Opinions on Abit NF-M2 nView system and Ubuntu/Fedora

[nemo]

Hi. This is my first post here, btw. And the first time I have built a system from scratch (though I've replaced bits and bobs from time to time in my old store bought PC). I was thinking of building this system:

• Abit NF-M2 nView
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (65w)
• Corsair 2024MB TwinX XMS2 6400 (800Mhz) DDR2
• Aspire X-Plorer Metal Case
• Pure Power TR2 470W
• Recycle my old ATA133 160Gb HDD and DVD-RW for time being

I was thinking of running the 64bit version of Ubuntu (or Kubuntu), though I've read that there are problems with this motherboard and the latest version 7.04 (and maybe the previous 6.06). Does anyone have any experience of using Ubuntu with this board? Or Fedora 6 or 7 (which is what I have been using on my old 32bit system)?

Also, can anyone see anything way off in my choice of components? Any problems with the 65w Athlon? Choice of memory? Also, I can save myself a bit of money by buying 667MHz ram instead of 800MHz -- do I stand to gain much with the 800MHz ram? I can do same by buying a 4600+ Athlon X2 -- will this make a great difference? I'll mostly be using it for word processing, and the internet -- but occasionally I will want compile something, or edit large images, or encode video or mp3s.

I've already checked the manufacturers' websites, and googled about the place, but wondered if I might have missed anything.

[Michael]

I've run the NF-M2 nView with Fedora Core 6, Fedora 7, and Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn with no real major headaches.

You can see the old Phoronix review @ http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=8439

[nemo]

I've run the NF-M2 nView with Fedora Core 6, Fedora 7, and Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn with no real major headaches.

That's good to hear, thanks. How about the memory? I'd originally looked at an Asus M2NPV-VM, but discovered it had serious problems with memory compatibility -- people unable to use all 4 slots, many brands not working, problems with 800MHz, etc.

You can see the old Phoronix review @ http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=8439

That was how I found this site in the first place, but thanks anyway.

[Michael]

Memory for us has worked in a variety of different configurations. The memory has been a variety of different kinds from OCZ and Corsair -- I cannot recall all of the different memory models we used.

[nemo]

Thanks, very much. I'm not actually building it for a month or so, but I thought it wise to ask these sorts of questions in advance, and no doubt I'll be back then if I have any problems.

[posbich]

Hi,
had anyone problems with display the correct temperatures of the board, cpu etc.?
After flash the bios to the beta .14 the bios view me the correct cpu temperatures.
Without bios .14 cpu = 61?
with bios .14 cpu = 31?
room temp in both cases was 25?
So i think ACPI works fine now.

But the temps of the 2 cores show me very funny temps
From -12 to 65?. And the temps change very fast. One second i have -12? on the one core and on the other core 40?. And on the other second its the other way around.
I use the following hardware:
AMD Athlon X2 4800+ EE 65nm
ABIT NF-M2 nview with beta .14 bios
4 GB G.Skill DDR2-800
400W Enermax Liberty

Disti: Gentoo 2007.0

I hope anyone can help me to solve this problem

[nemo]

Hi,
had anyone problems with display the correct temperatures of the board, cpu etc.?

Hi,

During my research for this motherboard, I found that people with Brisbane cores were reporting incorrect temps were being recorded. Search abit's forums for more on this. From what I could make out there was no bios update that fixed this problem yet.

[posbich]

I read also this problems in the abit forum.
Abit releases the new AN-M2 and AN-M2HD ... so fast after the NF-M2 ... why?
And i dont believe that they ever fix the temp problem.
I hope they fix the problem soon and release a final .14 bios or a .15

[nemo]

I was planning on getting the AN-M2HD, when I can get my hands on one -- and I hope they've fixed this problem with the new board. If this is a serious problem for you, maybe you could try complaining to abit or the retailer you bought it from, and get a new AN-M2(HD) as a replacement?

[posbich]

I see the .14 final bios is out. I will try it this weekend.

To get another Abit is no opinion if they dont have fix the problems with the temps.
I use the system mostly for RAR and PAR. And I feel save if the temp sensor works fine.