[Gllug] Core 2 duo / Intel 965 chipset

[Mike Brodbelt]

Chris Bell wrote:
> On Sat 11 Nov, John Hearns wrote:

>    I can read the very brief descriptions on the boxes in stock, including
> motherboards from Asus, GigaByte, Foxconn, Winfast, and others, but I have
> no idea which are a total NO at present, maybe - requires testing, or should
> work.

There's no easy way to be sure, but there are some good general tips.
Anythong with an Intel chipset will be well supported - Intel make an
effort to make sure all their stuff works, including GPL'd 3D support
for their graphics chips. I'd avoid board based around the nVidia nForce
chipsets, personally. If you're getting an AMD bases system, you're
probably best with one based on a VIA chipset.

> For example, I noticed that one board carried a Broadcom NIC, and I
> understand that could be a problem, or is that now sorted?

Th Broadcom 43xx wireless chipset and the Gigabit chipset has been
reverse engineered, so that's much less of a problem than it used to be.
Intel Gigabit chipsets have worked well for a long time, as has stuff
based on the Broadcom tg3 driver.

> I may even be
> able to borrow some for testing, as well as using one for myself. As you
> say, new variations arrive continuously. I am trying to get information
> direct, but that is not easy, and there are often language difficulties.

The best thing is to decide what you want to but, then spend a half day
with Google checking compatibility before you actually buy. Choosing
companies that are "good citizens" makes you a bit safer - you'll not go
for wrong with AMD, Intel, VIA and so on.

Also, Wikipedia is becoming a surprisingly good resource for hardware
compatibility in some cases. Look at this page for example:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_source_wireless_drivers

HTH,

Mike
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