[LinuxBIOS] Support for recent chipset and powerful desktop CPU

[Bari Ari]

Simon Labrecque wrote:
> Good point. While it would be quite easy to add FireWire support through a
> PCI card, it sure would be nice to have support for it native to the
> motherboard.
>
> The problem with the MSI K9N is that the Northbridge's passive cooler is
> said to get very, VERY hot, which might be problematic in our application as
> noise (and therefore airflow) needs to be minimized.
>
> I haven't tested it personally though, but every review I read on the K9N
> seems to mention the heat issue. That's why I liked the Abit board in the
> first place; passively cooled, but with heat pipes and an easy way out for
> the heat.
>
> I guess we would need to test such a board in our "harsh" environment to
> know if it could survive there.
>   
A few other points you may wish to consider are:

The 6 month lifespan (approximately) of an off-the-shelf. I'm not
against LinuxBIOS (I've been lurking on the list since 1999) but the
motherboard you pick today may be out of production by the time you go
to market.

Will your company allocate resources in the future to keep up with
LinuxBIOS ports for new boards or revs? It will be great if you do.
Hopefully MSI will also get onboard with LinuxBIOS and support this from
the factory.

Your issues with thermal management are a bit off topic on this list,
but a 100% passively cooled AM2 designs are possible. We have done them.
I've never seen an off-the-shelf mainboard come with an entirely passive
cooling system for any cpu over a few (5-10) watts. You would however be
able to develop a passive cooling system for the K9N that use the <35 W
AM2 processors. I just don't see this coming out of the box.

-Bari