My backup dev desktop running an old asus A8 motherboard and Athlon 64 are giving issues and need to update. Wanted to build an amd baseed system which will become my primary dev box and server.
This box will be mainly used for development, so compilers, mysql/postgress server, git/svn server, emacs for sure, etc…
am4 chipset with 32/64 GB and a couple of M.2 slots, 4 sata slots for hard drives and finally USB type C should do the trick. Onboard integrated graphics should be perfect for now. Oh, and final point: Has to be able to run fedora and/some other linux distro.
Ive been reading that am5 and specifically ddr5 doesnt really give too much to a non gamer given the much higher price point. Unfortunately, I wont get usb 4.0 with am4 based motherboards.
Any suggestions on motherboards + cpu combination?
You can purchase a more capable AMD5 compatible Ryzen CPU with integrated graphics for about the same price as an AMD4 compatible one.
You can purchase a 2048 GB PCIe Gen 5 compatible NVme SSD with a 7 watt power draw which means maximum expected temperature of LESS than 50 degrees Celsius. A Majority of PCIe Gen 4 compatible SSDs idle in the high 40’s and throttle in the low 80’s.
There is a good chance that a newer BIOS designed for AMD5 compatibility will be a bit more secure and possibly more reliable.
It is important for you to look at motherboard offerings very carefully while paying close attention to reviews. Most reviews will point out pros and cons when comparing different motherboards from major vendors.
Point taken on the heat draw of the pcie gen 5 based ssd power draw. Which is why if I can get a cpu with 65 watt - 105 watt draw would be nice.
And yes, I agree that AM5 based systems will be more future proof.
At this point in time, since I need to upgrade everything anyway, so I guess I will have to consider the extra cost for ddr5 memory. Everything with the new AM5 boards are at a premium.
The first LOW power PCIe G5 NVMe SSD that I have found (Kingston Fury Renegade G5) uses the Silicon Motion SM2508 controller. This information is a direct response to your inquiry and should NOT be construed as advertisement.
Concerning memory, I have an AMD4 based workstation with 16 GB of memory but I have yet to use more the 5 GB and that was only during extremely large data transfers. Linux uses memory very efficiently.
A Mini-ITX motherboard will have a single M.2 NVMe slot. I overcame this with a PCIe adapter which houses a second M.2 PCIe SSD. Try not to use two identical SSDs because BIOS will refer to the first one that identifies itself as NVMe0 and the other as NVMe1. I would install the cooler SSD on the motherboard if different brands are used. For some reason, the BIOS/Fedora interaction may result in NVMex being referenced as NVMe0 in one version such as Fedora 41 while being referenced as NVMe1 by Fedora 42.
When I inquired about this, posters more senior than I indicated that If this happened, it was not important. Determine for yourself if having to check which SSD is NVMe0 before backing up one of its partitions or restoring a partition from a backup is necessary.
I would install the cooler SSD on the motherboard if different brands are used.
I had an ASUS PRIME-X470 PRO AM4 board; I wouldn’t recommend AMD for high-performance USB:
That board had Ryzen (CPU-side) USB, and a separate ASRock USB controller with 2 ports
I had a Rift CV1 + 3-4 sensors (4 high-power/data USB 3.0 devices) and Quest 2 VR headsets
Ryzen USB could handle CV1 HMD, or 2 sensors; anything more would have random USB disconnects
USB-C was Ryzen/CPU-controlled; it had lower bandwidth and didn’t do charging with a Quest 2
A C-to-A adapter on ASRock had higher bandwidth and charging fine with Quest 2
If it wasn’t for the separate ASRock controller being able to handle USB better, I’d need a PCI-E card if I wanted to do VR
Everything was connected directly to the mobo no hubs; was as-clean of a connection as it could get!
I still heard of USB issues on 500 series that would have me skeptical of doing serious USB on anything AMD (it was good enough for external 3.0 USB HDDs though). But the other stuff (compiling, DB) I imagine would be fine!