Recommend a mobo / processor?

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ilovepiano

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Jul 9, 2002
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Right, I've just been thinking, what with Christmas not so far off, about getting some new bits n bobs for my puter. Here's the deal... If I get a new processor, it means getting a new mother board also, and in turn will mean having to get new memory.

I've been having a bit of a browse and I have to admit, I'm a tiny bit confused to say the least, lol.

So I have a couple of questions if any of you would be so good as to help answer.


1. Processor - want to stick with AMD and want at minimum 3000. What's the difference between socket 939 and 734 etc other than size? Is there much point paying extra and getting 64 bit?

2. Motherboard. Don't understand this RAID thing. Will I still be able to use my existing CD/DVD drives and IDE hard drive? Needs to have AGP graphics port, and can you get them with PCI express as well, for future upgrade? Is there any point me spending £100 or more, when one that costs £30 / £40 would do the job nicely?

3. Do I get to plug my hard drive in and everything will be cool, or is it a case of format and start again coz old drivers won't want to know? What's the beef with setting bios the first time it's switched on? Is it something that's pretty easy for someone who isn't a pc expert, but likes to have a crack, lol :thumbsup:
 
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turpieaj

Active member
Feb 15, 2003
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sunshine on Leith, via Watford
1. 64 bit processors are really only worth it if your using an Operating System (Windows64) plus software if its able to utilise the extra bits - plus the hassle of tracking down 64bit drivers and using posible 3rd party if OEM ones don't exist.

2.The motherboard is the most crucial part of the system IMHO the better the chipset the more efficient overall your pc will be. (I don't know much about nvidia chipsets as im a intel bloke meself) - RAID is where you can set up an array of hard drives to pool together and act as one which gives better disk performance. the two common modes are RAID0 which is two disks which "ghost" or mirror each other if one fails theres an exact copy of the data on the other:thumbsup:(secure but slower) RAID1 is where the data is striped across both disks (not secure- risk of losing all data if one hdd goes down):( but ultra fast performance.

3. Always when changing a motherboard reformat (but backup important data first) as you might be lucky and get windows started but with dodgy drivers onboard it will be very unstable with blues screens of death all over the place. Usually you wont have to alter the BIOS at all as every thing will be auto detected. The only thing you would have to change is the boot sequence priority when first installing windows again.

Hope this helps bud,

Andy
 
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ilovepiano

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Jul 9, 2002
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turpieaj

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Feb 15, 2003
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sunshine on Leith, via Watford
cant comment on the mobo and cpu at the moment as I cant access the links for some reason.

As for the RAM, it depends on what you wish to do with your system, leave it at its stock speed or overclock the mutha (personally I never recommend it). If you are leaving that overclocking well alone then run of the mill exilr ddr400 value ram will suffice, but to get the best out of them best buy them at least in identical capacity and speed as they will help the system respond a lot respond better.

Andy
 
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turpieaj

Active member
Feb 15, 2003
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sunshine on Leith, via Watford
Just managed to access the links now - Gigabyte boards I can reccomend, The one I have at the moment has 6 ddr slots dual bios chips (incase I feck up a bios upgrade) and an onboard ghost image recovery program.
If you could get a 939 socket one with dual bios and the express recovery then I would recommend.

The CPU will do you justice as well its as powerful as an Intel 3ghz but runs a lot cooler and quieter as well:thumbsup:
 


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