Suggestions for an integrated server board please

[Dea]

I need a board for a server - the server will be for application and file sharing.
I am looking for a board that has audio and video integrated. It is not important whether it is AMD or Intel.
I am thinking of either a AMD XP 2600+ 333FSB CPU or an AMD with Barton core or a 2gb Intel

It is important to access the info fast so I plan to have 1GB of ram. Any other suggestion for making it fasterwithout a costlier CPU are welcome

Thanks

 

[mechBgon]

Gigabit ethernet for sure, bro. All the server-side speed in the world comes to a screeching halt at a 100MBit network adapter (12.5 megabytes per second theoretical max). If it were me, I'd be thinking Opteron 140 on a Tyan Tomcat K8S with two 512MB Corsair Registered-ECC PC2700 DDR modules... check pricing at monarchcomputer, looks like it's a little over $500 if you get the retail-boxed processor with the fan/heatsink included. The mobo has onboard video and gigabit Ethernet as well as six 32-bit PCI slots.

 

[Peter]

... and the Gbit Ethernet chip is on that same slow PCI bus too. Depending on how many workstations it'll serve, you might want something with a little more headroom - like Tyan's stronger models with PCI-X bus segments and potential for a 2nd CPU (along with more RAM) come the need for it.

 

[Jhhnn]

How many clients will this box serve? What OS? It's easy to overbuild.. depending....