# Gigabyte versus Asus motherboard?



## PacketMan (Nov 3, 2017)

Well folks, I think the time has come for me to build or buy a 'newer' machine.  Is there a strong hands down preference for Gigabyte verus Asus motherboard? Will use with Intel i5 7400 CPU with 8GB ram out of the gate.  The server will be my home server running 365/24 running 10.3 but eventually going to 11.x and 12.x (-RELEASE) over time.  Might run a couple VMs on it, and it will be Plex (too be replaced with Emby it seems), BTSync, miniDLNA, Squid, and Synth mostly.  Will likely run some other ports here n there to learn from; Squid currently.

If it matters the motherboards I am currently looking at are:
Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H ATX MB, S.1151, DDR4, PCIE, USB 3.0
Asus Prime B250M-C S.1151 MB, DDR4

Thanks again everyone.


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## SirDice (Nov 3, 2017)

I have both Gigabyte and Asus mainboards (not your models, different ones). Neither has given me any issues over the years so I have no preference for one or the other, they're both good.

Kaby Lake GPU is still a bit of a problem but that shouldn't matter for a server that only uses console and no X.


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## PacketMan (Nov 3, 2017)

SirDice said:


> ...Kaby Lake GPU is still a bit of a problem but that shouldn't matter for a server that only uses console and no X.



As always thanks again SirDice.  Yeah my server will be 'headless' so to say. No X. Console only gets used when I goof a stupid move on the box and it won't boot.

Hmmm, so Kaby Lake is a bit dicey is it?  Is that just with X?    I just started into reading https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/faq/hardware.html  but there is no mention of Kaby Lake issues.  The page looks fairly up to date and only thing I see quickly is that I need 11.1 to run Intel Core i series processors. So I will have to upgrade my old server to 11.1 before I migrate the drives over, or do a fresh install on the new machine.


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## SirDice (Nov 3, 2017)

PacketMan said:


> Hmmm, so Kaby Lake is a bit dicey is it? Is that just with X?


It's just with X, console shouldn't be problem.



> The page looks fairly up to date and only thing I see quickly is that I need 11.1 to run Intel Core i series processors.


I don't think it matters, my server has a Core i5 and it's been running since FreeBSD 9, upgraded to 10 when it was available, and to 11 when that came out.


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## PacketMan (Nov 3, 2017)

You rather a Coffee Lake cpu?  8th generation Core 'i' series.  I hate risking issues.


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## SirDice (Nov 3, 2017)

```
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470 CPU @ 3.20GHz (3192.81-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin="GenuineIntel"  Id=0x306a9  Family=0x6  Model=0x3a  Stepping=9
  Features=0xbfebfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CLFLUSH,DTS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,
HTT,TM,PBE>
  Features2=0x7fbae3ff<SSE3,PCLMULQDQ,DTES64,MON,DS_CPL,VMX,SMX,EST,TM2,SSSE3,CX16,xTPR,PDCM,PCID,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,x2APIC,POPCNT,TSCDLT
,AESNI,XSAVE,OSXSAVE,AVX,F16C,RDRAND>
  AMD Features=0x28100800<SYSCALL,NX,RDTSCP,LM>
  AMD Features2=0x1<LAHF>
  Structured Extended Features=0x281<FSGSBASE,SMEP,ERMS>
  XSAVE Features=0x1<XSAVEOPT>
  VT-x: PAT,HLT,MTF,PAUSE,EPT,UG,VPID
  TSC: P-state invariant, performance statistics
```

It's an 'old' one by today's standards


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## rigoletto@ (Nov 3, 2017)

None of them: Supermicro


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## Beeblebrox (Nov 3, 2017)

I've used Gigabyte before and completely hated it.
I currently have an Asus and it has never caused me any problems.
However, I built my own system from components and that's just my experience.


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## Phishfry (Nov 3, 2017)

I opted for a Gigabyte server board myself. I wanted an ECC platform so I chose skylake Xeon.

```
CPU: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E3-1230 v5 @ 3.40GHz (3408.17-MHz K8-class CPU)
  Origin="GenuineIntel"  Id=0x506e3  Family=0x6  Model=0x5e  Stepping=3
  Features=0xbfebfbff<FPU,VME,DE,PSE,TSC,MSR,PAE,MCE,CX8,APIC,SEP,MTRR,PGE,MCA,CMOV,PAT,PSE36,CLFLUSH,DTS,ACPI,MMX,FXSR,SSE,SSE2,SS,HTT,TM,PBE>
  Features2=0x7ffafbff<SSE3,PCLMULQDQ,DTES64,MON,DS_CPL,VMX,SMX,EST,TM2,SSSE3,SDBG,FMA,CX16,xTPR,PDCM,PCID,SSE4.1,SSE4.2,x2APIC,MOVBE,POPCNT,TSCDLT,AESNI,XSAVE,OSXSAVE,AVX,F16C,RDRAND>
  AMD Features=0x2c100800<SYSCALL,NX,Page1GB,RDTSCP,LM>
  AMD Features2=0x121<LAHF,ABM,Prefetch>
  Structured Extended Features=0x29c6fbf<FSGSBASE,TSCADJ,SGX,BMI1,HLE,AVX2,SMEP,BMI2,ERMS,INVPCID,RTM,NFPUSG,MPX,RDSEED,ADX,SMAP,CLFLUSHOPT,PROCTRACE>
  XSAVE Features=0xf<XSAVEOPT,XSAVEC,XINUSE,XSAVES>
  VT-x: PAT,HLT,MTF,PAUSE,EPT,UG,VPID
  TSC: P-state invariant, performance statistics
real memory  = 17179869184 (16384 MB)
avail memory = 16508174336 (15743 MB)
```


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## aht0 (Nov 4, 2017)

If you had chosen AMD processor, it would be nobrainer: Asus.
Asus+AMD combo usually allows using unbuffered-ECC RAMs on consumer board.
Asus+Intel, not much outside workstation boards.


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## gpw928 (Nov 8, 2017)

Hi,

ASUS + AMD has worked pretty well for me.  No problems, but I don't overclock.

I see that the Intel i5 7400 supports both VT-x and VT-d, which is good to "run a couple VMs".  Without VT-d your VM guest Ethernet bandwidth will generally be limited.  It's worth mentioning that the CPU, BIOS and the motherboard must all support these features.

I no longer buy CPUs or motherboards that don't support ECC, Intel VT-x (or AMD-V), and Intel VT-d (or AMD-Vi).  AES-NI is important too.  The ECC requirement eliminates all Intel desktop CPUs.  But opens all options once I have made the investment.  My physical server fleet is coming down to three (ZFS, MythTV, and KVM for everything else).

Cheers,


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## poorandunlucky (Nov 22, 2017)

I wouldn't buy a Gigabyte mainboard...


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## Oko (Nov 22, 2017)

PacketMan said:


> Well folks, I think the time has come for me to build or buy a 'newer' machine.  Is there a strong hands down preference for Gigabyte verus Asus motherboard? Will use with Intel i5 7400 CPU with 8GB ram out of the gate.  The server will be my home server running 365/24 running 10.3 but eventually going to 11.x and 12.x (-RELEASE) over time.  Might run a couple VMs on it, and it will be Plex (too be replaced with Emby it seems), BTSync, miniDLNA, Squid, and Synth mostly.  Will likely run some other ports here n there to learn from; Squid currently.
> 
> If it matters the motherboards I am currently looking at are:
> Gigabyte GA-B250M-DS3H ATX MB, S.1151, DDR4, PCIE, USB 3.0
> ...


I doubted that there is much difference in that price range. If you live in U.S. you can go to local junk yard and get probably better stuff. For what is worthy to you I just built two virtual hosts using ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS LGA 2011-v3 Intel C612 PCH SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI EEB Intel Motherboard

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132416

which I got on the sale for about $450 a peace. While the motherboard has two CPU sockets you can put one CPU for the starters and expand later if you have need (money).  We got Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 Broadwell-EP 2.1 GHz   (8-core processor) for around $400. The motherboard supports up to 0.5 TB of ECC RAM. I am running both my builds with 128 GB for now Crucial 128GB (4 X 32GB) DDR4 PC4-17000 2133MHz ECC Registered
288-Pin Server Memory Model CT4K32G4RFD4213 if you care  which I got for $1,594.93. I really like the fact that you can install OS on M.2 drive and use all 8 sata connectors (all 6 Gb/s) for data. It is a great configuration for file server and virtual host alike. Oh for people who care about IPMI yes it does have a dedicated IPMI LAN.

This is the complete built if you care about


ASUS Z10PE-D16 WS LGA 2011-v3 Intel C612 PCH SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 SSI EEB Intel Motherboard
2 x Intel Xeon E5-2620 V4 Broadwell-EP 2.1 GHz   (8-core processor)
2 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Coolers
Crucial 128GB (4 X 32GB) DDR4 PC4-17000 2133MHz ECC Registered
288-Pin Server Memory Model CT4K32G4RFD4213 $1,594.93
EVGA 1000 GQ, 80+ GOLD 1000W, Semi Modular, EVGA ECO Mode
Thermaltake Core X9 Black E-ATX Stackable Tt LCS Certified Cube Chassis CA-1D8-00F1WN-00
Transcend 32 GB SATA III 6Gb/s MTS600 60 mm M.2 SSD Solid State Drive TS32GMTS600 for Xen Hypervisor $40
8 x Transcend 128GB MLC SATA III as a disk drive for a virtual host(s)
Couple things before I finish this post. People who care for GPU computing (or just want a fancy video) yes it would be vary easy to add one possibly 2 NVidia Titan Xp (make sure you house electric grid will be OK with it before adding) on to that which run $1200 a peace. I have tested above build with it but pull out the video cards as we don't have the need for them right now.

While I ended up running Alpine Linux Xen Dom0 I have tested the build with FreeBSD 11.1 (without NVidia card which were tested while running Red Hat) and it runs like a champ. You could passthrough NVidia card to one of the virtual hosts if you are using Xen and use that one for GPU computing or as your desktop.

If I have to say one bad thing about above motherboard it is that network controllers are 1 Gigabit only but it is very easy to expand the board with dual 10 Gigabit LAN which you can pick up on -Ebay for about $200.


How much does it cost? Well if you put only 1 CPU ($400) and 64 GB of RAM ($750) you will can easily go under 2K (obviously without NVIdia stuff) depending on the number of HDDs you put which is perfectly within a price range kids spend on gaming rigs these days.


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## PacketMan (Nov 23, 2017)

gpw928 said:


> Hi,
> 
> ASUS + AMD has worked pretty well for me.  No problems, but I don't overclock.
> 
> ...



I've been looking at some of the AMD Ryzen CPUs.  Trying to compare like for like, and it seems the Ryzens have an edge for workstation use (due to extra threads), while the Intel Core CPUs seem to have the edge for gaming and video.

I just might buy something today or tomorrow.


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## PacketMan (Dec 28, 2017)

Hmmm, I had settled on this motherboard:
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ...156.729581215.1514473675-176087076.1514473675
but I see now the LAN Chipset is  Realtek 8111H.  Looks like there are some posts here that Realtek is troublesome.

This one has Intel I219-V for its LAN Chipset:
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813119037
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813119041

Thoughts anyone?

The goal is to use this little bad boy:
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produ...878.729581215.1514473675-176087076.1514473675


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## PacketMan (Dec 29, 2017)

Well its done. Ordered.  Hopefully it works. 

Intel Core i5-7400, cooler, fan.
1 x 16GB DDR4 2400 ram
ASUS motherboard (https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132975)
and a new case with 500w power supply.

There was a bunch of sales on, so a saved a few bucks and got the prices down below the threshold where the wife hits me with cast iron frying pan (think of the movie "Throw momma from the train"), for just a little bit less performance for my needs.  Someday later I might add some SSD stuff, and maybe another 16GB ram stick.

Thanks everyone for your help with this.


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## bisi (Feb 22, 2018)

I have been  chasing ASUS motherboard-based machines for a few months.  I have noticed a pattern, with both freeBSD 10.4 and 11.1, that a reboot command results in the system never getting to the actual restart.

have you any experience with issuing the reboot command and having your machine successfully reboot.

We have been using ASUS for years with nothing but success.  The basic deployment is essentially an NFS on ZFS host, used for backing up esxi boxes, and handling rsnapshots of various servers.  Plus miscellaneous duties as assigned.


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## Deleted member 9563 (Feb 22, 2018)

Both brands have worked just fine for me in numerous computers over the years. One option you might look for is memory slots. It's nice to have 4 so that a couple of years down the line, there's an easy upgrade without having to give up the memory you already have.


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## PacketMan (Feb 22, 2018)

bisi said:


> I have been  chasing ASUS motherboard-based machines for a few months.  I have noticed a pattern, with both freeBSD 10.4 and 11.1, that a reboot command results in the system never getting to the actual restart.
> 
> have you any experience with issuing the reboot command and having your machine successfully reboot.



Are you saying you have been having this issue with ASUS boards since 10.4? Or other boards and thus your interest in ASUS?  I did not buy yet, been waiting for a few reasons, including this Intel/AMD cpu issue, and now that I have changed my mind to abandon Intel, and use AMD I am waiting for AMD to release some new CPUs and see how their all their pricing shakes out.


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## sko (Feb 22, 2018)

lebarondemerde said:


> None of them: Supermicro


+1

I have a ASUS mainboard in my skylake desktop at home - the UEFI is _horribly_ slow and messes up boot entries from time to time (and duplicates them at every boot...). Same goes for essentially all "consumer-hardware"  I have to deal with at work: EFI implementations even on new systems are still horrible, buggy and annoying on most/almost all of them. During the last ~2 years it became quite common for "desktop-EFI" to try to be intelligent and mess around with boot entries - PXE-based deployments are essentially impossible with them as they automatically switch to booting from disk after first setup...  Some implementations even still can't boot EFI with other OSes than Windows, so you are stuck with the ancient legacy boot on brand-new hardware...

On our supermicro servers the EFI is rock-solid reliable and the configuration screens are properly laid out without an annoyingly overloaded "pretty" GUI slapped on them.
They just work (TM) and don't try to be "intelligent" and interfere with your setup, so essentially these are fire-and-forget. For my own systems I'd go with supermicro any time and If they would offer intel NUCs I'd buy them at the company; but for now I'm stuck there with ASRock and intel NUCs.
Supermicro boards are usually also very carefully laid out to support clean cabling and airflow; something that is lacking on pretty much all consumer oriented desktop boards.


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## bisi (Feb 23, 2018)

PacketMan said:


> Are you saying you have been having this issue with ASUS boards since 10.4? Or other boards and thus your interest in ASUS?  I did not buy yet, been waiting for a few reasons, including this Intel/AMD cpu issue, and now that I have changed my mind to abandon Intel, and use AMD I am waiting for AMD to release some new CPUs and see how their all their pricing shakes out.



I take it  from your comments that you cancelled your order mentioned in post #16?  I ask because we tested a b250-based ASUS board and had the same failure.

By way of explanation, we have a stock install process for FreeBSD and a particular deployment scenario, and have been doing it for years with ASUS desktop boards. The key is that these are inexpensive desktop boards running (for the most recent attempt) i5 cpus.  For the application at hand (light duty raidz-2 supporting backup of esxi servers via NFS, rsnapshots, and other miscellany) these are perfect.  The extra expense of a server board is wasted money.  The deployments typically last 5-7 years (usually one set of disk replacements/upgrades for the raidz array).  I hate messing with a winning formula, hence my interest in this class of board.  Supermicro boards, for all their virtues, cost 4 to 5 times as much and give no benefit to my clients (for this application).

I recently attempted to install 11.1, and then 10.4 on a new ASUS board, and soon discovered that reboot and shutdown -h did not work.   (The test set expanded from there -- see the list at https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/asus-reboot-issue.64798/).  I now have to swap out the emergency loaner server I built with an older machine from the client's place (when we discovered the new one was unmanageable), and put in something they own.

So, if anybody has recent experience with this class of motherboard (with an i5/i7 cpu, FreeBSD 11.x and a raidz-2 array, and knows that reboot works, I'd love to know about it.


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## PacketMan (Feb 23, 2018)

bisi said:


> I take it  from your comments that you cancelled your order mentioned in post #16?
> ..........
> (The test set expanded from there -- see the list at https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/asus-reboot-issue.64798/).



Yeah I cancelled that order due to the Intel CPU kernel exposure issues that came to the news recently. I'm waiting for a few AMD CPUs to be released so I can make a better buying choice.

...and yeah found your other discussion thread afterwards. 

I'm guessing you haven't tested / used any ASUS boards with AMD Ryzen5 eh?


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## swegen (Feb 24, 2018)

Some Gigabyte boards have this BIOS backup feature that without asking creates a HPA to a hard drive removing data from the end of disk. I was once bitten by this and have chosen other brands ever since. Not sure if this "feature" still exists in current products.

https://francisfisher.me.uk/problem...and-gigabyte-motherboards-such-as-ga-p35-ds4/


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## bisi (Mar 5, 2018)

bisi said:


> So, if anybody has recent experience with this class of motherboard (with an i5/i7 cpu, FreeBSD 11.x and a raidz-2 array, and knows that reboot works, I'd love to know about it.



this weekend we installed 11.1-RELEASE on an ASUS TUF Z370 PLUS board, for the scenario describe above, and it behaves as desired.  Being a gaming board it lacks a VGA port (DVI+HDMI only), but oh well.  Maybe the CSM boards will work pretty soon.  Here's hoping it has the same kind of longevity as what we've been using so far.


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