Motherboard for Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (Linux experts please help)

[SkankinRatFink]

Hello everyone. I'm planning a system build in the near future, and I need a little insight to select a motherboard. I already have a processor, the 89W 3.1GHz version of the Athlon 64 X2 6000+. I have some 1066-MHz RAM ready to go (to be run at 800 for now, but ready for an AM2+ upgrade in the future).

So here's the skinny: I plan on dual-booting Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux with it. I need a board with drivers that will work well for both OSes.

It seems every time I read the reviews for a board, there are people complaining of BIOS glitches, bad drivers, CPU compatibility issues, etc. etc.
I need this board to:
- Support my processor.
- Run my RAM at 800 MHz., 2.0V.
- Run onboard audio in Linux
- Fit an Asus Silent Square 92mm-fan CPU cooler, which I plan on buying
- be a full-size ATX so I can fit expansion cards.

I don't plan on using onboard video; I plan on using an nVidia card. (no SLI) I'd also prefer not to have to flash the BIOS the first time. I'm not entirely clear on how to do that. This will be my first ground-up system build.

So I have a few Asus boards in mind- Can anyone offer any insight as to whether any of these chipsets are better suited to my purposes/OSes?
- Asus M3N78 Pro (GeForce 8300 Chipset)
- Asus M3A78 (AMD 770, SB700)
- Asus M3A78 Pro (AMD 780G, SB700)

And a little higher priced ...
- Asus M3A78-T (AMD 790GX, SB750)
- Asus M3A79-T Deluxe (AMD 790FX, SB750)

I'd prefer to use one of those first three, since they're cheaper. However, if driver compatibility is questionable, I'd gladly use one of the more expensive ones.

 

[SkankinRatFink]

Nobody can at least offer some advice on the chipsets??

 

[QuietIce]

This one's open box but if you can find one for a good price I'd take it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131224R


It has the 790FX chipset but SB600 to gowith it. Still a very nice board with 8+2 power. It's been out long enough there shouldn't be any Linux driver issues ...

 

[SkankinRatFink]

That board seems great, now that I've read a little about it.

The only thing is, will it play nice with an nVidia video card?

 

[QuietIce]

It's fine for a single card but I understand it won't run SLI (though I've heard rumors of mods to make that happen). I'm running nVidia but don't use that as a test - I crunch SETI with it so the video isn't used for gaming at all. Still, many people out there have run nVidia in these boards including the GTX260 for reviews ...