Motherboard Suggestions

[ctjoyce]

This may be true, but does he live in Canada?

Cheers
Cameron

[cheesegrater]

Yes I do.

What do you think of this barebone system?
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=1915
The case is butt ugly though. Enough to make me wanna pass.

How do I know a motherboard supports an IDE hard drive? If it has IDE headers?

[legoalex2000]

Newegg.com does not offer International/Canadian shipping options at this time.

Newegg is not an option for Canadians.

really? wow... i thought they were international... my apologies.

Ramos

[ctjoyce]

Yes I do.

What do you think of this barebone system?
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=1915
The case is butt ugly though. Enough to make me wanna pass.

The motherboard is the only thing worth looking at in that setup.

How do I know a motherboard supports an IDE hard drive? If it has IDE headers?

All motherboards have support for atleast two IDE Hard Drives and two IDE Optical drives.

Cheers
Cameron

[legoalex2000]

The motherboard is the only thing worth looking at in that setup.

All motherboards have support for atleast two IDE Hard Drives and two IDE Optical drives.

Cheers
Cameron

you would be suprised. i know for a fact that intel still sells single IDE ports.
when we were building the new A+ PC's, there was a mistake in the order, and intel shipped boards (LGA) with one IDE port. boy did my teacher feel helpless...

Ramos

[ctjoyce]

Well I know they were trying to phase out PATA on 975X boards.

Cheers
Cameron

[cheesegrater]

I think I might choose between these two boards:
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=1569
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=1569

On the subject of SLI should I go for a non-SLI board if I am not planning to use SLI mode? You need more than a 450W power supply for SLI mode when your video cards are actively cooled right?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... CatId=1569

[legoalex2000]

think about it this way, if you have the extra slot, your good if you plan on going SLI. it's not required you go that route. but if upgrades are in store for you, getting 2 PCIe x16 slots are a good idea. get them while they are cheap, prices will go up as games will demand dual graphics. dual graphics will require a compatible motherboard. see... look into the future. i have another video card and motherboard upgrade in the planning stages.

*SLI refers to a technology by Nvidia for equalizing two PCIe video cards for better graphics. but also look for PCIe x16

I like gigabyte boards, they offer a lot for the start builder, however ASUS is smarter when it comes to overclocking. if you plan on overclocking, go ASUS, if not, stay with gigabyte, it's worth the money.

Ramos

[cheesegrater]

I was thinking that SLI is just a trend like with Voodoo 2 which will pass.

Since I am on a budget I am buying a lower end card that I can upgrade later. I'm probably better off buying a newer card than another lower end card. However, it is only $10 for the Gigabyte board just in case.

[legoalex2000]

I was thinking that SLI is just a trend like with Voodoo 2 which will pass.

Since I am on a budget I am buying a lower end card that I can upgrade later. I'm probably better off buying a newer card than another lower end card. However, it is only $10 for the Gigabyte board just in case.

SLI, and the like, are going to be standard in computers. not enough people know it now, but dual screen LCD/plasma displays will become normal. and so will the need to process such high graphics.

Nvidia (creators of SLI technology) already have created quad-SLI, for the what, 5-10 motherbords that have four (4) PCIe x16 slots.

but are you also looking at the expandibility of the other components? SATA/300 ports, ATA (parallel ribbon cable) 80 pin? PCI, PCIe x1 (x4 and x8 are more for workstation use) PCIe x16, the wattage required, type of ram, how much ram, the chipset, since Nforce5 is about to be released (or is it?). then the ports on the back. PS/2 ports, USB 1.1 & 2.0, Firewire?, Gigabit ethernet (going to be the new standard in networking), sound. i just want to to get the most of what you want/can get for the price you are willing to pay.

ramos

[cheesegrater]

Quad-SLI?

That is just not very practical. The people who created that must have been the same people who made the Voodoo 5 6000.

http://www.eurogamer.net/assets/convert ... v5602b.jpg

[legoalex2000]

that card is just nuts... they might as well just add watercooling system to that

so, have you made you decision?

ramos

[cheesegrater]

That card had it's own external power supply. I saw one on eBay a few months ago and it sold for well over $1000.

Yeah, I will go with the SLI Gigabyte or the Asus without SLI. It would be nice to have SLI just in case, but the Asus board is probably higher quality. Although I did have a Gigabyte back when I had a Pentium II and I thought it was very good. Haven't decided yet.

I gotta wait for my check from work to come in so I got lots of time to decide.

[congo]

If you are going to get a socket 939 board, the A8N-E is fine, but has no onboard firewire.

The A8N-SLI Premium or later models is preferable to the Deluxe model, the Deluxe has a cumbersome manual SLI switch in the form of a flip card on the mainboard.

The Gigabyte BIOS may be limiting.

The barebone rig is using the A8N-SLI Deluxe because it was cheaply obtained, (no one really ever wanted it, they either bought the standard A8N-SLI or went up to the premium model). There is no need for that silly after market cooler in that system either.

Nforce4 and socket 939 are being phased out, so are particularly suitable for budget system builds. There is more modern stuff to choose from.

SLI has evolved from gimmick to niche market at the least, with marketing responsible for  most sales, not the requirements of the purchasers.

Many people would now be on their 3rd purchase for  pairs of expensive high end SLI cards, with a DX10 upgrade due soon....... eight video cards in 2-3 years?    

I think someone is having a go guys.  

[cheesegrater]

Firewire? I don't even know what Firewire is so chances are I don't need it.

BTW when are DX10 cards coming out? I heard September. However it will take a while before DX10 games will come out. Any major price reductions I should wait for before buying?