[Asterisk-Users] Motherboard and processor recommendations

[Soner Tari]

Hi All,

For sometime now I've been searching the wiki and googling, but I think I'm 
missing some of the very important answers. So I'll have to ask this to the 
list.

I'm trying to decide on the right motherboard and processor. Here are my 
questions:

1. Would I have problems with all-onboard motherboards (Onboard VGA, 
LAN/GLAN, Sound, SATA, RAID) ? I've read the comment about an Onboard VGA on 
wiki.

2. Which chipset should I prefer: Intel, SiS or VIA? I've read the old SiS 
chipset problem on wiki.

3. Which processor has the least support problems: P4 (478 or LGA775, or 
even EMT64) or AMD64 ? For example, in G729 config file Athlon comment reads 
as "untested" (so far I don't have problems), and there is no config option 
for AMD64 at all. There is no mention of EMT64 either. Is anything processor 
dependant in codecs/transcoding, echo cancellation, busy detect and similar 
software, i.e. in dsp routines in general ?

4. How important is the number of PCI slots? I mean, considering that I've 
read some comments on this list, which do not recommend more than 2 TDM 
cards on a single system (right?), 2-3 PCI slots should be enough, is this 
correct? (But beware this also means an all-onboard motherboard, in most 
cases.)

I think this is a very complicated issue, and given so many variables 
perhaps luck plays an important part.

I'd like to hear your experiences. Any links I wasn't able find are welcome 
too.
Thanks,
Soner