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Need some opinions about motherboards.
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| LeopoldStotch |
hey guys and gals .. i need some opinions on motherboards. i am finally going to upgrade my computer after so many years being behind technology ... :rolleyes: :p ..
anyways .. which mo-bo company provides the quality stuff ? MSI ? ASUS ? FOXCONN ? INTEL ? GIGABYTE ? ABIT ? i am thinking about putting together a Pentium-based system (sorry AMD fans .. go ahead and flame me ) . i am looking for a desktop-based system, not a server-based system. so no xeon recommendations please .. :) ..
but here's a big question i should ask . should i buy a system with a AGP slot ? .. i know .. i know .. they provide better graphics and everything .. but i myself am not a heavy gamer as i once was before .. should i still opt for a board that has one ?
board with AGP
or
board with no AGP
then again, i am always changing my mind, so this probably will not be the board i choose at the end .. hahhaha .. i am interested in the boards with the 1Ghz bus ..
so let's discuss boards. :haha: |
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| Renegade |
| Buy the first one you see. They're all pretty good. |
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| Phil raa |
asus is arguably the best manufacturer for AMD. Intel is a good bet for....intel. intel cost abit more than the rest but they're more stable. tighter testing.
if you actually WANT a 1GHz bus, then get a mbd with an AGP slot.
get a mbd with an AGP slot anyway. never know when you're going to want it. |
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| LeopoldStotch |
| quote: | Originally posted by Renegade
Buy the first one you see. They're all pretty good. |
yeah .. i thought the same thing myself .. hahahha ..
i was thinking .. should i care about
3 PCIs vs 5 PCIs ?
AGP vs no AGP ?
2 GB RAM vs 4 GB RAM ?
ATA vs SATA ?
doesn't really matter ..hhahaa .. because they're all going to perform awesome at the end .. right ? but the biggest thing is that it has to support/have a 800+ mhz bus .. i saw some boards that had a 533 bus .. :whip: .. sorry .. 267 mhz makes a difference imo .. |
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| Phil raa |
| quote: | Originally posted by LeopoldStotch
3 PCIs vs 5 PCIs ?
>do you want to have room for 3pci cards, or 5? a mbd with 3 pci slotsd can fit in a mini tower case.
AGP vs no AGP ?
>gonna put an agp card in at some point? I'd say 'yes'
2 GB RAM vs 4 GB RAM ?
>haha. 2 gig should be enough for a home pc.
ATA vs SATA ?
>you won't see a lot of difference between the two at the moment.
serial ata's theoretical maximum is 150MB/sec, but in reality the drives can't put out more than about 50. Which is the same as a fast PATA drive.
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| LeopoldStotch |
thanks for the advice peeps ..
i will do some thinking about this, and probably get something together in the next week or so ..  |
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| washout |
while agp is usually regarded in high importance to gamers, its not just that.
an agp slow with an average agp card will be better than a pci counterpart in other areas.
depending on your monitor in some areas.
significantly higher frame rates in your applications.
if u use visualation software with music, like winamps .
it'll be crisper. |
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| Phil raa |
| quote: | Originally posted by washout
while agp is usually regarded in high importance to gamers, its not just that.
an agp slow with an average agp card will be better than a pci counterpart in other areas.
depending on your monitor in some areas.
significantly higher frame rates in your applications.
if u use visualation software with music, like winamps .
it'll be crisper. |
correct....an agp bus is a dedicated bus for the graphics.
with a pci graphics card, you have all your graphics data, all your pci data, and all your hard drive data going along the same bus. |
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| smokeape |
| quote: | Originally posted by LeopoldStotch
hey guys and gals .. i need some opinions on motherboards. i am finally going to upgrade my computer after so many years being behind technology ... :rolleyes: :p ..
anyways .. which mo-bo company provides the quality stuff ? MSI ? ASUS ? FOXCONN ? INTEL ? GIGABYTE ? ABIT ? i am thinking about putting together a Pentium-based system (sorry AMD fans .. go ahead and flame me ) . i am looking for a desktop-based system, not a server-based system. so no xeon recommendations please .. :) ..
but here's a big question i should ask . should i buy a system with a AGP slot ? .. i know .. i know .. they provide better graphics and everything .. but i myself am not a heavy gamer as i once was before .. should i still opt for a board that has one ?
board with AGP
or
board with no AGP
then again, i am always changing my mind, so this probably will not be the board i choose at the end .. hahhaha .. i am interested in the boards with the 1Ghz bus ..
so let's discuss boards. :haha: |
You want a dual memory feed and hyperthreading technology since Windows Longhorn is coming on line....finally for a 64bit file system. Intel is ready to release some new chip technology coinciding with the new Windows event to smoke AMD off of the market share. You at least want a minimum 8X AGP for ATI Radeon video cards or the new nVIDIA GEForce competition. Top end cards are pricey, but are musts if you're a gamer. HDs are going to 15000 rpm instead of the 7200 rpm standard. 1G RAM fast RAM is must. Built in ethernet on Mobos are a given. You want the fastest connectivity speed and power. Wired ethernet on cable, dual feed fast RAM, Hyperthreading chip - with upcoming 64bit file system, super fast HD, and smoking video.
Of course, all this is more than homey himself needs, but my college and HS kids still bug me. I'm just a database programmer and don't need all that power; I need to test software at least on low end user systems, if it works great there, then it works super great on higher end systems.
:D
[[[smoke]]]
Way Out West - Don't Forget Me (Riley and Durant Mix) |
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| LeopoldStotch |
thanks for the input guys, again ..
i did not know how much happiness ASUS customers were getting until now .. i heard they made good system boards, but after looking through other boards and this one, i guess i got to believe it .. :haha: ..
the only other board i have worked with was an MSI board a couple of months ago, and it was pretty good .. i don't really go hardcore with my board, such as maxing out the CPU until it bleeds and do all the switching hoo-has with a couple of switches and everything .. let's just say this .. the "most hardcore" board switching i have done with a motherboard is the BIOS reset switch when i forget my BIOS password.. :wtf: |
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| kevM |
agp ... pci-x is where its at for high end stuff, agp is going the way of the dodo.
I have had meny problems with my MSI board RMA'd 3 times (K8N Neo) :( :whip: |
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| kid nyce |
I'd suggest anything from ASUS or ABIT. Again, mobo's are a dime a dozen now a days, you have to read the specs to make sure you are getting what you want. Most boards come with SATA (ICH5+R) capability but that doesn't mean the hardware is the same. There is a difference between an IDE hds and a SATA hds. SATA are usually ran in pairs with different connectors (not an IDE cable). If you want a straight IDE cable, you don't have to worry about SATA (ICH5+R). Some choose SATA to run their OS off of, but the hds will be different and often are a bit more costly but add to the read time of the OS. SATA drives are ran off of two main RAID types, striping or mirroring. Striping distributes the OS onto 2 drives, so you computer will see the 2 40gb SATA drives as 1 40gb SATA drive. why? it means that your OS is placed on 2 drives which will cut down significantly on "read time". While it's reading the first drive it can simultaneously read the 2nd drive versus an IDE drive all happens on 1 bus/cable. 2nd type of Raid, mirroring, ok think server here. you have an "array" of hds but essentially mirroring the previous hds. you can get a Raid Controller Card to handle xxx amount of hds. something that isn't used much since the integrity of most hds being manufactured now a days are pretty reliable.
so that takes care of you hd allocation selection when picking up a mobo. 1 make sure you are going with a reputable branding, 2 know how you want to architect ur box. next - what type of cpu do you want to run? this is essential, you'll see a split in the sea when it comes to this question, i myself am split, i have a p4 and an amd xp 2800+ running at the same time. both compliment each other but the usage far exceeds something you demanding from your computers.
the cpu stage is essential, you want atleast 800FSB even though you may not use it all. this will allow you for future upgrades to a higher processing cpu (at the time it cost xx to upgrade - 4 months later it'll be much less) and all you would have to do is pop the cpu in and everything will run.
agp vs non agp vs sli - hard to say, again it depends on the architecture and usage of the box. some people don't even play games on their computer so they dont need to buy $200-300 video cards and onboard video/sli will handle it fine. me personally i go for agp since agp is an expandable slot in the bios and allows me to upgrade my video card in the future.
memory allocation - 3 words - DUAL CHANNEL MEMORY. no matter what you do, you want a mobo what offes dual channel memory/hyperthreading technology. why? same type of idea when choosing Raid Striping. it uses both memory allocations simultaneously which will increase multitasking and simultaneous processing while delivering the cache builds in memory. again - not something that will change the price of a mobo drastically but something great to have.
so the run down on the essentials, FSB, Dual Channel Memory, AGP, SATA, and processor choice. Stick to the name brand (ASUS, ABIT are my favorite) and remember a MOBO is exactly that - a mother board. electricity flows through this to move along data. like all electronics and micro electronics you can increase/decrease the amount of voltage flowing through different phases of a mobo which will allow a faster data rate but thats a whole nother topic - overclocking. well hope i helped! |
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