AMD or Nvidia Chipsets

PhilGQ · 27 Nov 2009 at 19:49

I am thinking of upgrading my motherboard and CPU. I am after an AM2+ board so I can keep my DDR2 Ram.

I am currently on an Nvidia board of some years old, but all the AM2+ Nvidia boards seem a bit dated or expensive. My question is are the AMD Chipsets Linux friendly or should I stick with Nvidia.

I know on the graphics side Nvidia is better then AMD/ATI, buts thats not a problem since I will be keeping by GF8600. I don't anticipate that Compiz will need SLI any time soon so that is not an issue.

I have been eyeing this

http://http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-199-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=1482

Your thoughts and comments would be very welcome.

PhilGQ · 28 Nov 2009 at 13:56

Thanks guys, that is great help will probably go for the board I linked to above.

@ NightSt@lker

I have heard intel hardware support is good, they do open source drivers and the like, if I was building from scratch I would go for an i5 rig. Since I have 6GB of DDR2 in the current system the choice is between AthlonII/PhenomII on am2+ or Core2 Due/Quad on 775. I am looking at spending £150-£180 and I think I would get better band per buck on AMD.

PhilGQ · 29 Nov 2009 at 10:13

If I where to go Intel it probably have to be:

Foxconn ELA Intel P45 (Socket 775)
Core 2 Quad 8200

Which is £178.98

If I go AMD it would be:

Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD3P AMD 790X (Socket AM3/AM2+)
AMD Athlon II X4 Quad Core 630 2.80GHz (Socket AM3)

Which is £183.97

Now I am not sure which I should go for

PhilGQ · 29 Nov 2009 at 10:39

FirebarUK said:
The AMD 790X (and appropriate southbridge) is well supported in Linux.

Thats good to hear, I have been looking at some comparisons of Athlon II X4 compare with Q8200 and the Intel doesn't seem to do so well.