Stable Dual Mobo for Linux? (likely not via, but good ol' BX)

[bubba]

I am looking at putting together a dual processor box. This will be for linux for a workhorse number cruncher, so it needs to be stable. I would go for stability above features. Also I am not really looking into the high end server-level boards. I will likely be putting as fast PIIIs as we can afford onto this board. I am now looking at these:

Supermicro P6DBE
Tyan Tiger 100
Asus P2BD

As you notice, I am looking at good ol' BX boards. I am pretty sure there are no conflicts with newer PIIIs, but I will likely have to use a FCPGA and a slocket, correct? Do any of these have clearance issues with slockets and flip-chps?

Unfortunately the Via support is not quite there yet in Linux. It is moving very quickly because there are so many Via boards out there now, but right now I do not think it is the most solid solution. I think by a couple of revisions into the 2.4 kernel we will probably be there in terms of stability though.

So, does anyone have any opinions about these boards? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[DieselMan]

P6DBE is from SuperMicro, not Microstar! All 3 are excellent boards. The only one that has a 1/4 PCI divider at 133 is the Asus (which is also the most expensive of the bunch). If you don't plan to OC to 133 (or if you know all your components can handle 44Mhz PCI bus), then just go for the P6DBE or Tiger 100; they're both legendary boards. I think all 3 have problems with ACPI though, but I am not too sure.

 

[bubba]

Ooops, my typo.

I am not even thinking of overclocking this box. It is going to be a number cruncher in a research group.

 

[nexus9]

I just bought parts for two dual cpu machines (also destined to run linux & crunch numbers). Got the MSI694D. Good review over at tomshardware...

-Nexus9