building a server with evaluation copy of Windows 2003 Server

[Martyuk39]

I want to put together a basic system with my favoured Asus A7N8X-VM400 mobo - after I've finished evaluating I'll probably sell the system/use it as a workstation, hence my wanting to buy this type of board.

So, the question is will the motherboard (or any similar consumer boards) support Win 2003 Server? I've been to the Microsoft HCL. I've been to Asus and Nvidia - there's an audio driver listed but nothing else specific for 2003. Does this mean it won't work? Or will it just about work with drivers written for 2000 or XP? The folder structure on the installation CD goes up to 2000 and XP but not beyond.

Generally when I've used a board such as this for an XP install , ethernet, audio, usb, vga drivers all need installing. It's never going to be a mission-critical server. I suppose all I'll actually need is ethernet and I could probably install an add-on NIC if the built-in ethernet didn't work.

 

[mechBgon]

That board should be fine. I did some WinServer2003 evaluation and one of the boards I used was a Shuttle AN35N Ultra, another nForce2 board. Another was an old Asus CUV4X with a 466MHz Celeron.

Bigger picture: I'd advise in favor of some other nF2 IGP board than the Asus. My observation is that they can be fussy about memory. If I got the Asus, I'd get PC2700 and a DDR333-bus CPU. Although I'd be more inclined to get an A64, maybe with that Asus K8S-MX, which does appear to have memory-voltage adjustments.

 

[MiniDoom]

the XP audio drivers should work just fine on your server.

 

[Martyuk39]

I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to memory so I always buy Crucial and it always works with the Asus boards.

Thanks for your help

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: Martyuk39
I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to memory so I always buy Crucial and it always works with the Asus boards.

Thanks for your help

I'm an asus snob, and used to be a crucial snob. It's a great way to go, so don't let me discourage you.

I've been buying other brands recently and they've been working just fine (even if they aren't listed as tested and working ).

Although, I did have some issues with the ram I installed recently... But that could have been any number of things...