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Thread ID: 114582	2010-12-09 04:33:00	Help me choose a mb & cpu	Strommer (42)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1160096	2010-12-09 04:33:00	My old mobo died so it is time to upgrade :thumbs: Here are my thoughts at the moment: * ASUS. Possibly Gigabyte, but prefer ASUS. * Not for gaming. * Video encoding & editing. Photoshop. Sound editing. Home use, not professional / business. * Graphics - not sure. If a mobo has onboard graphics does this automatically mean that a graphics card cannot be added? I have always been a fan of separate graphic cards but some of the onboard graphics have 1.7 Gb allocated (if enough RAM). Yes I know that the processing speed of the graphics unit (or card) is more important, but even so I would not want an onboard unit to have only (e.g.) 256 Mb allocated. * CPU - not Celeron, Sempron or other cheapie i3 or i5 ??, AMD possibly... * OS - Win XP - I can reinstall what I had on the old P4, or use a sealed, legit WinXP disk that I bought awhile ago and never used. Do mobo's these days take XP?? I would rather not have to spend the extra $$ on Win7, or take the chance of programs not working on Win7. USB 3 - not absolutely necessary but seems a good thing to have if possible. WIFI and Bluetooth - Several of the ASUS mb's I looked at on PriceSpy do not have WIFI or Bluetooth - is this the norm for desktop mobos? It would be nice not to bother with dongles. Firewire - I suppose. Is this standard these days? HD capability - at least 3 HD's. I guess this is standard for most mobos? Price - the big question. Mobo + CPU + RAM - all for $400 - $500??? I don't know... I could pay more but if it gets near what a laptop costs then I may as well dump the desktop idea. Link to PriceSpy mobos (pricespy.co.nz) Thanks.	Strommer (42)
1160097	2010-12-09 04:54:00	You'll probably want 64 bit, if you want to do video encoding / editing. So, that'll rule XP out. Altho, a 64 bit program may also help (which maybe expensive) Firewire is standard on quite a few gigabyte mobos (and AMD mobos). And on the more expensive Intel mobos. Cant see why you cant add 5-6 hdd's, if you really want to (if the mobo has that many SATA ports). The graphics, depends if the mobo has the slot/s for a separate card / or cards. Read the specs before you buy the mobo Cant say I've seen a lot of mobos with onboard BT (the only thing BT would be useful for is cellphones, headphones, or something like that). Since its range isnt that long. The more expensive mobos may have WIFI. But that alone may cost $400-500	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1160098	2010-12-09 18:33:00	Thanks for the info Speedy. I will pass on 64 bit as I want XP and am not after blazing fast speed for video work (I have coped OK with the old P4 speed so anything faster will be just fine). If the new mobo does not have Bluetooth and WIFI, that will be OK as long as the price is right. The main concerns I have are: 1. Will the new mb take Win XP? Do all mb's take XP? I have looked at the specs of various mobos but do not see anything about what OS they will accept. 2. Will the option of a graphics card (over onboard graphics) ensure faster video, sound and photography editing? It seeks to me that the speed of the cpu, and the specs of the chipset and various parameters of a mobo will be more important than the graphics card/onboard capability. Is this correct? Ideally I would want to save $$ by getting a mobo with onboard graphics but with the option of adding a graphics card later. 3. Are Gigabyte mobos as good as ASUS ?	Strommer (42)
1160099	2010-12-09 19:12:00	* Graphics - not sure . If a mobo has onboard graphics does this automatically mean that a graphics card cannot be added? * CPU - not Celeron, Sempron or other cheapie i3 or i5 ??, AMD possibly . . . HD capability - at least 3 HD's . I guess this is standard for most mobos? . With the motherboard it needs to have Onboard + a PCIE slot . That way you can add a card later if you want . Most ASUS onboard GPU ones do, but check first . CPU, you need to decide if you're having AMD or Intel . HDD, there are usually 4 sata slots on basic boards, ATX more . 3 drives? Why? I have one . You can get up to a 2TB drive now so space is not an issue really . Unless you just want separate drives . . . . . . . .	pctek (84)
1160100	2010-12-09 20:03:00	AFAIK pretty much all motherboards still support XP. The only problem you'll have with the 32-bit version is a memory limit of ~3.25GB. Are you editing HD video or standard-def? If HD, i'd really recommend going Win7 64bit & as much RAM as you can get :D As for brand of mobo, Gigabyte & Asus are usually at the top of the heap. Personally, I prefer Gigabyte over Asus. The last few i've had have been rock-solid.	autechre (266)
1160101	2010-12-09 20:12:00	>nearly 2011 >wants xp Is there a specific reason as to why you'd rather be using XP than 7? Most programs that work for vista work for 7. Also, if you get 7 pro, you can get XP mode and stick the XP programs you need in a virtual environment. * arstechnica.com - First paragraph of "Virtualizing the problem" With Windows 7, however, Redmond has provided a solution to the problem: Windows XP Mode. Windows XP Mode uses virtualization technology to let applications running on a virtualized copy of Windows XP show up in the Windows 7 Start menu and on the Windows 7 desktop.	Cellux (15145)
1160102	2010-12-09 20:15:00	I dont think it matters WHAT videocard you get. The only reason you need one is so you see something on a screen. You may think twice, once you find out how long it can take editing / doing video work on 32 bit. Nvidia cards support CUDA. Which can speed things up when you deal with video (if the program supports it that is). Unless you're superman, or something, a separate videocard wont make the video, sound, or photo editing any faster.	Speedy Gonzales (78)
1160103	2010-12-09 20:51:00	Yeah, have to say Im a bit confused with the XP O/S statement, MS is dropping support anon and Windows 7 on a modern board and CPU runs rings around XP.... If you arent gaming, I would go for an AMD X4 or X6 with 4-8GB and x64 W7 and a dedicated sound card if editing sound files. Here's a nice AMD combo with ASUS mainboard (USB3) 4GB RAM and the X6!! $600 www.computerlounge.co.nz	SolMiester (139)
1160104	2010-12-09 20:56:00	Given a budget of only $500, I would personally go with AMD Athlon II X4 640 ~$160 Asus M4A87TD EVO ~ $180 Corsair XMS3 2x2GB DDR3-1333 ~ $120 ~~ $460 I honestly do not believe you can get an equivalent-performing Intel package in the same price range. You'd have to go with something like an i3-540 and, honestly, for true multithreaded applications (as most good media editing applications are) - it will get TROUNCED by the genuine quad-core. You'd have to look at the i5-661 for comparable multi-threaded performance, and thats about $280. And if you are happy to splooge up the extra $120-odd, go with a Phenom II x6. But don't use WinXP. If you're gonna stick with WinXP, don't even bother upgrading your PC, honestly.	inphinity (7274)
1160105	2010-12-09 21:16:00	They need to upgrade because their mobo died. How long can you wait? In early January, Intel will release their second generation i7,5,3 processors. This means either a price drop for anything you get now, or you can get the newer processors for the same price as now. I agree with speedy - use integrated graphics for now, since GPU can only accelerate encoding in specific circumstances. The new integrated graphics are about the same speed as a low end discrete graphics card (radeon 5450) - except its 'free'	utopian201 (6245)
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