Asus P8H61-I w/non-video card in x16 slot...works?

[Metaluna]

I'm looking at building a small home router/firewall box running pfSense 2.0. I will be using an Intel dual-port E1G42ET card, since I've had one sitting around for over a year and want to press it into service. The motherboard I'm looking at is an Asus P8H61-I, which is a Mini-ITX Socket 1155 board based on the Intel H61 chipset. It has only one PCIe slot.

My question is, does anyone know if this board disables the IGP when a non-video card is used in the x16 slot? If so, will the board still boot in a headless configuration?

 

[Patrick]

My guess is that it will work. I would be a bit more concerned with a video card, but I have had pretty good experiences with Intel NICs on Intel H67 chipsets.

I'd love to hear about your pfsense 2.0 setup. Trying to decide untangle v. pfsense for the new home (I don't want to do both).

 

[Metaluna]

Well I can confirm that it works fine. I got all the pieces in today and put the system together. pfSense had no problem recognizing the E1G42ET. I even tried out my Intel SASUC8I (LSI 1068e, known to have issues with some consumer motherboards), and it was recognized as well .

My build is as follows:
Asus P8H61-I REV 3.0 motherboard
Intel Pentium G620 (Sandy Bridge, 2 cores @ 2.6GHz, 65W TDP), stock cooler
Intel E1G42ET Dual Port GigE (82576 chipset), low-profile PCIe bracket installed
Kingston ValueRAM KVR1333D3N9K2/4G (DDR3 1333, 2x2GB kit)
Kingston 30GB SSD
Inwin BM639 mini-ITX case, includes 160W PSU

I haven't tried Untangle, so I can't really compare them, but so far I am really impressed with pfSense. It is so much more polished and powerful than the embedded router firmware I'm used to (e.g. DD-WRT on my Linksys E4200, or Tomato on my previous router). It even has UPS support via NUT. Of course, it should be, as this new build is far larger, more expensive, and consumes more power than any all-in-one wireless router. I flashed my E4200 back to stock Linksys firmware and am using it as an access point now.

 

[Patrick]

Great to know. That is a pretty beefy pfsense box!