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#1
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What's the difference with motherboards?
I'm confused with the array of motherboards available.
What's the difference between a =A320 one and a =A3100+ one? OK... I'd expect the more expensive one to have better capabilites. But the thing is... there seem to be a million different motherboards priced from =A340 - =A360: what's the big difference in these models. OK... I do know a bit... like some motherboards are for Intel, while others are for AMD?? BUT... even then... there seems to be a plethora of options available! How do I choose? What should I look out for? Is a =A3100+ motherboard ever worth buying? (Heck... I might as well buy a dual processor one for a bit more!) I know about SATA - but even still, I'm confused about the number of options available!! Are there other things that are relevant? Am I right in saying that the cheaper motherboards come with onboard VGA and the more expensive ones don't? AND... what makes should I go for when buying? AND... which should I avoid!? Any enlightenments would be helpful. Thanks. OM |
#2
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OM wrote:
I'm confused with the array of motherboards available. What's the difference between a £20 one and a £100+ one? OK... I'd expect the more expensive one to have better capabilites. But the thing is... there seem to be a million different motherboards priced from £40 - £60: what's the big difference in these models. OK... I do know a bit... like some motherboards are for Intel, while others are for AMD?? BUT... even then... there seems to be a plethora of options available! How do I choose? What should I look out for? Is a £100+ motherboard ever worth buying? (Heck... I might as well buy a dual processor one for a bit more!) I know about SATA - but even still, I'm confused about the number of options available!! Are there other things that are relevant? Am I right in saying that the cheaper motherboards come with onboard VGA and the more expensive ones don't? AND... what makes should I go for when buying? AND... which should I avoid!? Any enlightenments would be helpful. Thanks. OM I'm not sure how much of a problem it is these days, but... Avoid: motherboards that have intergrated VGA, but no AGP or PCI-E slots for you to upgrade the video subsystem if you require something better later. Big mistake I made once. |
#3
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"OM" wrote in message oups.com... I'm confused with the array of motherboards available. What's the difference between a £20 one and a £100+ one? OK... I'd expect the more expensive one to have better capabilites. But the thing is... there seem to be a million different motherboards priced from £40 - £60: what's the big difference in these models. OK... I do know a bit... like some motherboards are for Intel, while others are for AMD?? BUT... even then... there seems to be a plethora of options available! How do I choose? What should I look out for? Is a £100+ motherboard ever worth buying? (Heck... I might as well buy a dual processor one for a bit more!) I know about SATA - but even still, I'm confused about the number of options available!! Are there other things that are relevant? Am I right in saying that the cheaper motherboards come with onboard VGA and the more expensive ones don't? AND... what makes should I go for when buying? AND... which should I avoid!? Any enlightenments would be helpful. Thanks. OM I guess one could write a book or at least a long chapter about what to look for in a motherboard. One group of factors is stability, reliability and support. Obviously, no manufacturer will come out and say that their model xyz is not very stable or may not last over a year. For this aspect, reviews in magazines and websites and personal experiences in forums and newsgroups will be helpful. The second factor is about features. Overclockability may or may not be important to you. If you never do anything more demanding than word processing, playing music and surfing the net, then a good onboard video will be perfectly adequate. But if you're into gaming, then an AGP or PCI-Express slot is a must. Do you need Firewire ? Wi-Fi ? Are you likely to want to cram in a lot of expansion cards ? If so, you have to go for a full ATX mobo with lots of PCI slots. SATA support, RAID, Gigabit LAN..... Do you want 7.1 audio or are you going to install a high- end sound card anyway ? What chipset ? nVidia chipsets are generally regarded as the best for AMD systems, with VIA chipsets coming a close second. These are all features that determine the price class. Regarding brands, Asus and Gigabyte are among the top ones, but there are other very good ones. I'm perfectly happy with a less prestigious Biostar M7NCG-400 with its onboard nForce2 integrated video running an Athlon XP 2000+, though I've built a lot of computers with mobos by Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, DFI, Leadtek, Kobian, Intel, AsRock, even the notorious pcChips. My children use the same mobo with an Athlon XP 2600+ and a GeForce4 Ti4400 graphics card. If they do well in their exams, I'll buy them an Athlon 64 system with a 6600GT graphics card, but it will still be with a motherboard without a lot of extras. Cheap = highly integrated ? Often but not always true. Highly integrated mobos with onboard video and only 2 or 3 PCI slots are intended for people who don't need all the extra features of the more expensive models. They are not necessarily of lower quality. |
#4
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OM wrote:
I'm confused with the array of motherboards available. What's the difference between a £20 one and a £100+ one? OK... I'd expect the more expensive one to have better capabilites. But the thing is... there seem to be a million different motherboards priced from £40 - £60: what's the big difference in these models. OK... I do know a bit... like some motherboards are for Intel, while others are for AMD?? BUT... even then... there seems to be a plethora of options available! How do I choose? What should I look out for? Is a £100+ motherboard ever worth buying? (Heck... I might as well buy a dual processor one for a bit more!) I know about SATA - but even still, I'm confused about the number of options available!! Are there other things that are relevant? Am I right in saying that the cheaper motherboards come with onboard VGA and the more expensive ones don't? AND... what makes should I go for when buying? AND... which should I avoid!? Any enlightenments would be helpful. Thanks. OM I build and repair lots of machines and have not had too many "problem" motherboards... I'd say *avoid* PC Chips !... but even some of the lower priced boards i've tried have been fine. as mentioned...avoid on-board video |
#5
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"philo" wrote as mentioned...avoid on-board video Why? I would say this all depends on the use of the computer. If I were building an "office use" computer I would likely use about a $60 all inclusive nvidia nforce 2 board with built in Geforce 4 graphics and it would serve that purpose just fine. Joe |
#6
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On Mon, 21 Feb 2005 19:59:11 -0600, "Joe" wrote:
"philo" wrote as mentioned...avoid on-board video Why? I would say this all depends on the use of the computer. If I were building an "office use" computer or a server. There's nothing wrong with integrated graphics on an separate pci bus esp when there is an AGP slot in addition. IMHO there's nothing to be gained with PCI-E. By the time there is a large selection of cards for that bus that are "mature" it'll be time to upgrade the beast anyways. Who knows how PCI-E implementations will be tweaked or "fixed" by then? For now AGP 8x & PCI-X already offer a ton of bandwidth. I wouldn't go out of my way for SATA unless fixated on ATA raid. SATA offers nothing for a generic 1 or 2 disk PC. That being said - smoke 'em if you got 'em. Start with the most stable & mature chipsets you can find that meet your current performance needs allowing for some growth. Don't get caught up on bells 'n whistles. Focus on brands that deliver consistent, better supported, more cohesively designed products rather than "which is a tiny bit faster" or "this one has one more feature than the other" type brand/model comparisons. I don't think it's too controversial to endorse Supermicro, Tyan, Intel, & Asus (in that order). To a lesser extent Gigabyte, MSI, & a few others. Just my $0.02 |
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