'm new to custom built computers.

[Anon-E-moose]

[NeddySeagoon]

mtw85,

It looks like a good place to start. Its reasonably upgradeable.

Think about the Video system you will start with. That motherboard can support a CPU with internal Graphics.
No separate video card required. If that is how you intend to go, that's fine.
If you will install a separate Video card, you are paying for motherboard features you will not use.

Combined GPU/CPU is generally a bad thing as the GPU pixel buffer is in main memory, not in the video card RAM.
This means that the GPU and CPU have to share the available bandwith.
The GPU needs to refresh the image on the display surface and draw the next image into the pixel buffer, so that memory bandwidth is lost to the CPU.

If you intent is to start with a combination GPU/CPU and add a separate graphics card later, that motherboard looks good.
I want comment on Gigabyte as a vendor as I have never used them.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[technotorpedo]

[mtw85]

Alright I believe that is what I need to know thank you for the help everyone, oh one more question which Ryzen is a good processor to start I heard Ryzen 5 3600 is a good start but what do you think? All I need is a powerful processor that is not too old and not too new just right and last a longtime.

[NeddySeagoon]

mtw85,

That's a processor only. You will need a Graphics card too.

Why buy a motherboard that can take a GPU/CPU combo then not use it?
You may be able to get a better motherboard without the video output hardware that that CPU cannot use.

Take care that you do not get an old stock motherboard. Your chosen CPU is Zen3.
Early versions of that motherboard were Zen1 and Zen2 only. They needed a BIOS update to work with Zen3 CPUs.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[mtw85]

Oh I am aware of that, I plan to purchase a Radion graphics card. Question I'm new to this but how do you update your motherboard firmware in Linux?

[Goverp]

One more thing to consider - support for ECC (error correcting) memory.

1. Researchers keep finding new Rowhammer attacks; maybe they're practical now; and
   
2. predicted error rates (from cosmic rays and the like) are (I forget the details) something like one bit flip every 10 hours for 16 GB memory; mostly they will be in unused memory (due to C's wasteful memory management), but sometimes things will break.

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Greybeard