Ben said:
Im going to be using my computer 24/7, to do photo editing, emailing,
music, editing videos etc. I will need to be able to have 4GB of RAM
and a CPU thats really quick..
There are hundreds of motherboards on Newegg.com that meet that
description. The benefit of visiting that site, is each product
has room for customers to submit reviews. You can get an idea
of whether a motherboard is a dog (dead on arrival etc), from
reading those reviews.
There are two processor companies for the decent performance catagory.
AMD has the X2 dual core, that uses DDR2 memory. AMD also has the
Phenom quad core, but I wouldn't buy one of those at this time.
Sometime in the first quarter of 2008, assuming the reviews are positive,
might be the time to go looking for one of those. In principle, if
you got the right motherboard, you could buy a cheap, low end dual
core X2 now, and upgrade to an AMD quad some time next year.
The AMD Athlon64 X2 dual core for socket AM2, goes for $160 for the 6000+.
That is equivalent to two Pentium4 cores running at 3GHz each.
Intel has Core2 Duo and Quad processors. The E6850 is a dual core that
runs each core at 3GHz. If using the AMD rating system, that is about
a 9000+ processor. The Q6600 is a quad core running at 2.4GHz. By
the same rules, that is somewhere around a 14400+ processor. The Q6600
G0 stepping is routinely overclocked to 3GHz, so for enthusiasts it
can deliver twice what the E6850 can do. The power consumption goes
up when you do that of course. (Not all programs will be able to
use quad cores at the same time, so generally speaking, the more cores
present, the more modern version of software you might consider
running on it. Check with your software maker, for evidence of
good acceleration with a quad core, before you buy.)
So Intel has the high end covered, while AMD competes with Intel for
mid and low ranges. At least until the Phenom is worth buying.
CPU rating charts are here. I just made up the numbers above, and you
can let the charts here do the talking. Note that Tomshardware doesn't know
how to benchmark Photoshop, so I would ignore the chart for that one
(a real shame). Photoshop has some filters which use single core, and
some which run simultaneously on multiple cores, and a standard
benchmark (PSBench) is a better choice of benchmarking tool. The
detailed breakdown from PSBench is worth reviewing, but the format
of the charts here doesn't allow that.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html
So first step, is identify the processor. Then shop for a motherboard.
For AMD, there are some low end AM2 motherboards, in the $50 range. In
the Newegg reviews for those, I cannot see any real winners. Generally
you want a motherboard in the $100+ range, to get a satisfactory
solution.
For Intel, you'd probably want to select something a little more expensive
as well. Acceptable motherboards might be in the $130-$150 range or
so. With the $50 stuff, chances are when you check the details of the
chipset being used, you'd have second thoughts (a $50 board may be
overclocking the chipset to meet the stated FSB support).
So the message there is, don't buy the cheapest, and don't buy the most
expensive. A $400 motherboard gives you stuff like an LCD display where
you cannot really see it, and a remote control that is only really useful
for turning the computer on and off. No extra performance or value over
a $200 board.
In terms of motherboard form factors, the microATX (9.6"x9.6") are really
intended for business systems. They may lack essential voltage and timing
adjustments, and we may suggest those settings to you, in the event of
instability or memory errors. As a general rule of thumb, I would recommend
a full sized ATX motherboard (12" x 9.6"). If it is 12x9.6 and costs
$150, chances are you'll have an uneventful build.
A critical item, is checking the CPUSupport web page. The Asus one for
example, even allows listing all motherboards that support a given processor.
Generally, all the companies will have some level of info to offer. Checking
this first, means not having to return stuff, when you mix apples with
oranges. (When you're ready to purchase, simply post the list here for
feedback.)
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/...600 (2.40GHz,1066FSB,L2:2X4MB,rev.G0,4 cores)
For Intel motherboards, there are boards that support DDR2 and ones that
support DDR3. Since DDR2 memory is quite cheap, there is no real incentive
to go near DDR3. AMD processors have the memory controller inside the
processor, and for AM2 the memory type is DDR2. So DDR2 is the best choice,
unless you spend all day benchmarking your system and not doing any real
work.
For computer cases, there are hundreds on Newegg as well. By using the
pictures they offer, you can see ones that are roomy enough for your
first build. I don't recommend a microscopic case for a first timer,
as you may have trouble getting it all to work. I like a case with
an opening on it, big enough to lower the motherboard with the
CPU heatsink attached, right into the case. So check the external
dimensions of the computer case, to get some idea of how roomy it
really is. (For some of the high end video cards, the cards are 8.5"
long, and a roomy case makes it easier to fit those monstrosities
without needing your Dremel grinder.)
When you get a computer case, get one without a power supply. The
ones that come with a power supply, you'll be throwing that power supply
away. Buy a separate power supply, and the simple rule of thumb there,
is don't buy anything from the "Tier 5" list on this page. Note that
new brands of Tier 5 products are added every day, so there is still
some cheap stuff that should be added to the list, but nobody has
time to do that.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088
So that is a quick capsule summary.
If you like hardware movies, here is one on installing your new
Intel processor. I don't know if AMD feels the need to match
this kind of movie or not.
LGA775 processor socket and push pins...
http://cache-www.intel.com/cd/00/00/24/12/241209_241209.wmv
HTH,
Paul
