# Motherboard/chipset recommendations?



## Senex (Mar 22, 2011)

I'm preparing to have a PC done at a custom-build shop, and looking for ATX motherboards & chipsets that are known to support FreeBSD 8. 

For motherboards, I would prefer ones having Dual-BIOS tech (Gigabyte? Asus?), with thermal sensors to monitor temperature. For chipsets, I would prefer AMD, ATI, VIA, or SIS brands. Must be compatible with either Phenom II (x2, x3, or x4) or Athlon II (x2, x3, or x4) CPU. 

If anyone is using motherboards/chipsets that conform to above needs, and you're well satisfied with them, please advise brand and model number.


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## jb_fvwm2 (Mar 23, 2011)

9150e (amd), msi k9ngm4 -f v2 (supports v8, supports v9 as of feb-2011; ) I bought each used. Ethernet works, sound via /oss/ (see my Howto) works, etc.  You'd want right-angle sata connectors for the motherboard to fit behind a pcie video card (onboard video somewhat cripples port builds, I found, on CURRENT anyway, maybe until I figure out how to really disable WITNESS etc, (... quite  a newbie with CURRENT... ))


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## francis (Mar 24, 2011)

A good source of information about hardware supported by FreeBSD is, for example, The hardware compatibility notes (for version 8.2). It is worth to check before start using FreeBSD.


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## Senex (Mar 24, 2011)

*Thanks but...*



			
				francis said:
			
		

> A good source of information about hardware supported by FreeBSD is, for example, The hardware compatibility notes (for version 8.2). It is worth to check before start using FreeBSD.



Found that a few days before I posted. It's useful for specifying some items like sound cards and such; not so good for details on specific motherboards/chipsets, CPUs, etc.

Not really interested in using really old hardware like AMD Athlon64 and Opteron, and it's not really clear whether or not what I'm hoping to use...Phenom II (X2, x3, or x4) or Athlon II (x2, x3, or x4) will work. Hopefully one day it will list all motherboards and chipsets known to work with FreeBSD!


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## Senex (Mar 25, 2011)

*Its true!*



			
				francis said:
			
		

> True. But it is better to know what e.g sound card or everything else is supported by FreeBSD, than later have some problems with e.g. not recognized CD during installation, right? :- )
> Good luck!



Of course, some info is always better than none at all. That said, most everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end (you have to crawl before you can walk, and learn to walk before you can run). Everything I've heard so far (all or some may or may not be true) says you must first have motherboard/chipset support of each operating system you intend to run, then pick CPU which must be compatible with each OS, and then all that determines which graphic card, sound card, and so on you can use. 

Is it useful to know which graphic card, sound card, etc., will work with FreeBSD? Sure! But this is still 'putting the cart before the horse'. My uncle always believed that when building a house, the proper foundation was always the most important first step, upon which all else relied.


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