bcampbell91
03-23-2006, 02:04 AM
in response to slugtoys plea for people to make a thread about what theyre good with, im makin a mobo guide for rookies. this wont go into overclocking and whatnot, but will serve as more or less a buyers guide of sorts for people that are confused with building systems, so here it goes.
1: good stuff to know) easily one of the most important, if not the most important, components of a computer is the motherboard. this board is most commonly refered to as either the motherboard (aka mobo, which will be used most frequently in this guide) or the mainboard depending on who ur talking to. it controls all the components of the computer, as it has to communicate with and mediate all the actions of all the other components such as the cpu optical drive hdd etc.. now that you have a vague understanding of what the purpose of this component is its time to move to the individual components of a mobo.
2: mobo components) motherboards are all made up of different aspects that greatly vary depending on the board, but there are some universal aspects on most newer mobos.
first: each mobo has a spot for a processor known as a cpu socket. however not all sockets are identical, for amd compatible boards, the 939 and 54 sockets are the most common, while on intel based boards the lga775 and 478 sockets are quite common. the socket supported on the mobo determines what processor will be able to function with that system.
chipsets: chipsets are the main controlling device on a mobo and determine what memory will be supported by the system, thus determining the speed of ram that can be used. a chipset that supports faster ram will generally increase overall system performance and speed, but keep in mind the chipset must be compatible with the cpu u intend to use. a newer importance of the chipset is if it is sli or crossfire compatible, meaning it supports multiple graphics card of the same gpu and uses these to create one ultra fine image. to the harcore gamers this is a new phenomenon and should be considered if u want to build a system that can display the most adbvanced graphics.
slots: another main component of a mobo are its expansion slots. the most common slots are agp pci express and regular pci. these slots allow the user to insall add on cards (such as wifi recievers), video graphics, and enhanced sound. agp and pci-express are slot types used for graphics cards, although the standard has recently switched to pci-express, making apg grow more obsolete. most other add on cards are in the form of a normal pci card so it might be important for some users to consider a mobo with a large amount of pci slots,
lastly are features: features are add ons to the mobo that enhance system usability, but are not necessary to run the system. examples of this include advanced bios settings, a raid controller, on board sound or video, ehternet, and so on. these features are unique and vary largely from each manufacturer, and differ from board to board.
ill continue tommorow with how to pick a mobo, some buying guides and whatnot but heres a start.
1: good stuff to know) easily one of the most important, if not the most important, components of a computer is the motherboard. this board is most commonly refered to as either the motherboard (aka mobo, which will be used most frequently in this guide) or the mainboard depending on who ur talking to. it controls all the components of the computer, as it has to communicate with and mediate all the actions of all the other components such as the cpu optical drive hdd etc.. now that you have a vague understanding of what the purpose of this component is its time to move to the individual components of a mobo.
2: mobo components) motherboards are all made up of different aspects that greatly vary depending on the board, but there are some universal aspects on most newer mobos.
first: each mobo has a spot for a processor known as a cpu socket. however not all sockets are identical, for amd compatible boards, the 939 and 54 sockets are the most common, while on intel based boards the lga775 and 478 sockets are quite common. the socket supported on the mobo determines what processor will be able to function with that system.
chipsets: chipsets are the main controlling device on a mobo and determine what memory will be supported by the system, thus determining the speed of ram that can be used. a chipset that supports faster ram will generally increase overall system performance and speed, but keep in mind the chipset must be compatible with the cpu u intend to use. a newer importance of the chipset is if it is sli or crossfire compatible, meaning it supports multiple graphics card of the same gpu and uses these to create one ultra fine image. to the harcore gamers this is a new phenomenon and should be considered if u want to build a system that can display the most adbvanced graphics.
slots: another main component of a mobo are its expansion slots. the most common slots are agp pci express and regular pci. these slots allow the user to insall add on cards (such as wifi recievers), video graphics, and enhanced sound. agp and pci-express are slot types used for graphics cards, although the standard has recently switched to pci-express, making apg grow more obsolete. most other add on cards are in the form of a normal pci card so it might be important for some users to consider a mobo with a large amount of pci slots,
lastly are features: features are add ons to the mobo that enhance system usability, but are not necessary to run the system. examples of this include advanced bios settings, a raid controller, on board sound or video, ehternet, and so on. these features are unique and vary largely from each manufacturer, and differ from board to board.
ill continue tommorow with how to pick a mobo, some buying guides and whatnot but heres a start.