hardware selection

[Stanley]

I'm planning to build a new desktop workstation. I know the budget as
well as how I would like the new tower to function. However, I'm lost
on the hardware selection. I'm planning to start looking at the
motherboards, but not sure if it's the best place to start looking. I
know roughly what processor and graphics card that I want to use, but
that still leaves me with a lot of choices. What other criteria would
I need to look at for motherboards?

 

[Paul]

I'm planning to build a new desktop workstation. I know the budget as
well as how I would like the new tower to function. However, I'm lost
on the hardware selection. I'm planning to start looking at the
motherboards, but not sure if it's the best place to start looking. I
know roughly what processor and graphics card that I want to use, but
that still leaves me with a lot of choices. What other criteria would
I need to look at for motherboards?

The processor choice, fixes the motherboard to some extent. Intel or AMD,
splits the boards into two sets. The FSB speed of the Intel processor,
may rule out some of the $50 motherboards. Many motherboard manufacturers
have a web page for each board, listing the supported processors.

The choice of DDR2 memory or DDR3 memory, splits the boards again.

Then, we have PCI Express slots. Many motherboards will offer at
least one PCI Express x16 slot, so it isn't hard to run one
graphics card. If you have dreams of SLI or Crossfire configurations,
that takes more slots, with specific brands of chipsets. So a gamer
who believes in using multiple video cards, would tend to look
at the more expensive boards which advertise SLI (Nvidia) or
Crossfire (ATI) for graphics.

Once you decide on a class of chipset (P43/P45 say), then you
can look at motherboards with Firewire/ESATA/Gigabit_LAN on
the back. Most of the motherboards will have a wealth of
USB2 connectors. Some motherboards have two PS/2 connectors,
some have one, and some have zero. Depending on your taste in
keyboard/mouse or even your opinion about legacy connectors
like RS-232 or printer port, that could further influence
your choice of built-in interfaces. Adding a Firewire port (for
your camcorder) or ESATA port (for an external hard drive),
will usually add a few bucks to the price. So when you see
20 boards that seem identical, you have to start comparing
what little connectors they have on the back.

HTH,
Paul

 

[JR Weiss]

I'm planning to build a new desktop workstation. I know the budget as
well as how I would like the new tower to function. However, I'm lost
on the hardware selection. I'm planning to start looking at the
motherboards, but not sure if it's the best place to start looking. I
know roughly what processor and graphics card that I want to use, but
that still leaves me with a lot of choices. What other criteria would
I need to look at for motherboards?

First, decide what features you NEED. Do you NEED 2 PCIe-16x slots?
Probably not, so don't pay for an advanced chipset that supports 2. OTOH,
you may NEED solid state capacitors to obviate the reliability and longevity
issues associated with electrolytic capacitors.

Then decide what additions you WANT. Are you going to experiment with
overclocking? If not, you may not want to pay more for fancy chipset heat
sinks/pipes. OTOH, though you may have only 1 HD and an IDE DVD drive,
might you want to add HDs in the future or try a RAID array or upgrade to a
SATA DVD? If so, make sure it has enough SATA ports. Same with USB.

That should downselect to about half the MoBos for your selected CPU. After
that, read reviews and pick out a manufacturer or 3 that you think you
prefer. This choice is personal.

Your budget will eliminate half the rest. Now go for the perceived "bang
for the buck."

 

[Mike Painter]

I'm planning to build a new desktop workstation. I know the budget as
well as how I would like the new tower to function. However, I'm lost
on the hardware selection. I'm planning to start looking at the
motherboards, but not sure if it's the best place to start looking. I
know roughly what processor and graphics card that I want to use, but
that still leaves me with a lot of choices. What other criteria would
I need to look at for motherboards?

What are you going to be using it for? If it is work than a couple good
sized monitors will be worth more than a high end, well a high end anything.

Ther may be a few work related things that need the bext available but you
would know about that.