Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R is a winner

[flambot]

I've been building a new PC.  I chose a P5B-E MB (mainly because I used one in my Unraid server and had some experience with it.).  Unfortunately, some bios aspect died, so I took it back for a replacement and was told it was discontinued - crazy!

 

I chose a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R as a replacement.  Once I had it all connected I plugged in my USB stick and Unraid started straight up without a glitch (V4.0) - as did accessing it via the browser window.  I never took it any further than this, but I can only assume if it went this far it is a prime candidate for an Unraid MB.

 

Comparing this board with the Asus P5B-E - I have to be honest and say the Gigabyte is the better board - especially the documentation.  However, I'm no expert and not a tweaker so who really knows!  Hope this helps someone.

 

It has 8 onboard SATA connectors, (Comes with a breakout pack to add two eSATA - along with cables to provide power and data)

[limetech]

Thanks for the report!  Does the Flash appear to the bios as a 'hard drive' or as a 'removeable drive' or something else?

[flambot]

Thanks for the report!  Does the Flash appear to the bios as a 'hard drive' or as a 'removeable drive' or something else?

 

If I recall, it said "Hard Drive 3-0", or something similar - that was when I updated the Bios using a flash drive.  When I loaded Unraid, I think I used the "boot drive selection menu" and it showed as a flash drive.  I''ll check.

 

 

Edit...The selection menu offers the following choices - Floppy, LS120, Hard-Disk, CD-ROM, ZIP, USB-FDD, USB-ZIP, USB-CDROM, USB-HDD, Legacy LAN.

 

Selecting the hard drive option to boot back into Windows gave me the choice of all the hard drives to boot from.  My plugged in Flash Drive was shown here as a USB-HDD (listed as a Sandisk U3 Cruzer Micro).  Hope this helps

[bdee1]

so i am confused from your post - did you use this for your unraid server or not?  if it works easily with unraid then it looks like a nice board.  i like the 8 onboard sata ports.

[flambot]

so i am confused from your post - did you use this for your unraid server or not?  if it works easily with unraid then it looks like a nice board.  i like the 8 onboard sata ports.

 

No....I did not use this MB for my unRAID server.  I used this MB for my new windoze-based PC.

 

BUT...I did test the viability of it to use as an unRAID MB before I set it up for windows use.  This board booted unRAID from the USB drive.  The web-page could also access it.  I never took it any further than this - so I cannot (and will not) guarantee the final solution of a complete unRAID setup.  However, as I managed to get it to fire up (and I'm a noob at all this as well), I can only assume it will serve the purpose.  Hope this helps.

[bdee1]

ok now i understand what you mean - thanks for clarifying.  limetech - can you confirm if this board will work with unraid?

[limetech]

It uses Intel ICH9R, which I think is supported, but we don't have any ICH9-based motherboards here to test with.  Also it has no on-board video.

[McFly]

This can be read on the manufacturers homepage: "Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors' website or 3rd party website." , so I am guessing these motherboards won´t work unless some additional drivers are found/created?

 

I tried googling for it but didn´t find anything that seemed useful. PErhaps these drivers are not yet created? (or perhaps I am just being really useless at googling! )

[limetech]

No, not a whole new driver, just patches to existing driver.  Most of the time I can search through the code and see if the chip is supported, and if not, check for a patch - just don't have time right now to do this.

[McFly]

Ah, OK. I tried a quick search for a patch instead of driver... no luck. Perhaps it doesen´t exist yet?

I think I will put this motherboard search on hold right now. Perhaps in a few weeks someone else has tried Gigabytes motherboards, or perhaps the patch reveals itself from somewhere. Then I can start planning my mediaserver again, for now I am stuck at the motherboard. (I know the rest, a Coolance case filled with their 4-in-3 and two PSU).

 

It is a too expensive motherboard to try without knowing it will work, not to mention all the time that goes lost in building the server...