null Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Current box: intel P-III 1000, 256 RAM, 40Gb H-D, nVidia GeF 2, TDK CD burner, RedHat 9 Desired box: AMD Athlon XP2400, 512 RAM, same H-D, nVidia GeF 3 (I have one laying around), and a Lite-on DVD burner LDW-411S (to replace the TDK CD burner) I have my eye on an MSI K7T-Turbo 2 mobo with an AMD Athlon XP2400 processor. I can't believe linux would have any problems with that mobo (KT133A-Via). Is that correct? I have seen other threads here where people are talking about having to patch the kernel to get some mobo stuff to work. I want a mobo that works out of the box. I don't believe this mobo has onboard LAN or onboard video. So basically what I'm asking is if there would be any probs with this mobo. I just want to take out the H-D from my old case and put it in my new case, since the H-D has a good working install of RH 9. I've never just taken a H-D out of one box and put it in another.... this should work ok right? this thread kind of replaces the dvd drive comments thread I first started... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 If you going to do it, you should be able to get a kt400 chipset for the same money or less!!! Check it out. Everything should work without a customized kernel. (Unless you got an insider's special! :wink: ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 thanks Ix. Yeah, I was asking the guy at the hardware store about the 400 chipset, but I guess he recommended the 133 board cuz I told him it was for a linux machine - he probably didn't recommend the newest stuff. I suppose I'll get a quote on a 400 board. I just didn't want to mess with kernel stuff, but maybe that is just for the "nforce" boards ? What about pulling the H-D with rh 9 from my old machine and putting it in the new one...? No problem right? I mean it should boot up OK... :? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Booting up with a new motherboard without reinstalling can be a tricky situation. It really depend on luck. Once I changed my mb from SiS730 to SiS735 and everything bootup ok without any hitch. Harddrake pretty much detected everything new. But when I changed the SiS735 to NForce2 nothing works, requiring a reinstall. Since it's a Via to Via upgrade, the chance of booting up is pretty big, but don't blame me if it doesn't work :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Definitely go with at least the KT400. I use an Asus A7V600 (it was $89 when I bought, but it has dropped to $86) which was just released, basically and it works out of the box. Installation went smoooooooth, but there was no support for the Via Southbridge and I had to patch the kernel for it. Big deal. The only thing was DMA wasn't enabled and it was sloooow until I patched the kernel. The latest kernel from cooker has the patch already added. Downloading the updated LAN driver for Linux from the Asus website and BANG, the Gigabit LAN works. I dunno about onboard sound, because I use my PCI card. Even lm_sensors detects the CPU and MoBo temp sensors and the CPU fan speed. It's got a very tweakable BIOS that's an overclocker's dream....you can change just about everything in it: FSB, multiplier, AGP settings, etc and it even had a preset OC value of 2200 MHz you can choose. 9.1 doesn't recognize the onboard SATA, but that's not a big deal to me, yet, as I have no SATA drives. I'm sure the 2.6 kernels will have support for it, if the latest from Cooker doesn't. Anyway, I strongly suggest the Asus a7v600 or something with a Via KT600 chipset. I would also spend a little extra to get a 2500+ instead of the 2400+ because the 2500 has the Barton core (much better L2 cache). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 The nforce install isn't really THAT bad! Once you do it its actually very nicely supported. + they seem to be developing fast.... When I got mine they only had a 9.0 compat driver but now they have 9.1 If you install anymore RAM youll need to recmpile the kernel anyway and whilst your at it you can optimise it for K7 :D I expect you'll only do this once becuase if they make the self compiling modules like for the graphics chipset then it should be easy :D Its probably your last pre-opteron board so go for the 400Mhz option and make sure you get enough life out of it for the opteron prices to really fall. I'd expect most stuff to be in MDK 10 with the 2.6 kernel by the time its released (SATA as you say) etc. I was a bit pissed off about the kernel recompile for the nforce at first but Im really pleased I did it now becuase everything works beautifully :D edit p.s. could sent you the modules precompiled anyway if you like! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 thanks for all the comments. let's see if I can recap what everyone said: Ix says a 400 mobo should work out of the box. Also, Steve says I should at least get a 400. OK, a 400 it shall be. The 600 chipset has some extra work to do, so since I don't have to "live on the edge", think I'll stick with a 400. I'm happy at the "upper mid-level". The nForce also appears to need extra work. Steve recommends a Barton core amd 2500 rather than the 2400. In fact, I did ask the tech guy at the store "so what's a 'Barton' ?" Can't remember what he said. But I'm gonna definately get a quote on one. Thanks Steve. As I mentioned at first, I'd like to just change my H-D to the new box (which I've never done before). I didn't think of the fact that since I installed RedHat 9 on a P-III machine, I may not be able just to switch it to a new AMD 2500 machine... :? Gowator says that if the new machine has more RAM (it will) then I would have to reinstall anyway. Hmmm... wonder if I just put a 256 stick in my new machine (same amount of RAM as my old machine), put in the old H-D, see if it boots. If boots OK, THEN install the other 256 stick, for a total of 512RAM... :? Or do you have to reinstall or recompile either way... :? jeez, this is more complicated than I expected. Thanks to Gowator for the "precompiled" offer, but I'm on RH 9 for the time being (I really like it so far - nice looking distro) Guess I wouldn't mind re-installing RH 9 in the new box. The original install went pretty easy. And I haven't really done too much tinkering yet. Think the only things I've done was to fix the nvidia 3D drivers, install & setup apt-get, and do an apt-get upgrade. Also I apt-getted k3b. Hmmm... now that I think about it, I'd rather re-use my current RH install in the new box, if possible. I hate re-doing things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 Steve recommends a Barton core amd 2500 rather than the 2400. In fact, I did ask the tech guy at the store "so what's a 'Barton' ?" Can't remember what he said. But I'm gonna definately get a quote on one. Thanks Steve. As a matter of fact, I originally asked on this board about the Barton. I asked whether it would be better to get the 2600+ or the 2500+ with the Barton core. I was told that the Barton core more than makes up for the loss of a couple hundred MHz. It's all about the bigger L2 cache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted October 2, 2003 Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 ... Gowator says that if the new machine has more RAM (it will) then I would have to reinstall anyway. Hmmm... wonder if I just put a 256 stick in my new machine (same amount of RAM as my old machine), No , its only if you go past 868MB you need to recompile the kernel. Actually Mandrkae do provide one they call enterprise BUT is tuned for stability rather than speed! The nforce isn't really thay much work.....I wouldn't let it put you off if you see a MOBO you want.... you can switch the disk because the mandrake kernel is i586 optimised, it isn't using any of the special K7 stuff- if you want it optimised then recompile it.... Its not long on a 2600+ barton. In fact recompiling a kernel is actually less fidly than getitng some apps to run.... When I did mine I enabled 4GB memory adressing, optimised for K7 (athalon code) AND included the nforce drivers.... all in all about 1/2 hour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2003 ok, but let's not overlook that currently I'm using redhat 9 and not mandrake. If I put in the old H-D in a new box that has a new mobo, I won't have to reinstall RH 9 ? This is the main thing that is bugging me. I hate re-doing things, although that's how you learn, right... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 4, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2003 I think I will just stick with my current mobo and P-III processor. That way I can keep my current H-D with my RH 9 on it. Can a P4 processor be put in a P-III mobo or do they require diff mobos ? Also, I'll just bump up my 256RAM to 512RAM. That should be enough under the hood for whatever I need to do in linux. I don't play any high-end games. I just want to learn the basics of linux and burn CDs and DVDs. btw: the computer hardware store that I go to told me that basically kt400 boards were "old news" and the only thing they were selling anymore are nForce2 boards - because thats what the gamers want... When I originally started this thread, I was kind of thinking I could basically get a new mobo, AMD instead on Intel, and just re-use the existing H-D without any problam. Didn't realize that would probably not work. So the only question remaining is: can a P-III processor be changed to a P4, using the same mobo ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonMage Posted October 5, 2003 Report Share Posted October 5, 2003 btw: the computer hardware store that I go to told me that basically kt400 boards were "old news" and the only thing they were selling anymore are nForce2 boards - because thats what the gamers want... Actually, would you believe that KT400 was out after NForce2? However, the performance was so bad that VIA is forced to release KT600, and even then it still cannot match Nforce2. The glory days of VIA is over I guess. So the only question remaining is: can a P-III processor be changed to a P4, using the same mobo ? In a word, no. P3 and P4 are so different that they require new motherboard. Hey, even changing from one P4 to a newer P4 requires a new motherboard. Yes, Intel is THAT bad with upgrade path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2003 yeah, I really wanted to go AMD. Its just that with all the hair pulling I've been doing lately installing OO1.1, j2sdk, blah, blah - I just want to use the same rh9 install on the same H-D. I could bump up the RAM on my P-III 1000 from 256Mb to 512Mb - not sure how much diff that would make - but DVD burning software recommends 512 (at least the windoze ones do) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2003 hell, I suppose I will just leave my current linux box as is... its not exactly a slouch.... Over the next month or 2, I'm gonna pick up a small black Antec case, an nForce2 mobo, an AMD barton, new H-D, 512Mb RAM and just put it together slowly as I can afford the components. Maybe a big new linux distro will be out by then... :? and I can do a fresh install. Good practice. I can let my son have my current linux machine. Maybe he'll be a linux geek by the time he's in high school... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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