Looking to build my first unRaid box and I was wondering what current motherboards people have had success with.  I've been looking at a lot of ASUS and Gigabyte boards that are a version or 2 newer then whats on the unRaid wiki hardware page but I'm not sure if they will work.

 

These are the must haves:

 

1.  Cheap (micro-atx preferred)

2.  6 sata connections

3.  AM3 socket support

 

 

 

I would stay away from the gigabyte boards on account of the dual bios/hpa feature. If not careful it can cause quite a mess with your data.

 

Not at my pc to be able to give recommendations but any board with a realtek or Intel nic should work fine. Other than that it is down to personal preference. If the board has a realtek nic, if its 8111e(I believe) you will need a beta version for it to work right. Intel has been the best performing.

 

I have this board, its a solid performer and meets your requirements (well, idk what you consider cheap )

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157274

 

Doing a quick search that was all I came up with, stay away from the atheros nics as well, they do not work well in unraid.

 

Following up on above suggestions, I would suggest using Newegg site to find boards which meet your basic requirements.  Pick out two or three that meet as many of your requirements as possible.  Then search the forum for other users experience with these boards.  After you have narrowed it down to one, if you still have questions, then post again

Any thoughts on these below:

 

ASRock 880GM-LE FX - http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-880gmlefx

ASRock A785GM-LE - http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asrock-motherboard-a785gmle  (This was already recommended)

Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS - http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-m5a78lmlxplus

 

 

What am I specifically looking for when it comes to motherboards/compability w/unRaid?  Is it the chipset that makes the difference or something else?

 

 

Thanks for all your input!

 

All motherboards in general will be compatible. What you need to look for outside of your own specifications(number of ports, gigabit ethernet or not, build in video), is the NIC chipset. On Newegg its referred to as "Onboard LAN".

 

Here is a quick list of whats ok as far as the NIC, and whats not:

Atheros - NO, data corruption, loss of connection, just all around avoid.

 

Realtek - 8111 series all work quite well, with the exception of 8111E. 8111E chipset works with the later Beta builds(5b8+ I believe), but has issues with the current stable release 4.7.  The 8111DL and all others work well.

 

Intel - I don't think I've seen a single problem. In fact, most users buy a Intel NIC to replace their onboard if they do have issues. They all seem to work great with unraid.

 

Those are the most common you'll see. Remember, if you see a board that has all the features you want, you can always buy another NIC to go in one of the expansion slots.

 

As far as the boards you linked, the Asus and the Asrock 880 board will work. All three will "work" but the Asrock 785 can only use DDR2 ram, which is much more expensive than DDR3 Ram of the equivalent size.

Influencer thats just what I needed to know!  Can't wait to get my first unRaid box built, its been a long time coming.

 

 

THANKS!!!!!

 

 

Here is a quick list of whats ok as far as the NIC, and whats not:

Atheros - NO, data corruption, loss of connection, just all around avoid.

 

 

 

I've been using a board with an Atheros AR8151 chipset for the last 6 months and haven't had a single issue with it.

As always YMMV. It has just been recommended to not use atheros. I believe its in the wiki.

 

I myself have an atheros, and while I have no data corruption, I do have minor networking issues

You said that you are looking for a motherboard.I would help you  in this regard to choose a motherboard.If price isn't big factor for you then you can buy this motherboard http://www.computervalley.ca/m5a99x-evo/asus-m5a99x-evo-desktop-motherboard-amd-socket-am3-atx-1-x-processor-support-32-gb-ddr3-sdram-maximum-ram-crossfirex-sli-support-serial-ata/300-serial-ata/600-raid-supported-controller-2-x-pcie-x16-slot-2-x-usb-30-port or if you want in cheap then have a look on this motherboard http://www.computervalley.ca/m5a78l-m-lx-plus/610839182428/asus-m5a78l-m-lx-plus-desktop-motherboard-amd-socket-am3-micro-atx-1-x-processor-support-8-gb-ddr3-sdram-maximum-ram-serial-ata/300-raid-supported-controller-onboard-video-1-x-pcie-x16-slot these motherboard will give a you good performance and support you in the long run.