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[shadowkillerdragon]

So I have a Spare set of 2x2GB DDR2 Ram and a Q9400. I was looking to turn this into a pfsense for me to experiment with.
I was wondering what type of motherboard I should grab for it. Preferable trying to keep cost within reason.
I was planning on getting a MicroATX slim case like the INWin BL series or the Rosewill 379-m anything like those with a scythe low profile shuriken cooler.

So to the point at hand I was wondering whether or not I should get
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011EXLMI/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_g147_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0G2R0W3PFVH4KM6MB9MW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
This supermicro with dual intel lan and add one or two single port Intel NICS
or
should i get any mATX Board and populate the pci and Pcie slots with 3-4 single port Intel NIcs.
Not really sure which would be the better option.

Then on the side of NICs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=27&Description=&Type=&N=100010064+50001157&IsNodeId=1&IsPowerSearch=1&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=160&Manufactory=1157&PropertyCodeValue=1281%3A9683&PropertyCodeValue=1282%3A9687&PropertyCodeValue=1282%3A9697&PropertyCodeValue=1628%3A10711&PropertyCodeValue=1628%3A17448
there are like 6 in the 3x range which I am unsure of what to choose from.

Thanks for helping this scrubby sap on his hardware

[wallabybob]

Depending on your bandwidth requirements it could be more economical to use a single gigabit port, vlans and a VLAN capable switch than multi-port NIC cards.

[shadowkillerdragon]

Bandwidth is roughly 20Mbps at home with 3-4 users at a time. And ~500Mbps when I go back up to my university. I mainly wanted to experiment with learning this stuff since I'm a complete newbie in this regard. So I figure now is a good time to start. Not to mention I ain't getting much good interest return on that q9400.

I think I would go with a cheap micro atx motherboard with 3 pcie slots (hopefully i can find one). And populate them with this NIC
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Gigabit-Network-Adapter-EXPI9301CTBLK/dp/B001CY0P7G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342963931&sr=8-1&keywords=intel+ct
,having it go through one of the NICs and use the others for computers and maybe the onboard for an access point.

[Lee Sharp]

Most of those little motherboards only have one slot...  And I have had very good luck with Intel dual port gig-e nics.

As to which board, go with the cheap end of a good brand.  You do not need the features of a multi hundred dollar board.  (RAID?  12 SATA ports?  Video SLI capable?)

For example;

2 PCI-e
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Classic-micro-ATX-Graphics-Motherboard/dp/B001LNQS4W/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343057671&sr=1-3&keywords=gigabyte+motherboard+lga+775

3 PCI-e
http://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-GA-G41MT-S2P-Intel-Desktop-Motherboard/dp/B004MF4IAW/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1343057671&sr=1-2&keywords=gigabyte+motherboard+lga+775

[shadowkillerdragon]

Ooo thanks Lee. Gave me a good overview of what to grab .
So I'll probably just grab that gigabyte board and one or two dual intel NICs off ebay :/
Since I would have to put this little project on hold temporarily due to the fact that my PS3 just bit the dust ):

[shadowkillerdragon]

Just need one final recommendation for the build.
What is the smallest/slimmest micro-atx case people have used. Since I'd rather not have a mid tower router next to my gaming rig haha.
Basically stock cooler with 2 intel nics that can be low profile, a 2.5inch drive and cd/dvd drive if possible, but not required

I was thinking about grabbing the Silverstone SUGO-SG02. But if there are any good compact case recommendations for silence I would like to have your opinion. Preferably under the 100 limit would be good since a decent psu and the sugo would be like 110 DX not including tax and shipping