Brands of boards aren't necessarily what's important - it's what you want out of your PC. If you're looking for the most cutting edge hardware to squeeze that .000001% more performance out of your rig, to be able to tweak voltages and frequency multipliers so you can overclock your PC, and don't mind that it's going to be second rate within 6 months, companies such as Abit, Epox or Asus may be what you're looking for. If, on the other hand, you just want to have a good, stable machine, pretty much any of the manufacturers will do. Companies like MSI, Soltek, AOpen, Gigabyte, Asus, Abit, Epox, etc. Set up "normally" with no overclocking, most of these boards are going to perform the same. If you're going AMD's way, you may want to consider, Nforce2 and Nforce2 Ultra chipset motherboards. As for things like sound, I've been using my current Asus A7N8X Deluxe mobo for almost a year and it has onboard sound. I decided to test the sound out with games and music before automatically spending money on an Audigy 2 soundcard. I found out that, at least to me, this sound from the onboard controller was more than good enough. It also has 2 built-in network controllers, so that saved more PCI slots. The Athlon XP 2200 is a single-processor chip. The "XP" type chip is what you're looking for. The MP is a multi-processor chip designed to be used in computers with more than 1 processor. You don't need this. The Athlon 1.4 GHz 266 MHz chip is an old chip. The 266 MHz FSB is the frequency the "front side bus" runs at (I can explain that further, but don't want to confuse you even more). I wouldn't buy one of these chips since, like I said, they're old chips that have long since been phased out, yet still cost only $10-$20 less than far more modern chips. The chip I'd get right now from AMD is either the Athlon XP 2500 or the Athlon XP 2600 with the 333 MHz FSB. Both of these can be had for $100 or less. THe XP 2500 can be had for under $90 some places.
What are CPU copper shims and thermal grease? What purpose do they serve? Are they absolutely necessary?
I believe I have decided on this combo to buy. If I understand you all correctly if I buy this motherboard combo I don't have to buy a processor, right or are is a processor and CPU completely different items? If this is true then give me your input on this motherboard combo please. Also, what are the items used for in the above post? Are they absolutely necessary?
Processor=CPU And on your previous question, thermal grease is absolutley necessary. It helps the heat transfer from the processor to the heatsink. If you dont use anything to help with the heat transfer, heat could buildup in the processor and shorten its life...significantly. on the combo, Im not a big fan of SiS chipsets or PC Chips, so I probably wouldnt recommend it. You might want to punch in the model number and name of that mobo into Google and see if there are any mentions of reliabilty problems anywhere. I always do that with something I want to buy, cause if there is a widespread problem, it will be posted somewhere.
Thanks for all you help R2K. So you wouldn't go for that board huh, well I'll search again and list another. Where do you apply thermal grease? What are CPU coppers shim and their purpose? Are they necessary as well?
Here's another important question. OK, all my drives hook up to my motherboard with a ribbon-like cable. Does my motherboard need to come with a certain amount of these hook ups or are there ribbon extension cords or something like that. I plan on having, in my new system, a DVD-R drive and if not that then a DVD drive and a CD-R drive, two hard drives, and a floppy drive (yes I still want one). Also, how do I tell if my motherboard comes with built-in sound/video? What types of video and sound cards do you guys recommend? What's an ample amount of RAM space on a PC? What's the difference in a DVD-R and a DVD-RAM? Is it true that the more expensive computer components generally last a lot longer than the cheaper ones? I ask this because I computer store in town has a generic motherboard combo with Athlon XP 2500 333 for only $118 with 5 PCi slots. Sorry if this is too many questions guys I'm just trying to get it all together before I go buy the parts and you all are so helpful.
1) IDE(drives) all motherboards come with 2 channels...primary and secondary. Each can only have two drives per channel....master and slave. The setup you describe will work just fine on any board.. Your boot drive will be master on the primary, and I recommend the DVD-R drive be the master on the secondary. 2) How to tell if the board comes with builtin audio/video...well, it will say in the specifications whether or not it does. 3)Video cards....I really like the nVidia cards..If you want to have capture capabilities go with the ATI All In Wonder Radeon xxxx (whatever version fits your budget/needs) Sound cards...There are a couple of good brands...but it normally comes down to Creative Labs when it comes to audio....Soundblaster Live is listed at newegg for $33 if you are just interested in good audio...the Audigy Gamer version is listed at $72 for more advanced audio needs....you decide what you need.. 4) as cheap as RAM is these days...512M should be plenty...you could get away with 256M or if you want to get nasty...go with 1Ghz. once again, your decision to make depending on your needs 5) The difference between DVD-R and DVD-RAM comes down to media types...go with the DVD-R.....get one of the combo drives(handles both DVD-R and DVD+R types) maybe the Pioneer DVR-106 that is listed for $170. I know some people will go with the cheaper no-name(unknown) manufacturers...but I have a thing that i just dont trust em...I prefer to pay a few dollars more to know that I'm dealing with a company that will be around if something goes wrong, or one that will have updates or support down the road. oh yea....the post from yesterday.. Thermal grease goes on the bottom of the heatsink..there will be a square spot on the top of the processor that will mateup with the bottom of the heatsink...the thermal grease needs to be applied there. and I have never had to use the copper shims(since I switched to networking. I've only built one machine in the last year so Im not sure if those are used on the newer processors)...so maybe someone else might be able to tell if they need to be used or not.
OK, this is the last of my questions, unless I have problems installing all my components. What are CNR slots? What is a 8X AGP slot? How many serial ports do I need?
CNR? Who actually uses those? more than likely, you will have no need for it... 8xAGP = how fast video data moves across the bus. Your newest video cards are 8x, but dont worry..even if you get a older one that is only 4x or even 2x(godforbid) it will still handle them just fine. serial ports are only important if you have an old mouse that isnt PS2/USB or if you use some old peripheral that uses serial ports. Most peripherals use USB or 1394 these days...no worries there. Ive been looking around a little, seems like you are going to have to pay over 150 for a good mobo cpu combo.
Yes the ASUS combo I'm looking at now with thermal grease and shims costs $175. I believe you said ASUS is a good motherboard R2K and that is why I'm looking at this one.
this reminds me. Lil Pun, if you install your own motherboard, keep the box and everything that came with it. If you ever have to use the manufacturer's warranty, they usually always require you to give it to them in the original box.
Yea, Asus is normally a good manufacturer.. I was looking around, and noticed that you could find combos for 150 or less, but they were normally with slower processors(2000 and lower) and I recalled that you were looking for a faster one. anyway...
True dat... I always keep the boxes to anything technology related until they are out of warranty..that way im covered. I have a section of my attic reserved just for storing old equipment boxes, I go thru there once a year and throw away anything that is out of warranty or that I dont own anymore. I've only had one mobo go bad on me, so I have been lucky...but it never hurts to cover your ass.
Sorry guys, I lied. After viewing some of these components I have a lot more questions. Hope you don't mind. What kind of thermal grease is good, can I just buy standard instead of silver arctic or would silver arctic save me a lot of trouble? How much thermal grease do I apply to my CPU? Is there a certain brand of thermal grease that's better than another? Is assembly of a motherboard, processor, and processor fan difficult? In case I get them in an unassembled state.
OK I when I purchase a case and the case is an ATX case that says P4 ready does that mean it won't take an AMD because that's the type of processor that came with my mobo combo?
