Radical Motherboards

By: Sandra Prior

PCs are phenomenally flexible, configurable devices. That's kinda why we love 'em so much. But there are limits to what you can achieve. And most of those are defined by your choice of motherboard, all of which means clarity of purpose is paramount. Identify what you want from your PC and make sure you have a motherboard to match.

This month we've selected a trio of motherboard pairings to suit three popular usage models: small-form factor systems with HTPC capability, overclocking rigs and high-end multi-GPU gaming monsters.

Before we come to the boards in question, what of the seminal AMD or Intel question? Actually, at the moment it's often not much of a quandary thanks to the feebleness of most of AMD's processor product range. We've said it before, but it's seriously bad news for the entire PC industry to have AMD struggling to keep Intel honest.

If the much needed 45nm die shrink of the AMD Phenom family of processors doesn't close the gap significantly, expect to see Intel push up the prices. For now, if performance is a priority, AMD chips are frankly uncompetitive, even at the more affordable end of the spectrum. But throw issues such as power consumption, form factor and HTPC considerations into the mix and it's a very different story.

For the HTPC-centric category, we've therefore turned to a pair of brand new AMD-compatible boards with the latest and most sophisticated integrated chipsets, the GeForce 8200M from NVIDIA and AMD's 780G. If there's an Intel-powered alternative that comes close to these two for small-form factor media PC prowess, we've yet to see it.

Palit's N78S and the Gigabyte GA-MA780GM-S2H are both micro-ATX boards with all passive cooling and fancy new DirextX 10 capable integrated CPUs. Indeed, they both represent our first taste of a new take on multi-GPU graphics rendering from NVIDIA and AMD, dubbed 'Hybrid SLI' and 'Hybrid CrossFire' respectively.

The basic idea behind both is the pairing up of the motherboard's integrated GPU with a discrete graphics card. But the details diverge enough to make them substantially different propositions.

Pairing Up

Both solutions allow users to boost the performance of an add-in graphics card by running it in multi-GPU mode with the integrated graphics chip. According to claims from both NVIDIA and AMD, the result is a big boost in performance for low-end graphics cards. In practice, it's an overly complex and inefficient way of achieving barely acceptable 3D performance, but more on that later. Hybrid CrossFire's abilities more or less end there. The more attractive of the two by far is Hybrid SLI, represented by Palit's N78S and its NVIDIA GeForce 8200M chipset. That's because Hybrid SLI cap also act as a power-saving measure for high performance PCs. In this scenario, users can switch between a powerful but noisy and glutinous graphics board and the onboard integrated GPU from within Windows.

There's no need to reboot or swap monitor cables around. Connect your monitor to the motherboard's video-out port and allow the NVIDIA driver software to do the rest. That includes completely powering down the add-in GPU and its cooling fan. Clever, eh? Hybrid graphics with DirectX 10 support isn't the only common feature. These boards also share the honor of sporting the first integrated chipsets to boast full hardware acceleration of all three of the important video codecs, VC-1, AVC and MPEG2. In both cases, this comes courtesy of the latest 2D video engines from NVIDIA and AMD, known as PureVideo HD and UVD. That's precisely what you need, of course, to guarantee smooth playback of full 1080p Blu-ray discs.

Home HD Motherboards

If these two home cinema-centric boards are remarkably similar, there's also not much between the P35 pairing we've selected for the overclocking showdown. The fact is, Intel's P35 remains the weapon of choice, if it's pure CPU speed you're seeking. Remarkably, that remains the case even with the arrival of NVIDIA's swanky new 790i, a chipset we suspected might just topple the P35 chipset from its position of king of the overclockers.

It's not uncommon to see P35 hit bus speeds in excess of 500MHz without the need for hit and miss tweaking of northbridge voltages. Even Intel's latest X48 chipset typically tends to run out of puff around 475MHz. In that context, attention to detail and execution will separate MSI P35 Platinum from Asus's trusty P5K3 Deluxe.

But what of high-end motherboard design to form the basis of multi-GPU performance PCs? Until recently, the pickings were a bit thin. Intel's X38 and X48 chipsets are fine things indeed, in terms of performance. But thanks to NVIDIA's decision to lock SLI technology down to its own chipsets (unnecessarily in our view), the X38 and X48 only support AMD's competing CrossFire platform. That meant SLI fans were forced to go with the somewhat substandard NVIDIA 680i or 780i option. But not anymore. NVIDIA is back on form with the 790i. It will be an extremely tight contest for top honors. If that's the theory behind all these boards, how do they perform in the silicon?

Perhaps the most intriguing motherboards here are the AMD-compatible micro-ATX pair. In concert with a low voltage dual-core Athlon 64 processor they deliver truly spectacular power efficiency. Both of the boards are within spitting distance of 100 watts running at full CPU load and idle around the 50 watt mark.

That's for a full system with 2GB of RAM, hard disk and optical drive. That represents as little as a quarter of the consumption of a high-end quad-core rig. It also translates into extremely unobtrusive operation that's a perfect match for a home cinema installation Less impressive is the performance of its much-touted DX10 integrated GPUs, in 3D mode at least. Neither are capable of anything remotely resembling a pleasant gaming experience. And frankly neither pack enough grunt to make the Hybrid dual-GPU option at all attractive.

Where things get more interesting is the contest for home cinema prowess. And that must go to the Gigabyte thanks to its HDMI port and fully driver-supported 2D acceleration core. Add in a low-voltage AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor and you have a motherboard and CPU combo with full HD capabilities for just $l80.

As for the P35 overclocker's boards, it is mostly one-way traffic. A result of 520MHz is an impressive bus speed to hit for any Intel-compatible motherboard. The fact that the Asus P5K3 Deluxe can achieve it without any voltage tweaks makes for an extremely user-friendly overclocking platform. You can be confident you'll get the most out of any CPU with this motherboard.

Our only doubt involves the fact that it's a DDR3 motherboard. In theory the higher clockspeeds of DDR3 memory should be a boon for overclocking. In practice, a pair of quality DD2 memory DIMMs do the job just tine. Factor in the current utterly ludicrous price of DDR3 memory sticks and the benefits just don't add up.

Performance per Pound

All of which just leaves just the big ticket X48 and 790i pairing from MSI and Asus respectively. There's no doubting the all new Striker II Extreme from Asus is a sickeningly desirable thing. Everything from its feature-packed BIOS, to the hardware power and reset buttons and the northbridge heatsink pre-plumbed for water cooling, reek of quality, class and most of all expense.

The 790i chipset also brings NVIDIA's SLI platform bang up to date with DDR3 and proper PCI Express support, as well as decent overclocking headroom. As good as it is, however, it simply cannot be worth nearly $450. Particularly when it offers less overclocking oomph than Asus's own sub-$l50 Intel P35 board. The performance advantage of the 790i chipset is far too slender to make any real world difference, too.

The spoils must therefore go to MSI's X48 platinum. It's a lean, mean enthusiast board at a sensible price. Yes, it does lock you into AMD's CrossFire platform in terms of multi-GPU support. But until NVIDIA puts the interests of buyers ahead of its own selfish desires to maximize revenues from SLI chipsets, the perfect multi-GPU platform simply isn't possible.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com

* About Sandra Prior

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Motherboard Repair

By Dennis Levenhagen

A question that regularly crops up on the internet is that of how to repair Motherboards. The types of questions generated on the various forums and e-mails indicate that the problems arise in computers of all leading brands and also unbranded ones. There are innumerable methods of repair suggested on the internet. Most of the repairs of bad motherboards follow the method of trial and error and are not very reliable in terms of results. The decision to repair a motherboard is not for the week at heart. It can be time consuming and risky. It can take considerable time and, due to the fragile parts, you could break something. If you bend a motherboard to much it can crack or break making it useless.

Computers show the effects of usage by how slow they work. One cause is the amount of dust that collects on the motherboard. This dust affects the working of the motherboard and can make them overheat and fail. One step to motherboard repair is to remove the dust. This can be done by using a small vacuum cleaner or canned air to remove the dust as much as possible.

With motherboard problems It is very important to know the components that make up the motherboard before ever venturing to repair a bad motherboard. The motherboard is the main board that contains the central circuit board of the computer. All other components and peripherals are plugged in or connected to the motherboard. One of the main functions of the motherboard is to relay information between them. The motherboard houses the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) which is simple software run by the computer designed to function when the computer is switched on.

To repair motherboards you should know that Chipsets in the motherboard are those that form an interface between two main parts of the computer, the front side bus and the peripheral buses or the main memory. There are some memory chips that are extremely non volatile and it contains the firmware of the system or what is popularly known as the BIOS. Motherboards also contain a clock generator which is responsible to produce the system clock signal that can help in synchronizing various components. The cause of a bad motherboard could be in any of the components. It is best that the job is assigned to an experienced and technically qualified person or a reputable dealer or the manufacturer of the board.

It is mostly better if you replace the bad motherboard with a new one. It is extremely expensive to repair an old motherboard. You should compare the price of repair to the purchase of a new computer.

Dennis is a Microsoft A+ Certified Technician with over 15 years of experience. He has a very informative computer blog and website that goes into how to solve numerous computer related problems as well as providing general computer tips, reviews and advice. See: http://www.pcinfospace.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_Levenhagen

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Comparing Motherboards for the Upcoming Core i7 Processors

by Gen Wright

In the next few months, more and more buzz will be generated for new motherboards. That's because with the launch of Intel Core i7 processors, only new motherboards with the X58 chipset can be used. In other words, if an enthusiast wants to upgrade a CPU, the motherboard has to be upgraded as well.

A lot of information has been released by technology news websites on various motherboards such as the ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm, Intel DX58SO, MSI Eclipse and EVGA's X58 SLI motherboard. In order not to be overwhelmed by the plethora of articles on these motherboards, it may be a good idea to be clear headed and focus our attention on the crucial elements.

Crucial element 1: Speed

The overall speed of the computer system depends on the multiplier values of the system. For example, you can achieve higher performance if you tweak the multiplier values of the CPU or the memory. Overclocking enthusiasts will be most interested to know if the system can run reliability at the overclocked values.

In this area, the ASUS P6T motherboard offers an extra in the 2.5" LCD displays that presents system configuration information, overclocking data, etc. This is useful for overclockers who want to tweak and monitor the system while it runs.

Crucial element 2: Graphics

The graphics of a computer system is another major component to take into consideration. Many software applications require a lot of graphics processing power to run smoothly. This includes professional software, such as video and audio editing software that performs a lot of zooming, panning, modeling of 3D objects, etc. Many 3D games also require powerful graphic processing for best effects.

Enthusiasts should check whether the motherboard has SLI (Scalable Link Interface) support. SLI is a technology developed by nVidia, and it's used for multi-GPU processing. Not all motherboards support this feature because manufacturers are required to pay a royalty to nVidia if they want to offer support for SLI.

Since SLI is meant for intensive graphics processing, only those who need it for business applications or gaming need to consider having this feature.

Crucial element 3: Memory.

The memory on a system affects the overall speed of the computer. With powerful processors, enthusiasts have to make sure that there won't be a bottleneck when it comes to memory. Having insufficient memory could mean that the system will run at substandard performance.

Motherboards with the X58 chipset offer support for triple channel DDR3 memory kits. Various memory manufacturers from Taiwan and China have already released memory kits that are timed perfectly for the Core i7 processors.

Enthusiasts should pay attention to the number of slots available. For instance, the ASUS P6T motherboard has 6 memory slots, allowing a max memory of 12 GB. Other motherboard options may have only 3.

As far as the motherboard is concerned, there are various editions available. Of course, one can expect the high-end editions to be much more costly. However, enthusiasts can still enjoy the increased performance at an affordable price if options are selected wisely.

About the Author

For fresh technology news on the latest PC hardware, such as the ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard, please visit the Gadget Advisor web site.

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How to Buy a Motherboard

by Jason

The motherboard, or mainboard, is what everything connects to. If the CPU is the brains, then this is the heart and soul of the computer. Everything - from the processor to the hard drive, and even the power supply is going to attach to it. So, purchasing the right motherboard is essential.

Here are some buying tips that will help you choose the right board for you:

* Make sure the Socket Type (or processor Interface type) matches that of your chosen CPU. Remember, the Dual and Quad Core Intel CPUs use Socket 775.
* Make sure the Front Side Bus speed matches or exceeds your processors Front Side Bus. This will vary from 500Mhz up to 1333MHz (or higher).
* Take note of the RAM type (DDR, DDR2, DDR3, Dual Channel, etc...) and its speed. Typically, you'll see Ram advertised as DDR2 Dual-Channel 800MH, just make sure the RAM you have matches your motherboards spec.
* Check how much RAM it supports! One of the most frustrating things is buying a motherboard that supports the fastest RAM, but only 2GB of it.
* Take note if it has AGP or PCI-Express (PCIe) slots. AGP is an older, outdated standard. If the motherboard you're thinking of buying doesn't have any PCIe slots, reconsider your purchase.
* If it has PCI-Express, take note of the number of "x16" slots available - if you want to set up an SLI system you'll need at least PCIe x16 slots (you'll also need to make sure the motherboard is SLI compatible).
* Does it have IDE, SATA, or both? Hard Drives generally come with a SATA connector, so you'll want to make sure your motherboard supports this. If you're getting a modern motherboard, make sure it supports SATA-II (also called SATA-300, or SATA 3.0Gb/s).
* Make note of the form factor - ATX, Mini-ATX, Micro-ATX? This will help you select a case later on, especially if you plan on making a small computer.

With these tips in hand, you'll be well on your way to building your very own computer.

About the Author
Building a computer is easy, but building a gaming computer takes research. Our Build a Gaming Computer guide has all the info you need to build your own rig from the ground up.

No Comment | Posted in » cpu, mainboard, motherboard, PCI-Express, processors, ram, SLI, socket    

What Is Your PC's Front Side Bus Clock Speed?

by otis cooper

How you ask? By upgrading your own system as well as repairing those of your friends while earning extra cash in the process. One of the more important PC components are the Motherboard,CPU Chip,and your computer's Hard Drive.

The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the brains of any computer and the two major manufacturers are Intel and AMD or Advanced Micro Devices.

For many years Intel CPUs were found in nearly all PCs. And now the Intel is found in most systems but the newer Athlon class cpu from AMD have taken a large chunk of the cpu market.

AMD's top cpu is the Opteron which compete's with Intel's Itanium and the Xeon.The Athlon is next on AMD's cpu lists and is intended for mid to high end computers.The Athlon XP was introduced in 1999 and is there most popular CPU.

Intel advertised their CPU's by their clock speed but now have introduced a rating system using a three digit number such as Intel Pentium 735.To understand the meaning of the number you can visit www.intel.com/products/ processor_number/info.htm

There you will see a list of all Intel CPUs, their rating numbers and meanings.This information is a valuable asset in helping you further understand your computer's CPU.

What then is meant by the term Clock Speed? This is the speed at which the CPU runs and is measured as a frequency such as 500 MHz or 500 million cycles per second.

As every action carried out by the CPU requires one or more cycles,be means that the higher the clock speed, the more instructions it will be able to process in any given second.Take the time to know the clock speed of your current CPU.

Want to know the clock speed of your CPU? There is a handy little utility named CHKCPU that will show your CPU's speed,and type.It can be downloaded in either DOS or Windows versions and its absolutely free.

The CPU's clock speed is an important indication of its quality but is by no means the only one.You must also understand and consider its FSB or Front Side Bus speed.

The FSB allows the CPU to communicate with the rest of the computer.The 3 GHz Pentium 4 PC has a FSB of 800 MHz and the 3 GHz Celeron's FSB is 533 MHz. Other names for this technology is the CPU Bus Speed, Memory Bus and System Bus.

Note that they both have the same processing power but the Pentium 4 can transfer data much more quickly since it has the faster FSB.

To make it easier for us pc users,manufacturers of the motherboards made them to support several FSB speeds within a specified range.To find the FSB rating for your computer look in the owners manual.

The Front Side Bus speed can generally be set either using the system BIOS.Short for Basic Input/Output System,this small software is responsible for starting the computer's bootup procedure.

The BIOS also recognizes and configures the system's hardware prior to the loading of the operating system. To access the BIOS,you must press a combination of keys such as CTRL-ALT-DEL on older systems but newer PCs allow you enter setup by press F1 or F10.

As your computer boot's up,watch the screen for a key to press to access your Setup.Once inside the BIOS, look for references to the FSB.Other motherboards allow FSB setup with jumpers located on the motherboard.

While most motherboards allow you to set the FSB to any setting,ensure that the FSB is properly set unless you plan to speed up your system by overclocking the Central Processing Unit.

The AMD has its own Hyper Transport Integrated I/O Bus and don't use FSB numbers.This technology resulted in communication much faster between the CPU,the RAM and other parts of the motherboard.

Now when you decide to upgrade your CPU or the Motherboard, don't overlook the Front Side Bus capacity and the CPU clock speed.You'll further boost your PC know as you understand these terms in more detail.

About the Author

The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the brains of any computer and the two major manufacturers are Intel and AMD or Advanced Micro Devices. For many years Intel CPUs were found in nearly all PCs. And now the Intel is found in most systems but the newer Athlon class cpu from AMD have taken a large chunk of the cpu market.

source:www.goarticles.com

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Choosing the Components to Build your Own Computer

By:IC

Many people now opt to build their own computer so that they are more in control of the specifications they want and save more than just a few pounds. There are a multitude of DIY’s found all over the Internet, and yes, it is possible to build one yourself! But before doing so, you must choose the right components for your computer. Here are some of the very basic components you need to get:

Computer Case

Computer cases now come in a variety of designs and colours. Some now even come with a panel window where you can see the inside parts through. What is important when buying a case is that the size of the case should support the size of the motherboard. A mid-tower case is highly recommended as it has enough room for all the hardware.

Power Supply

The power supply must provide you at least 300 watts and fit right into the computer case you choose. If you are one of those who extreme users or gamers, you may want to buy a bigger power supply to feed additional cooling, USB devices and case lighting.

Processor

The processor is the most important choice you need to make in setting up your own computer. You have to know exactly what kind and how fast you need. There are a variety of options from AMD and Intel, for example: AMD Athlon, AMD Sempron, AMD Duron, Intel Celeron, Intel Core Duo, among others. If you only use the computer to surf the web, do word processing, gaming and some graphics editing, the 1.8 GHz - 2.0 GHz might be enough. Extreme gaming, 3D rendering and video editing would need at least a 2.4GHz processor.

CPU Cooler

Processors usually come with a fan and a heat sink. But it is best to get a cooler that is more efficient and quieter than the one included in the package. Remember to get a thermal compound to put onto the CPU core.

Motherboard

Choose a motherboard that matches your processor's socket type and supports the same bus speed as the CPU.

RAM

Similarly, choose a RAM that is compatible with the motherboard's bus speed. Get at least 512MB of RAM.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

The HDD is your permanent storage for system files, applications, documents, games and so on. Get the largest hard drive capacity that you can afford. If you are on a tight budget, you can get at least a 60GB. Most motherboards have IDE slots for hard drives. Newer ones also have SATA connectors for SATA HDDs, which are quite faster than IDE HDDs.

Graphics Card
If you use the computer for regular office work, you can get a motherboard with a built-in video card. If you use it for gaming, you might want to buy a separate video card. Video cards usually use an AGP slot or a PCI Express slot on the motherboard.

Sound Card

Most motherboards have built-in sound cards which generally have good quality. If you use sound mixing or audio/video editing, you can get at least a 24-bit sound card for better quality.

CD/DVD

Of optical drives, it is best to seek for a DVD/CD-RW combo or a DVD±RW; the latter is a better choice. DVDs have larger capacity to allow you to store more music and movie files and back-up data. If you do not expect to burn disks, you can opt for a CD-R or a DVD-R drive.

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No Comment | Posted in » Computer Case, dvd/cd-rwcombo, HDD, heat sink, motherboard, power supply, processor, ram, sound cards, video card