I am building my first computer and am having a hard time deciding on a motherboard. I would appreciate anyone who could help me. I am going to buy an intel Core 2 Duo, E4400 2.0GHz. I am not sure if I should get a separate GPU or if I should go with an onboard GPU. Again, any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
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need help looking for intel mobo
- Thread starter Mexi1010
- Start date
markintosh13
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2006
- Messages
- 1,092
If you game at all = separate gpu.
Two questions: what you are willing to spend and the importance of graphics intensive apps.
Clearly the cheaper route is with onboard gpu. These mobos are usually not "enthusiast" class parts, lacking the bells & whistles for tweaking performance and are usually somewhat limited in regard to expansion (i.e. less hard drive expansion ports, memory ports, etc.). However, hard drives are cheap so you can buy a very large one to start with and maybe you won't need to add more later. If your board is short on memory slots you could buy 1 single large stick (1gb). This way you can add another 1gb later to the one you have (versus 2 x 512mb now that'll have to be discarded later to get to 2gb, if you only have 2 dimm slots to work with).
As for the graphics end, onboard is clearly inferior. The reasons are many but mainly, they come with a low end gpu to start with and cannot be upgraded. Another is their increased dependence on the rest of your system resources. A dedicated gpu card will have it's own memory and an onboard gpu will comsume your system ram. Aside from consuming precious memory, it will do so at a large performance penalty. Alas, there are options here too. Look for a mobo with a PCIe x16 slot for a graphics card in the future.
Of course, your need to process a lot of graphics intensive apps will determine your needs. As stated in the concise response above, to game or not to game.
Clearly the cheaper route is with onboard gpu. These mobos are usually not "enthusiast" class parts, lacking the bells & whistles for tweaking performance and are usually somewhat limited in regard to expansion (i.e. less hard drive expansion ports, memory ports, etc.). However, hard drives are cheap so you can buy a very large one to start with and maybe you won't need to add more later. If your board is short on memory slots you could buy 1 single large stick (1gb). This way you can add another 1gb later to the one you have (versus 2 x 512mb now that'll have to be discarded later to get to 2gb, if you only have 2 dimm slots to work with).
As for the graphics end, onboard is clearly inferior. The reasons are many but mainly, they come with a low end gpu to start with and cannot be upgraded. Another is their increased dependence on the rest of your system resources. A dedicated gpu card will have it's own memory and an onboard gpu will comsume your system ram. Aside from consuming precious memory, it will do so at a large performance penalty. Alas, there are options here too. Look for a mobo with a PCIe x16 slot for a graphics card in the future.
Of course, your need to process a lot of graphics intensive apps will determine your needs. As stated in the concise response above, to game or not to game.
I am building my first computer and am having a hard time deciding on a motherboard. I would appreciate anyone who could help me. I am going to buy an intel Core 2 Duo, E4400 2.0GHz. I am not sure if I should get a separate GPU or if I should go with an onboard GPU. Again, any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
ABIT P-35 E is a good choice in case you want to OC your processor. There have been many deals on this board over the past couple of months and IMO you might get if for $65 AR again before BF.
To save $$ I would go with the e2160, OC it to 3.0+GHz and wait for the Penryns which will arrive in 2008.
Since you are building the system, and all of the online retailers have deals on VCs on a regular basis, why not try it without one. It's not rocket science to install one if the onboard does not work.
Link to great thread on P35-E
On the other hand for $650 you can get an amazing Dell deal until 12/20 - Go to Dell, select desktops, home and home office, Inspirons, Inspiron 530 without the monitor, build it and get the price up to $999 and apply this coupon 4J1M7748R2RRV6 and get $350 off plus a $100 gift certificate. Cannot use the GC with this order.
Page 3 Post by Cubswin
Thanks, mlhm5,
I really like that idea and will probably get this mobo, I am not so sure about CPU though. I do not know if I should wait for Penryn because of price. I wanted to get a C2D 4300 since I heard it is a great OCer and can get one at the Tiger Direct store for $119
Thanks a ton
I really like that idea and will probably get this mobo, I am not so sure about CPU though. I do not know if I should wait for Penryn because of price. I wanted to get a C2D 4300 since I heard it is a great OCer and can get one at the Tiger Direct store for $119
Thanks a ton