gaffa
Recalcitrant Member
I'm just posting this message cos this thread doesn't want to load properly for me.
Hopefully a swift kick up the backside will fix it
- gaffa
Hopefully a swift kick up the backside will fix it
- gaffa
gaffa
Recalcitrant Member
The PCI and ISA slots hold the add-on cards like video cars, sound cards, network cards etc. The hard drives, CD-ROMS plug into the IDE sockets (or of they are SCSI, into the SCSI bus).
Basically, ISA is old, PCI is new, and there is another one called AGP which is specifically from graphics.
Get a board with 5 PCI slots, cos practically everything you will see will be PCI. Only if you want to put some older cards into you're system would you need the ISA slot.
The AGP slot is the brown slot on the mobo that looks like a PCI slot, but is not in line with the other PCI slots. You pop your graphics card in this slot.
You probably don't need to go the whole hog with the video card - a card like the Voodoo3 will do you fine - Photoshop and most graphics programs don't need the top of the line graphics cards - what they want is lots of memory and processing power to manipulate images. The games, on the other hand, require the faster video cards, cos a lot of the rendering is off loaded away from the CPU and onto the graphics card.
If you want to do video editing, you will need a pretty souped up graphics card. To do it properly, you'll need the video equivalent of the prosumer sound cards - the Voodoo's and Rage cards are still in the consumer/home market arena. Can't give you any names or prics though.
Seems the swift kick up the arse worked - I can now see all this thread.
- gaffa
Basically, ISA is old, PCI is new, and there is another one called AGP which is specifically from graphics.
Get a board with 5 PCI slots, cos practically everything you will see will be PCI. Only if you want to put some older cards into you're system would you need the ISA slot.
The AGP slot is the brown slot on the mobo that looks like a PCI slot, but is not in line with the other PCI slots. You pop your graphics card in this slot.
You probably don't need to go the whole hog with the video card - a card like the Voodoo3 will do you fine - Photoshop and most graphics programs don't need the top of the line graphics cards - what they want is lots of memory and processing power to manipulate images. The games, on the other hand, require the faster video cards, cos a lot of the rendering is off loaded away from the CPU and onto the graphics card.
If you want to do video editing, you will need a pretty souped up graphics card. To do it properly, you'll need the video equivalent of the prosumer sound cards - the Voodoo's and Rage cards are still in the consumer/home market arena. Can't give you any names or prics though.
Seems the swift kick up the arse worked - I can now see all this thread.
- gaffa
J
James HE
a spoonfull weighs a ton
Thanks Gaffa,
A good kick in the backside somtimes gets me to work too!
Well now I'm a little confused as to the difference between a "port" and a "slot". So is there a limit to the number of ports?
Emeric,
I'm not a heavy gamer, but I've got to have "Thief"- man that game rocks!! (haven't played "Thief 2" yet. I'm more into RPG's than anything else i guess. I don't like mindless shooting games, but sneaking around in abandoned cathedrals, looking for cursed religious relics is pretty fun! The game actually scares me sometimes!
-jhe
[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-18-2000).]
A good kick in the backside somtimes gets me to work too!
Well now I'm a little confused as to the difference between a "port" and a "slot". So is there a limit to the number of ports?
Emeric,
I'm not a heavy gamer, but I've got to have "Thief"- man that game rocks!! (haven't played "Thief 2" yet. I'm more into RPG's than anything else i guess. I don't like mindless shooting games, but sneaking around in abandoned cathedrals, looking for cursed religious relics is pretty fun! The game actually scares me sometimes!
-jhe
[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-18-2000).]
drstawl
Banned
You get 4 ports out of a typical IDE controller. This is built into the motherboard with two ribbon connectors on the board that each can support two IDE devices in a chained configuration. You can also install an additional IDE controller in a PCI slot. Since we're talking relatively fast devices- forget ISA. PCI is much faster. Use ISA for devices that don't require alot of fast data transfer or leave it open.
These extra ports are similar to going SCSI with a SCSI controller card, but SCSI is faster, more expandable (more "ports") and costs a lot more overall.
[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 04-18-2000).]
These extra ports are similar to going SCSI with a SCSI controller card, but SCSI is faster, more expandable (more "ports") and costs a lot more overall.
[This message has been edited by drstawl (edited 04-18-2000).]
J
James HE
a spoonfull weighs a ton
You know, I just realized that I was confusing IDE and ISA all along! or rather I was reading them as the same thing! So I guess this is what happens when you give yourself a very intensive crash course in computer hardware. I've notice that when I go to bed at night all these liite acronyms and numbers just float along my consciousness. Make'em stop! I wanna go to bed!
Thanks to all of you, you have all help me out so much with this! I just about have it all figured out, I may even try to put put it all together myself... well maybe not.
-jhe
Thanks to all of you, you have all help me out so much with this! I just about have it all figured out, I may even try to put put it all together myself... well maybe not.
-jhe
E
Emeric
New member
James,
Definetly go with the custom build guys just down the road. Specify exactly what components you want, i.e. quantum LM 7200RPM hard drive, ASUS P3V, 128MB PC-133 etc etc.
Find out if you can what (or maybe you already know) what their reputation is, good/bad, overpriced etc.. Even if it cost's you an extra $50 to buy local it is worth it on the service end.
Also, is this the PIII FC or is it the slot one config? The slot one's are a bit more than the FC's at the moment so you may be able to get a PIII 600EB with a convertor card for close or not much more $$$
The guys at your local computer store should know, if not.. shop elsewhere.
Definetly go with the custom build guys just down the road. Specify exactly what components you want, i.e. quantum LM 7200RPM hard drive, ASUS P3V, 128MB PC-133 etc etc.
Find out if you can what (or maybe you already know) what their reputation is, good/bad, overpriced etc.. Even if it cost's you an extra $50 to buy local it is worth it on the service end.
Also, is this the PIII FC or is it the slot one config? The slot one's are a bit more than the FC's at the moment so you may be able to get a PIII 600EB with a convertor card for close or not much more $$$
The guys at your local computer store should know, if not.. shop elsewhere.
E
Emeric
New member
Yet again, I forget to mention something...
You may want to contact aardvark and see if they have tested their cards on the VIA chipset. Intel's chipsets tend to be the testbed, so are a safer bet most times. If they don't know, maybe the intel BX chipset is a safer route, like an ASUS P3B-F...
There are so many variables with computers, and especially pro-sumer soundcards - Just don't want to steer anyone down the wrong road.
You may want to contact aardvark and see if they have tested their cards on the VIA chipset. Intel's chipsets tend to be the testbed, so are a safer bet most times. If they don't know, maybe the intel BX chipset is a safer route, like an ASUS P3B-F...
There are so many variables with computers, and especially pro-sumer soundcards - Just don't want to steer anyone down the wrong road.
J
James HE
a spoonfull weighs a ton
Emeric,
The mobo I've been looking at is the Asus P3C200 which has the i820 intel chipset which I think is newer than the P3C-F and supports ATA/66 (does the P3C-F???). I found a review with every spec imaginable on it today (i forget the link at the moment- was it technicalcorner? or tech something I can't remember exactly. Damn I can't remember it was a really good site
)
This is the quote that I got from A+E today
Quantity Description Unit Price Price
1 AOpen HX-45A midtower case/ ATX $65.00 $65.00
1 Pentium III 550 CPU+ socket370 adapter $324.00 $324.00
1 AOpen AX6BC mainboard $108.00 $108.00
1 128MB SDRAM - PC/100 $149.00 $149.00
1 8.4GB Western Digital hard drive $125.00 $125.00
1 10.2GB Western Digital IDE hard drive / 7200rpm $157.00 $157.00
1 AOpen 52X CDROM $52.00 $52.00
1 ATI Expert98@Work 8MB AGP card $59.00 $59.00
1 AOpen 56k/V.90 voice/fax/modem(PCI) $37.00 $37.00
1 3.5" floppy drive $20.00 $20.00
1 AOpen 2-button PS/2 SCROLLING mouse $12.00 $12.00
1 AOpen PS/2 style keyboard/ 104 $12.00 $12.00
1 Windows 98 $98.00 $98.00
1 fee $60.00 $60.00
Total: $1,278.00
Not too bad, I could get it cheaper though. I need to change the modem to a USB modem ($23 more). And the mobo (can i just say that I like saying "mobo"
) to an Asus mobo (which will be about $50 more.) I know that they have the Asus P3B-F. The P3C200 isn't in their catalog, but I'm sure they could get it.
I was thinking about going with Maxtor (sp?) hard drives, How do they compare to Western Digital and other brands?
-jhe
[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-19-2000).]
[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-19-2000).]
The mobo I've been looking at is the Asus P3C200 which has the i820 intel chipset which I think is newer than the P3C-F and supports ATA/66 (does the P3C-F???). I found a review with every spec imaginable on it today (i forget the link at the moment- was it technicalcorner? or tech something I can't remember exactly. Damn I can't remember it was a really good site
)This is the quote that I got from A+E today
Quantity Description Unit Price Price
1 AOpen HX-45A midtower case/ ATX $65.00 $65.00
1 Pentium III 550 CPU+ socket370 adapter $324.00 $324.00
1 AOpen AX6BC mainboard $108.00 $108.00
1 128MB SDRAM - PC/100 $149.00 $149.00
1 8.4GB Western Digital hard drive $125.00 $125.00
1 10.2GB Western Digital IDE hard drive / 7200rpm $157.00 $157.00
1 AOpen 52X CDROM $52.00 $52.00
1 ATI Expert98@Work 8MB AGP card $59.00 $59.00
1 AOpen 56k/V.90 voice/fax/modem(PCI) $37.00 $37.00
1 3.5" floppy drive $20.00 $20.00
1 AOpen 2-button PS/2 SCROLLING mouse $12.00 $12.00
1 AOpen PS/2 style keyboard/ 104 $12.00 $12.00
1 Windows 98 $98.00 $98.00
1 fee $60.00 $60.00
Total: $1,278.00
Not too bad, I could get it cheaper though. I need to change the modem to a USB modem ($23 more). And the mobo (can i just say that I like saying "mobo"
) to an Asus mobo (which will be about $50 more.) I know that they have the Asus P3B-F. The P3C200 isn't in their catalog, but I'm sure they could get it.I was thinking about going with Maxtor (sp?) hard drives, How do they compare to Western Digital and other brands?
-jhe
[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-19-2000).]
[This message has been edited by James HE (edited 04-19-2000).]
gaffa
Recalcitrant Member
Hard drives are a touchy subject, cos everybody has fairly strong opinions on which brands are best.
Personally, the only brand I will buy now is IBM, cos I always seemed to have problems with every other brand.
That said, most other brands are quite reasonable, although Maxtor seems to have a bad rep here(there's a thread that was running arounf the middle of march regarding Maxtor you might want to read).
- gaffa
Personally, the only brand I will buy now is IBM, cos I always seemed to have problems with every other brand.
That said, most other brands are quite reasonable, although Maxtor seems to have a bad rep here(there's a thread that was running arounf the middle of march regarding Maxtor you might want to read).
- gaffa
S
stranger233
New member
Also, if I may inquire why you've chosen to get 2 smaller hard drives instead of one larger one? Unless one of them is SCSI, you'll probably get cheaper prices just getting one, and partitioning it if you need separate OS's or something.
-stranger233
-stranger233
M
MrLip
New member
Get the virus scanner. Yes, the chances of getting a virus off the net are low, BUT the chances of getting a virus from a floppy that has been in someone else's computer are HIGH. There are lots of viruses out there, and you usually get them from your FRIENDS, your SCHOOL, or your OFFICE. Those are the 3 places I usually find viruses.
Personally, I prefer Norton Antivirus v5.0 to McAfee. I've been using it for a while now and it doesn't give me any trouble. Also, it's easy to disable if you feel that it's eating resources.
Like the other guys said, don't bother with the zip drive. I have one. The media is expensive and 100MB is never enuf. CD-R is the way to go. Much cheaper in the long run, and you will be able to burn CDs that can be read in any cd-rom drive, where as with ZIP you will only be able to use your disks on computers that are equiped with a ZIP drive.
Have fun shopping.
Personally, I prefer Norton Antivirus v5.0 to McAfee. I've been using it for a while now and it doesn't give me any trouble. Also, it's easy to disable if you feel that it's eating resources.
Like the other guys said, don't bother with the zip drive. I have one. The media is expensive and 100MB is never enuf. CD-R is the way to go. Much cheaper in the long run, and you will be able to burn CDs that can be read in any cd-rom drive, where as with ZIP you will only be able to use your disks on computers that are equiped with a ZIP drive.
Have fun shopping.
D
DigitalDon
New member
I know it's late in the game but take a look at the Abit BE6 Revision II motherboard. Very good specs and has the Intel BX chipset. If you price using pricewatch.com make sure it's the revision 2 card. Some guys are selling the older version at same price as the new (released in Oct 99) version. Start out with the Pentium II 450MHz processor and upgrade next year to a hauling ass Pentium III when the price drops. The PII 450 is about half what you'll pay for a PIII 500. Anyhow, my 2 cents worth.
Slackmaster2K
Gone
JAMES!!!!
Don't get a board with the i820 chipset if you're going to use SDRAM (which you are). If you haven't been paying attention, there are problems with Intel's i810, i820, and i840 chipsets with SDRAM (as opposed to RDRAM).
A better bet is the Asus P3B-F which I've just had the pleasure of working with. A VERY nice 440BX based motherboard.
The BE6 and BE6-II by Abit are very quick, but hoaky (having had both). Once you get em setup they're wonderful, however. The biggest benefit to the BE6-II is its ability to overclock...FSB adjustments can be made in 1Mhz increments! Pretty cool.
Slackmaster 2000
Don't get a board with the i820 chipset if you're going to use SDRAM (which you are). If you haven't been paying attention, there are problems with Intel's i810, i820, and i840 chipsets with SDRAM (as opposed to RDRAM).
A better bet is the Asus P3B-F which I've just had the pleasure of working with. A VERY nice 440BX based motherboard.
The BE6 and BE6-II by Abit are very quick, but hoaky (having had both). Once you get em setup they're wonderful, however. The biggest benefit to the BE6-II is its ability to overclock...FSB adjustments can be made in 1Mhz increments! Pretty cool.
Slackmaster 2000
J
James HE
a spoonfull weighs a ton
Slack,
Emeric already set me straight abouy the intel i820 chipset. I think I will go with the Asus PF3- it's a little on the pricy side though and I'm tempted by some of the Aopen boards which seem to be a good deal.
You probably already know this site but check it out if you don't. Butt loads of reviews www.motherboards.org
also www.technicalcorner.com
Am I turning into a computer nerd?
-jhe
Emeric already set me straight abouy the intel i820 chipset
. I think I will go with the Asus PF3- it's a little on the pricy side though and I'm tempted by some of the Aopen boards which seem to be a good deal.You probably already know this site but check it out if you don't. Butt loads of reviews www.motherboards.org
also www.technicalcorner.com
Am I turning into a computer nerd?
-jhe
ola
Newbie
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by James HE:
Am I turning into a computer nerd?
-jhe<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, you have ended several sentences with a smiley, which is more or less the global definition of being a computer nerd
/Ola
Am I turning into a computer nerd?
-jhe<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Well, you have ended several sentences with a smiley, which is more or less the global definition of being a computer nerd
/Ola
J
James HE
a spoonfull weighs a ton
I was wondering what was making me do that.
-jhe
-jhe