Motherboard, Processor and Memory
The motherboard is the basis of your system -- even if you have to spend a bit more for a name brand, and I mean a motherboard manufacturer, not a computer reseller, it's almost always worth it. Once you decide what type, speed, and brand of processor you want (AMD, Intel; 800 MHz, 1.2 GHz, etc.), you can carefully select a motherboard.
There are many computer resellers out there that add their name to a board, put their stamp on the BIOS, but in actuality, it's made by some unknown entity and if you buy the OEM version----guess what? No support. Just because a motherboard happens to be sold by a brand of computer reseller that you're familiar with, don't expect to find help for it. I recommend motherboards that are made by motherboard manufacturers (Gigabyte, Tyan, Asus, Abit, etc.) .Good manufacturers of motherboards stand behind their products and provide warranty support, tech support, BIOS and software updates, and manuals that actually have pages that you can turn! Also, as new hardware technology is introduced, they will provide updated BIOS downloads for your board. As some of us know, it can be a nightmare to get a good deal on a motherboard, only to find out that there are no instructions or schematics to give a clue where to plug things into, no drivers or any software or support whatsoever. If you have the resources, do as much research as you can on the components you plan on buying---it will pay off.
Tips:
- Pay close attention to the type of processor that the board requires. These days, one can be confused between Slot A, Socket A, Slot 1, Socket 370, Socket 7, etc.. Socket A is the standard for current machines (AMD Athlons, etc.). You can easily determine the difference between a slot processor and a socket processor by their appearance:
Sockets are flat and square, as in the old Pentiums and 486's.
Slot CPU's are upright, aligned vertically in a slot similar to an AGP card or an ISA card.
- Does the CPU come with a heat sink and cooling fan/fans? Most retail CPU packages have them already attached (this is both good and bad), but an OEM version will require you to buy it separately. For a socket processor, it's not a big problem; for a Slot processor, it's an entirely different process. In any case, you'll want to make sure you have the correct cooling for your CPU, or you will be stuck until you install one. Get the best you can afford---the faster the CPU, the hotter it runs. If you're installing it yourself, make sure you have a jar of good thermal compound to apply between the CPU and the heat sink.
- Make sure you pay attention to the FSB (front-side-bus) speed on the processor and the also on the motherboard. The new processors have a requirement that will not be met by most auction and cut-rate motherboards. Most older motherboards will not support more than a 200 MHz FSB. So if the new T-Bird Athlon you're thinking about buying has a FSB of 266 MHz, make sure your motherboard will support it.
- Some motherboards, especially earlier Athlon-type boards, cannot accept the newer Thunderbird Athlon CPU's. It's a MUST to make sure that your board will support the processor you have in mind. Also pay attention to upgradability: Do you want to be able to upgrade your processor? If you settle for a motherboard that will only accept an Athlon K7 (original with a 512k cache, non T-Bird), you will be limited in your choices. Most motherboards nowadays are designed for either Intel or AMD processors. You'll need to decide which way you want to go---you can't have both.
- Make sure you know what type of RAM the board uses---the newest ones now use DDR RAM, which is entirely different from the PC-100 or PC-133 168 pin SDRAM that we have been using lately. If you plan on re-using your existing RAM, make sure the new board uses the same type. You'll also want to check whether it uses ECC or non-ECC (error checking). Some boards will not accept ECC RAM. Incompatible RAM is one of the main reasons people have problems getting a motherboard to start up initially! Make sure your memory is rated at AT LEAST the speed of your system bus---if it's faster, that's not a problem; slower could be.
For example, if your motherboard has a bus speed of 100 MHz (x2=200 MHz), you'd want at least PC-100 RAM. (The 100=MHz)
By the same token, if your bus speed is 133 MHz (x2=266 MHz), the board will need 266 MHz 2100 DDR RAM or PC-133 SDRAM.
- What's the maximum amount of memory the system will take? This is also important. Most of the newer boards will go up to at least 1.5 GB, which makes it easier to get cheaper, more compatible RAM. Older motherboards can be limited to 512 or even 128 MB. If you really go back a bit, some of the old 386 boards had a max of 8 MB of RAM! (which was something of a goal when RAM was going for $50 per megabyte!)
MINIMUM MEMORY REQUIREMENTS FOR OPERATING SYSTEMS
Windows XP: 128 MB; 256 - 512 MB recommended
Windows 2000 Profrssional: 64 MB; 128 - 256 MB recommended
Windows 2000 Server: 128 - 512, depending on type of server
Windows 2000 Advanced Server: 1 - 4 GB, depending on type of server
Windows 98: 32 - 64 MB; 128 MB recommended
Windows 95: 16 - 32 MB; 64 MB recommended
Windows NT 4.0: 32 - 48 MB; 64 MB recommended
Windows NT Workstation: 32 - 64 MB; 128 MB recommended
Mac O/S 9: 48 - 64 MB
Linux: 48 - 112 MB; 112 MB recommended
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