New MoBo for OSx86/Windows/Linux Machine??

[chriswaar]

I'm looking for a new mobo to upgrade my system. I currently have an E6300 plugged into a AsRock 775-DUAL VSTA mobo because I didn't want to buy DDR2 RAM and a PCIE card all at the same time. I've since bought an ATI x850XT PCIE card and 2gb of DDR2-800 memory. I'd like to keep my CPU and parts but upgrade the mobo.

I'm thinking the ASUS P5W DH DELUXE (http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813131025) because it was recently featured in a Lifehacker post about installing Leopard on non-Apple hardware. I also like the fact that it has optical out, which comes in handy because my PC is a media center for me (hooked up to LCD TV and 5.1 stereo system). I want to use this system for Windows gaming as well (BF2142, BioShock, etc.)

Is this a good board? It's got good reviews on NewEgg, but I'm definitely open to suggestions. I think in order to run Leopard, I need a board with AHCI. Are there better AHCI boards out? Anyone have luck with getting the P5W wireless working in Ubuntu? I'd like that as an OS option as well.

Thanks for the help!! I don't expect anyone to have all the answers to my questions, but if you could shed some light and give some mobo recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate it!!

 

[skittle]

linux already supports many wifi cards out of the box... however if your particular wifi chipset is not supported, you can use ndiswrapper (which uses the windows binary).

and why would you want to run osx on your PC? its like attaching leaches to your tongue.

 

[evongugg]

The Mac operating system is made for a particular set of hardware.
You could break your hardware by using a non Mac setup.
You could have poor results by running a Mac operating system on different hardware.
If you really want a Mac, buy a Mac.

 

[tlmck]

I would keep what you have and add a USB stick adapter for the Wifi. There are plenty that run on Linux. I got a cheap one from a company called Airlink over at Fry's for $10 on sale. Even at regular price they are only $20.

For the optical sound you could get a separate sound card. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000360057+1101308508&Configurator=&Subcategory=57&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc=optical
Not sure which ones support Linux or MacOS though.

I personally would not try the OSX hack on any machine I was not prepared to reformat the drive on. At the very least, run it on a separate hard drive with your main one unplugged. It is still way to buggy for me.