MSI B150M Mortar: A Budget Skylake Motherboard For Linux Users

[JMB9]

As my question about DisplayPort was answered by HDMI - just for clarification:
DisplayPort is used for modern displays - as HDMI was not ready for 4k (yielding 30Hz).
All my screens are connected via DP - only TV uses HDMI (which I don't trust due to really
bad cables advertised as premium and fulfilling high standards - my `feeling').
As a workstation motherboard DP is a must - not a nice to have - and I really will
replace my 4k by 5 or 8k when those screens are good enough - so the next motherboard
has to have DP 1.4.
For the details:
DP 1.2 of 22. Dec. 2009 - 4k 3840x2160@60 Hz via MST [_4_ years before HDMI 2.0];
1.3 of 15. Sep. 2014 - 3840×2160@120Hz, 5120×2880@60Hz, 7680×4320@30Hz,
1.4 of 01. March 2016 - 8k@60Hz HDR deep color, 4k@120Hz HDR deep color
and one may compare it with:
HDMI 1.4a of 04. March 2010 - 4k 3840x2160@30 Hz;
2.0 of 04. Sep. 2013 - 4k3840x2160@60 Hz, 8k@24 Hz
So for me HDMI is HDTV-standard stretched - and DP is a professional port.
Maybe a selection effect, but with DP I have had no bad cable yet (for 4k) -
HDMI could even rise problems with HDTV resolution.
But yes, that motherboard is for gamers (and may not have a Tux for Linux compatibility outside - right?),
and they need VGA but not 4k or even higher - as they need high frame rates. So it fits. ;-)

[Kano]

@debianxfce

If you still need to look at the keyboard while typing then you did something wrong. A keyboard Black in Black without printing would be cooler for a nerd ;-)

[bug77]

There are ssds for the m.2 connector.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?N=100008120%20600488413&IsNodeId=1&Submit=ENE

Of course there are (I have one), but they are the 80mm or 110mm variety, while the space on this mobo does not allow for that. Based on the picture, I think you can fit something that's about 30mm long in there.

[l8gravely]

Yeah, I know there are some "non-gamer" boards, but the pickings are slim. I don't need server/workstation grade hardware, but I would like to have higher quality PC components that don't have the word "GAMING" plastered all over. Most of this stuff looks like it's designed to appeal to kids and/or the mentally retarded.

I can't even find a decent non-gaming cherry switch keyboard that doesn't light up like a christmas tree.

Have you looked at the stuff from http://wasdkeyboards.com at all? I've got a pair of CODE keyboards and I'm really enjoying them. Cherry MX Clears with simple low intensity white backlight. I've got the tenkeyless versions.

Also, since you probably sound like you won't have this motherboard installed in a clear case with lots of LEDs, who cares what it looks like? I find it amusing that so many reviews talk about the pretty factor of the motherboard, and very little about the layout issues. To me, this looks like a good board, esp if I could expand it to 16 or 32gb of RAM. Might be time to replace my main desktop finally. It's only umm... eight years old? It's an AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+. Speed daemon! But having lots of memory does wonders....

John

[bug77]

Have you looked at the stuff from http://wasdkeyboards.com at all? I've got a pair of CODE keyboards and I'm really enjoying them. Cherry MX Clears with simple low intensity white backlight. I've got the tenkeyless versions.

Also, since you probably sound like you won't have this motherboard installed in a clear case with lots of LEDs, who cares what it looks like? I find it amusing that so many reviews talk about the pretty factor of the motherboard, and very little about the layout issues. To me, this looks like a good board, esp if I could expand it to 16 or 32gb of RAM. Might be time to replace my main desktop finally. It's only umm... eight years old? It's an AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+. Speed daemon! But having lots of memory does wonders....

John

Dude, have you just posted about a $150 keyboard in the comments of an article about a $76 motherboard?

[bug77]

And some people are using 200 usd m.2 ssd when 70 usd sata ssd do the same job. Running uhbuntu requires the fastest hardware available like windows does.

Oh, please show me one M.2 SSD that costs 3x as much as a comparable SATA drive.

FYI, M.2 has nothing to do with the cost, it's the NVMe drives that cost more. Yes, you can have an M.2 SATA drive (like I do) that costs about the same as a more traditional 2.5" drive.


And about your random statement of the day, here are the system requirements for running Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...emRequirements
Double that, and it still doesn't qualify as "the fastest hardware available".
Unsurprisingly, those requirements are about the same as those for running Debian: https://www.debian.org/releases/whee...h03s04.html.en (CPU and storage requirements are actually the same).

[l8gravely]

What wonders, Debian xfce does uses massive 160MB ram after boot. I feel that my 8GB (1GB is for the graphics) is overkill, but there was no 2x2GB 2133Mhz modules available when I build this pc. I do play windows games, compile kernel and edit videos. I have disabled swap in the kernel and never had any problems.

It's not the OS generally that sucks memory, it's the applications. Anything Java based sucks. As does firefox. And gam_server when you have alot of NFS mount points. And users.

And since memory is cheap, why not get it since it makes the system so much faster to have plenty of it? That and an SSD these days is what you should get isntead of the latest greatest CPU combo. I'm thinking my next system board will be an older Intel (sorry AMD!) because it's cost effective and I can sink money into SSDs and memory for better performance.

[l8gravely]

Dude, have you just posted about a $150 keyboard in the comments of an article about a $76 motherboard?

Yes I did! When you use a keyboard for 10 hours a day at work, it pays to have good tools. A cheap motherboard is one thing, but a crappy keyboard really hits the body hard.

And I'm the guy running on the Athlon 5200+ as my main desktop at home. So I'm not some sort of crazy high end upgrade guy either. :-)

[Kano]

@debianxfce

The picture is not me But i learned typing at school around 25 y ago and never thought about looking at the keyboard for common keys agin. Full black would not hurt to remember the rest. I also need blind typing in case the layout is wrong - like if you are in a foreign country and you can change layout but not the keyboard you are lost.

[wizard69]

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/B150M-MORTAR.html#hero-overview

It doesn't have it. They are REALLY proud of having VGA connectors for business projectors.

The funny thing is VGA hasn't yet left the business world. Working at a big corporation you would be shocked at how stubborn they are with respect to VGA. While MSI might be proud the reality is a lot of customers simply don't want to let go of VGA.