component info for new builders

[windog]

I am about to embark on my first build and one thing I have found lacking is simple comparative performance data for components. Maybe it is because I managed to stay "computer illiterate" for 40 years and therefore just don't understand enough but I feel sure I am not the only numptie out here!

I have found it especially difficult in choseing a mainboard, probably the most important component. You are confronted with a plethera of seemingly meaningless numbers and codes, that I am sure mean something, but there is no obvious way of finding out. I realise that it may be quite subjective compareing say nvidiachips to those of another mnufacturer of the same sort of spec, but it is quite difficult to figgure out which ones are equivalent

Have I missed a site that will give me this sort of information,or is this something that HEXUS could look at, or am I just asking too much?

Windog

[steve threlfall]

Just tell the peeps on here what you want to do with your machine and how much you want it to cost and everyone will be happy to tell you what you need and supply you with links etc.

My tip- dont read computer shopper

[windog]

Steve
That is what I have done, I have posted my proposed spec on this board and invited comment (dangerous!) but I was thinking in a much more general way. It has taken me about a month of trawling message boards, sellers web sites and manufacturers sites to get this far and I would say it is still based on a certain amount of supposition. ( and I only found this site today!)

Windog

[steve threlfall]

Ah yes /looks embarassed lol i have just read your other thread cant go wrong with Tig's spec. I ahve been into computing since the times when you had to park the heads on your computer lol, dos etc and the best windows ever 3.1 but nowadays i can see why your are bewildered. It takes a long time to catch up on this industry. Maybe read micromart its cheap and n00b friendly (me n00b) out every thursday. Good reviews and explanations with jargon explained

[Austin]

Basicly it is the chipset (845PE, KT400, nForce2) which dictates abilities, speed and perf. The diff manus (Abit, Gigabyte, Asus) make the chipsets into mobos which in turn get sold to the end consumer. So when shopping you first need to decide whether to go Intel (Skt478) or AMD (SktA) and take it from there. If you want anything other than top-end stuff AMD are the better choice, if you want that bit more futurability (LOL) then the 800FSB capable Skt478 are more of what you should go for.

After deciding between Intel and AMD the next thing you should do is familiarise yourself with the diff chipsets (eg SktA has SiS748, KT600 and nForce2) and ecide what you want and can afford. Then look at the manus' offerings and take it from there. Alternatively give us your needs (I'll check your other thread) and we'll make our recs to you.

[windog]

Thanks Austin,
this is aprox the route I took I decided AMD seemed to be best value unless I needed the most very high end system(and I wouldn't know how to use that!) but then trying to decipher the difference in mobo's was quite difficult and time consuming, and seemingly full of pitfalls. After a great deal of lurking on many web sites I came to the conclusion that the equivalent choices were nForce2, or KT600, I couldn't find enough info to place SiS748 in the pecking order and therefore discounted it, and it seemed the KT600 was relatively untested so nForce2 seemed to be the choice
My comment really in this thread is just how hard as an uninitiated numptie I had to search to get as far as I have, and as you can see in the way I selected which chipset was favourite, I have had to make quite a lot of assumption to get here.

It was only today I found this site and this is the most REAL info exchange I have found in a month of looking!

Windog

[Austin]

No doubt it's daunting, esp with all the marketing blurb thrown around now-a-days. Only problem with techie forums like these is just that they are generally techie based. These guys tend to want max perf, max quality and plenty of tweakability which aren't priorities for almost all newbies.

Forget Computer Shopper. I was a loyal subscriber for years but have found too many discrepencies, anomolies and downright untruths to continue reading it even at £2 an issue! That isn't to say the info isn't good, but take it with a large pinch of salt that's for sure.

[Byatt]

read these forums, read hardware reviews, read hardware manuals (of the stuff you own, anyway) - that's how I acquired pretty much everything I know, and it's how I got the confidence to build my first machine, instead of paying someone else to do it...

[windog]

Byatt
I wholeheartedly agree but whilst you were gaining this knowledge did you not feel that in a lot of cases you had to struggle to find the info you wanted when in fact, when you finally found it it was in fact blindingly simple and a simple explanation somewhere would have made your life easier. Don't get me wrong, I dont want everybody else to do it for me, I want to learn to do it ALL myself!

Windog

[Byatt]

Originally posted by windog
Byatt
I wholeheartedly agree but whilst you were gaining this knowledge did you not feel that in a lot of cases you had to struggle to find the info you wanted when in fact, when you finally found it it was in fact blindingly simple and a simple explanation somewhere would have made your life easier. Don't get me wrong, I dont want everybody else to do it for me, I want to learn to do it ALL myself!

Windog

Yes, I know exactly what you mean - a few things really confused me when I started out, like why ddr had two names for each speed - what the hell did pc2100 have to do with ddr 266? found out eventually though...

personally I found that there is very little information that is of absolutely no use, so the more you have to search for an answer, the more you learn.

Not true all the time maybe...I dunno.