advice on hardware choice

[Giovanni Scalmani]

Hi all,

  I would like to ear from you about which motherboard to select
for a dual PIII > 700MHz node for a small (8 nodes) beowulf. The
options I've been given are: 

  ASUS CUR-DLS  (www.asus.com.tw)
  133MHz FSB
  Serverworks ServerSet III LE chipset
  on board U2 SCSI
  expensive 

  or

  MSI 694D Pro (www.msi.com.tw)
  133MHz FSB
  VIA(R) 694XDP / VT82C686A chipset   
  U-DMA 100
  less expensive

  My concern is basically about the state of linux 2.2 vs 2.4 with
respect to the Serverworks and VIA chipsets and with respect to
U-DMA100 also.

  Any experiences with these motherboards / chipsets?
  Any alternative I forgot ?
  Any experiences with U-DMA 100 vs U2 SCSI ?

  Thank you very much for your help!

  Regards,
  Giovanni
 
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Giovanni Scalmani                         Giovanni at lsdm.dichi.unina.it
L.S.D.M. - Laboratorio di Struttura e Dinamica Molecolare 
           Molecular Structure and Dynamics Group
Dipartimento di Chimica / Chemistry Department
Universita' di Napoli "Federico II"
Complesso Universitario di Monte S.Angelo        Phone: +39 081 674205
Via Cintia - I-80126 Napoli (Italy)                Fax: +39 081 674199
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