Motherboard Advice

vinx · #1 10-11-2011, 12:04 PM

So.. in the past (00-05) ive always been able to build a better PC or at least cheaper build then what was being sold at bestbuy or wherever..
I was in walmart the other day and checkin out the desktops. one for $600 the other about $900 and they looked pretty good to me lol

Question is, well couple questions really.
1) I was looking for a minimum of 2.0Ghz or better
but the MBs i see on newegg are dual core and around 1.6-1.8 (price range: 100-200)
Is that the speed of each CPU? or total? or do i need to price higher?

2) Any recommendations for a good MB manufacturer? I dont recognize most these names
(i been out of the build loop for years / keep patching up old PCs)

Or should i just save up and buy a premade? they seem like they are getting better...

edit: fyi lookin for the MB/CPU combo not just a MB

guineapig · #2 10-11-2011, 12:23 PM

1.) What operating system do you plan on running? 2.0 Ghz is kind of slow for anything beyond Windows XP

2.) What socket type is the motherboard?

3.) Not sure about your question regarding the "speed of each CPU", you are (most likely) only going to have 1 CPU in your computer, the number of cores the CPU has is another story.

4.) Do you have the other parts already? If you are building from scratch the price is going to jump around wildly depending on how much you invest in your graphics card (very important for gaming) and your power supply (not expensive per-say but highly important) and cooling.

5.) Which leads to my last question: What do you plan on running on this rig?

vinx · #3 10-11-2011, 12:56 PM

1) i have xp atm, but with a new build im prolly going win7
2) idk, havent really looked into that yet lol
3) yea i meant cores, but it does stand to reason they are seperate and going to be faster then 2.0 (id just rather look stupid an ask first before buying lol)
4) no other parts.. i expect the total price to vary depending on parts. but i like to start with the MB first and build around that.
5) Gaming, plus id like to run Adobe CS5 creative suite on it

I think the CS5 has recommended processors iirc but the real question is just..
what are some decent manufacturers? or maybe better yet..
what manufacturers should i avoid?

I usually dont buy high end and dont mind takin chances on soso mid range hardware
I just want to avoid the brand names with horrible track records..
know any? hehe

falkun · #4 10-11-2011, 01:01 PM

You can still make a much better rig yourself than you can buy in the store. For some starter advice on getting back in to building, check out some of the "monthly build" sites:

Tom's Hardware's 9/11 System Builder Marathon
BitTech's 9/11 PC Hardware Buyer's Guide

Those are both great (almost) monthly issues to check out, hitting different price points with solid hardware.

Gwence · #5 10-11-2011, 01:15 PM

it'll always be cheaper to build your own, for some reason retail stores drive the price up for things like memory which I don't understand because they are always shitty modules but cost per component one of the highest in the whole tower. You're also getting a shitty power supply with a pre-made machine and most likely a micro atx shitty piece of shit mobo.

Quote:

Question is, well couple questions really.
1) I was looking for a minimum of 2.0Ghz or better
but the MBs i see on newegg are dual core and around 1.6-1.8 (price range: 100-200)
Is that the speed of each CPU? or total? or do i need to price higher?

2) Any recommendations for a good MB manufacturer? I dont recognize most these names
(i been out of the build loop for years / keep patching up old PCs)

Or should i just save up and buy a premade? they seem like they are getting better...

edit: fyi lookin for the MB/CPU combo not just a MB

question 1 makes no sense, you're confusing motherboards with computer processors I think, not sure how though? =p

There is much better than dual core out right now, they have up to 6 cores that are affordable, last time I looked the phenom II x6 was $180 or something. It depends on your budget of course but generally AMD chips are going to be quite a bit cheaper than intel right now, the performance isn't a huge difference, intel is better but not by a whole lot until you start getting into the core i5's i7's and beyond.

As far as motherboards intel chipsets vs amd chipsets there isn't a big difference in price, again it's what your plans and budget are. If you're going with AMD I'd reccomend any board with the 990FX north bridge, if intel I'd say you'd probably want any LGA 1155 socket and work off the P67 or Z68 chipsets. Those are all the practical boards for someone that wants the ability to have a top end gaming machine without going to broke.

Question 2 about the manufacturers, there really isn't too many out there, for regular sized ATX boards I'd steer clear of Biostar, aside from that most of the board manufacturers do a pretty good job, when you find a model you are interested in do some research and try to find some tech reviews on it that will help with your decision. Bottom line in terms of personals preferance, ASRock is at the top of my charts right now for motherboard manufacturing, they make great boards with all the features and are usually $30-50 cheaper than companies like ASUS with boards in the same level bracket. Gigabyte is also a good manufacturer but the gaps that company has between its mid tier to high end boards is a bit big for my taste in terms of price anyway. MSI is the other big name and they're pretty good too. Intel sells their own boards as well but they are overpriced to high heaven because of the name, but the quality is probably way high because of it as well, dont know for sure I've never had an intel board.

The combo packages aren't saving you that much money either maybe 20-30 bucks when its all said and done and you're limited on the choices as you can probably see.

I always suggest building your own computer to people, it's a ton of fun and you know exactly what you're getting and what the quality is.

Gwence · #6 10-11-2011, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinx [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

1) i have xp atm, but with a new build im prolly going win7
2) idk, havent really looked into that yet lol
3) yea i meant cores, but it does stand to reason they are seperate and going to be faster then 2.0 (id just rather look stupid an ask first before buying lol)
4) no other parts.. i expect the total price to vary depending on parts. but i like to start with the MB first and build around that.
5) Gaming, plus id like to run Adobe CS5 creative suite on it

I think the CS5 has recommended processors iirc but the real question is just..
what are some decent manufacturers? or maybe better yet..
what manufacturers should i avoid?

I usually dont buy high end and dont mind takin chances on soso mid range hardware
I just want to avoid the brand names with horrible track records..
know any? hehe

What's your budget, I'm a work and bored, I will be happy to have something to pass the time and can find components that would work for you for the things you listed you wanted to do. (Gaming, Adobe etc)

vinx · #7 10-11-2011, 01:56 PM

All good advice and links, yea its been awhile so when i started to actually browse mobos today i was like..hmm wth
(i used to use Abit and Intel) but Intel does look expensive
figured id ask the gamers first for preferred mobos or ones i should steer clear of. then do the research on ones in the middle i think look decent.
I think i will take your advice and consider seperate mobo and processor now [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwence [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

What's your budget, I'm a work and bored, I will be happy to have something to pass the time and can find components that would work for you for the things you listed you wanted to do. (Gaming, Adobe etc)

not much of a budget or plan lol
im just using extra cash i might have on the side like 100-200 a month maybe
And no timeline for a finished machine either, tho i would prefer something like feb/march

vinx · #8 10-11-2011, 02:00 PM

I usually start with the mobo/case, and those sit for about a month
then as things start to fall into place like the PSU and RAM
i get more excited and start pickin up the buying pace to hurry up and get things running [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Honest · #9 10-11-2011, 02:06 PM

Most everything is going to bud off of what processor you get. I would recommend getting a CPU that uses DDR3 as it is less expensive than DDR2, not to mention faster. Do you want to run dual video cards? Basically what do you want to do with this rig? I'm a newegg fanboy for sure so I would recommend looking on their website. They also offer interest free financing for 6 months for orders $250-499 and a year interest free on $500 and up. Also I dont know how much your tweak your machine but if your planning on Overclocking anything (ie ram, CPU) you will need at list a mid level Motherboard. I am an AMD fan myself and there are many reasonably priced CPU's out there that you can push up and beyond their stock speeds. Infinite possibilities out there.

vinx · #10 10-11-2011, 02:17 PM

Ahh no, i never got the overclock thing down =/
but yea im itchin to start on a build before to long, so was on newegg today thinking about getting a mobo, and was sorta lost on where to start..mobo's and processer wise. (like i said its been since 05 so like 6 years)
nah, i dont think i need to run dual cards with the CS5 im not creating movies or flash that requires that much graphic usage and i would think most games can run on 1 card
I thought DDR3 was more expensive and better then DDR2 (or used to be?)
thx for the heads up about it being cheaper.. dont think about what PSU/RAM and other things until later and i get the mobo/CPU
like you said, everything buds afterwards