Hi All - first post
I want to upgrade my PC - last time I just bought a 'good deal' machine (P3 450) which was OK.......but I then got into gaming a bit!
This time I want to do it right, so I guess I'll build my own - this is my first attempt at learning what I need to know to build a decent platform....
I've got the following points which I'm trying to pay attention to. Can anyone comment whether I'm on the right track and what specific motherboard I should be looking for please (...and what have I missed!). Any advice, comments or suggestions gratefully received....I really don't have much of a clue at this stage. Thanks;
Motherboard
-----------
* What's the highest bus speed for the memory? Seems there's RIMM and PC266 - how fast is RIMM and does it make a difference?
* Is PC266 the fastest non rimm speed? And is DDR memory available for pc266?
* AGP - is agp4 still the best?
* Processor - I want to stick with Intel really; is P4 a viable option now, or should I be looking at a 1ghz P3? Are the other processors types better/faster/as reliable?
* Chipsets - what's best? Only really know of Via.
* If I choose to go SCSII (see below), is there anything special I should be looking for from the motherboard?
* Soundcard - please tell me there are mother boards *without* and on-board sound card chipset?! This feature was the bane of my life on my current motherboard - lol!
* USB - I'll probably upgrade my game controller to a USB one. Should I be looking for anything special with USB to ensure better performance?
* Overclocking/cooling - umm - yes, I'd like to be able to do this!
Peripherals
-----------
Videocard - got a 1st generation geforce ddr which I'm very happy with. Should I redeploy this or go for a new gf3 iteration (is there a 64mb ddr version available?)?
Soundcard - SB Live Value?
Hard Disk - should I bother going SCSII for the faster disk access speeds? Is there still a large difference between the two (I remember hearing something about IDE Ultra ATA?)? And what's the relationship between disk rpm/access time and actual throughput to motherboard?
Umm - I *think* that's it. Any suggestions/comments gratefully received.
Many, many thanks
Richard
I want to upgrade my PC - last time I just bought a 'good deal' machine (P3 450) which was OK.......but I then got into gaming a bit!
This time I want to do it right, so I guess I'll build my own - this is my first attempt at learning what I need to know to build a decent platform....
I've got the following points which I'm trying to pay attention to. Can anyone comment whether I'm on the right track and what specific motherboard I should be looking for please (...and what have I missed!). Any advice, comments or suggestions gratefully received....I really don't have much of a clue at this stage. Thanks;
Motherboard
-----------
* What's the highest bus speed for the memory? Seems there's RIMM and PC266 - how fast is RIMM and does it make a difference?
* Is PC266 the fastest non rimm speed? And is DDR memory available for pc266?
* AGP - is agp4 still the best?
* Processor - I want to stick with Intel really; is P4 a viable option now, or should I be looking at a 1ghz P3? Are the other processors types better/faster/as reliable?
* Chipsets - what's best? Only really know of Via.
* If I choose to go SCSII (see below), is there anything special I should be looking for from the motherboard?
* Soundcard - please tell me there are mother boards *without* and on-board sound card chipset?! This feature was the bane of my life on my current motherboard - lol!
* USB - I'll probably upgrade my game controller to a USB one. Should I be looking for anything special with USB to ensure better performance?
* Overclocking/cooling - umm - yes, I'd like to be able to do this!
Peripherals
-----------
Videocard - got a 1st generation geforce ddr which I'm very happy with. Should I redeploy this or go for a new gf3 iteration (is there a 64mb ddr version available?)?
Soundcard - SB Live Value?
Hard Disk - should I bother going SCSII for the faster disk access speeds? Is there still a large difference between the two (I remember hearing something about IDE Ultra ATA?)? And what's the relationship between disk rpm/access time and actual throughput to motherboard?
Umm - I *think* that's it. Any suggestions/comments gratefully received.
Many, many thanks
Richard