OT: I need a new motherboard.

narf poit chez BOOM · #1 January 23rd, 2008, 02:16 PM

I have a few concerns about the budget motherboard in the ars system guide: Link to stats

1) '4 x 240-pin DIMM, support max. 8GB DDR2 800/667/533 ECC and Non-ECC,un-buffered memory' - What is ECC and does this mean that memory speeds other than those listed won't work?

2) '6-channel Audio I/O' - This means what?

3) 'Integrated ATI Radeon X1250-based graphics' - From my own experience, integrated sound cards can be rather difficult to replace. The computer has a tendency to want to use the integrated card rather than the new one you plugged in. I imagine this problem may show up for graphics cards, too.

4) 'Maximum shared memory of 256 MB' - This means?...

5) 'Supports HDMI Technology with HDCP compliant with max. resolution 1920 x 1080p' - HDMI? HDCP?

6) '(It may not display 1080p smoothly when playing HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc due to current version player limit)' - That sounds like a rather vague problem. 'Current version player limit'?

7) 'Supports YPbPr component TV-out with max. resolutions 1280 x 720p and 1920 x 1080i' - Can someone decode that for me, please?

8) 'Supports DVI-D with max. resolution 2560x1600 (@ 60Hz)' - 'DVI-D'?

9) '1 x S/PDIF output connector' - The acronyms! They confuse!

10) 'Chassis Intrusion connector' - A rather vague and worrying name...

11) '1 x PCI Express x16
1 x PCI Express x1
2 x PCI' - Only 4 expansion slots? Plus, how do I know if my catweasel card will fit in any of them?

Fyron · #2 January 23rd, 2008, 04:23 PM

"1) '4 x 240-pin DIMM, support max. 8GB DDR2 800/667/533 ECC and Non-ECC,un-buffered memory' - What is ECC and does this mean that memory speeds other than those listed won't work?"

ECC has to do with error correction, and is generally only used in servers due to excessive cost. Don't worry about it. Also, don't bother with more than 4 GB physical ram unless you also plan to purchase Vista 64bit.

"2) '6-channel Audio I/O' - This means what?"

It means there are 6 ports on the back for audio; mic and line in, front and rear speaker, maybe a S/PDIF connector, a headphone jack. One of those might be an "aux" jack with configurable functionality, depending on who made the chipset.

"3) 'Integrated ATI Radeon X1250-based graphics' - From my own experience, integrated sound cards can be rather difficult to replace. The computer has a tendency to want to use the integrated card rather than the new one you plugged in. I imagine this problem may show up for graphics cards, too."

Such integrated chipsets are generally easily disabled in the BIOS. This is best done before booting into your OS after/before installing the discrete card.

Integrated sound cards, at least, have improved quite a bit in quality lately, and the one in this mobo will probably suit your needs.

"4) 'Maximum shared memory of 256 MB' - This means?..."

That is how much system ram the integrated video chipset can use. If you disable it and install a discrete card, it will be irrelevant.

"5) 'Supports HDMI Technology with HDCP compliant with max. resolution 1920 x 1080p' - HDMI? HDCP?"

That's the latest fad in the TV/Movie industry; HDMI is basically a combined DVI video cable and some sort of digital audio cable in one. HDCP has to do with the copy protection on Blu-ray and HD-DVD. You don't need to worry about these things unless you want to set the PC up to function as a media center.

"6) '(It may not display 1080p smoothly when playing HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc due to current version player limit)' - That sounds like a rather vague problem. 'Current version player limit'?"

Possibly an issue with the integrated radeon chipset.

"7) 'Supports YPbPr component TV-out with max. resolutions 1280 x 720p and 1920 x 1080i' - Can someone decode that for me, please?"

That is component video output, with three separate cables for different parts of the video signal. It allows higher quality output than the old composite (yellow cable on a VCR) out did. Also not relevant if you aren't setting up a media center.

"8) 'Supports DVI-D with max. resolution 2560x1600 (@ 60Hz)' - 'DVI-D'?"

I think that means dual link DVI; some higher end monitors have two DVI inputs, so they can display even larger resolutions over two cables from the video card.

"9) '1 x S/PDIF output connector' - The acronyms! They confuse!"

S/PDIF is a an optical cable used for digital audio transmission; unless you have a receiver and stereo speakers, you won't be using it.

"10) 'Chassis Intrusion connector' - A rather vague and worrying name..."

Some cases have a little circuit that will send a signal to the motherboard if the case is opened, presumably so the system can send you an email alert if someone opens your case while the system is on... Not really useful, but paranoia sells.

"11) '1 x PCI Express x16
1 x PCI Express x1
2 x PCI' - Only 4 expansion slots? Plus, how do I know if my catweasel card will fit in any of them?"

What does your catweasel card plug into now? I thought you mentioned something about floppy? If it uses an expansion slot, its almost certain to be PCI (I doubt you'd have any ISA slots

).

Cheaper motherboards generally feature fewer expansion slots; with all the integrated stuff these days (sound, lan, lots of sata ports, usb, firewire, etc., etc.), there is less need for 8 PCI slots, so they cut them out to save on costs.

Suicide Junkie · #3 January 23rd, 2008, 06:02 PM

10) 'Chassis Intrusion connector' - A rather vague and worrying name..."

Some cases have a little circuit that will send a signal to the motherboard if the case is opened, presumably so the system can send you an email alert if someone opens your case while the system is on... Not really useful, but paranoia sells.

I've seen that in action.
If you open the case, it beeps at you with a message on powerup until you clear it too. It would have to be battery powered.

narf poit chez BOOM · #4 January 23rd, 2008, 07:36 PM

Thanks muchly for all the help.

I'll have to figure out what the card plugs into...Wikipedia should help.

Hmm...Doesn't seem to have built-in floppy support?

How do I know if it'll fit my case, or would it be better to just buy a new case?

Suicide Junkie · #5 January 23rd, 2008, 07:40 PM

Look for a baby-sized IDE connector:
http://www.pcguide.com/byop/diagrams/figure91.jpg

Fyron · #6 January 23rd, 2008, 07:50 PM

That motherboard has a floppy connector on it. One accessory is:

1 x FDD cable

Kinda silly to put it in the box if there is no port to use it in.

The thing about floppy is that they can't really get rid of it... One of the advertised features of SATA hdd chipsets is the ability to do software RAID. This RAID has to be configured before the OS is installed. Windows will ask during setup if you want to load 3rd party RAID drivers... from a floppy! So, they can't advertise the RAID capabilities of their motherboard unless they include a floppy connector.

===

Motherboards are all standardized in size (or at worst, a smaller mobo will fit in the standard format for that size class, with the screw holes placed at the correct place). A microATX motherboard will fit in regular sized computer cases, as well as mid-towers and full-towers. If you feel you will need more expansion slots than are provided by the motherboard you linked to, you will probably need to get a full-sized ATX motherboard. With an ATX motherboard, you have to pay more attention to case size, since there are small cases that cannot hold ATX motherboards. Larger cases will hold them without problem though.

If you want to make sure, open up your case and measure the physical dimensions of your current motherboard. If it is around 244 mm � 244 mm, to a minimum of 171.45 mm x 171.45 mm in some cases, it is microATX. Full sized ATX is 305 mm � 244 mm.

narf poit chez BOOM · #7 January 24th, 2008, 06:34 PM

Would that have two connectors?

(I'd post more, but my brain is fried. Wonky sleep schedule)

Renegade 13 · #8 January 26th, 2008, 05:58 PM

I haven't bought much stuff from them, just some RAM (and that was ~2 years ago), but www.tigerdirect.ca was quite satisfactory when I dealt with them

I'm sure there are others out there, but TigerDirect is the only one I've personally bought stuff from.

narf poit chez BOOM · #9 January 26th, 2008, 07:04 PM

Thanks.

If I can get the power supply question answered quickly, I may be able to order the stuff today.

Xrati · #10 January 26th, 2008, 07:36 PM

Narf, the AGP and PCI use different slots (that may not be true in the older style computers) . Check to make sure which one you will need to use. I know the PCI and PCI-E are very different. I have a newer mobo that has an AGP slot on it and will not take PCI board.

Just a "Heads Up!"