Syzygies 0 Posted August 17, 2007 I'm staring at an "Intel Desktop Board Executive Series DQ35JO" I picked up at Fry's for $130. It's a beauty of new components aimed squarely at the Core 2 Quad, but supporting many chips e.g. the "Core 2 Duo E4300 Allendale 1.8GHz" that Fry's carries for $80. This would make a great bang-for-the-buck file and compute server if I can get it to work. The board is so new that Intel doesn't have a support site, though the manual included on DVD is very complete. This family is code-named "Bearlake", announced this June but still no search results on this or other Linux compatibility sites. Here is a product description found at various sites selling the board: Intel Desktop Board DQ35JO - motherboard - micro ATX - iQ35 Product Type Motherboard Form Factor Micro ATX Chipset Type Intel Q35 Express / Intel ICH9DO Multi-Core Support Dual-Core / Quad-core Max Bus Speed 1333 MHz Processor 0 ( 1 ) - LGA775 Socket Compatibility Intel vPro Compatible Processors Celeron D, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad 64-bit Processors Compatibility Yes RAM 0 MB (installed) / 8 GB (max) Supported RAM Technology DDR II SDRAM Storage Controller ATA-100, Serial ATA-300 (RAID) USB Ports Configuration 12 x USB Storage Ports Configuration 1 x ATA , 6 x SATA FireWire Ports Configuration 2 x FireWire Graphics Controller Intel GMA 3100 Audio Output Sound card - 5 . 1 channel surround Networking Network adapter - Ethernet , Fast Ethernet , Gigabit Ethernet Manufacturer Warranty 3 years warranty Fry's will take the board back within 30 days, so at worst I waste a bunch of my time. The few hints of Linux trouble online suggest that the Network controller 82566DM may be a problem, but I'm willing to install an adapter card for the first few months; I'd guess that this motherboard will eventually be completely supported by Linux. It's Intel's future mainstream board. I don't need everything to work, as long as I can get things like SATA and on-board graphics up. Searching suggests at worst I'll have some back-porting to do, e.g. to get decent graphics in Ubuntu 7.04. What's your judgment call? Should I go for it, or return the board now and spare myself a massive headache? Thanks! Share this post Link to post