On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 11:08:41AM -0400, John Stoffel wrote:
"Gary" == Gary Hanley <gary@hanley.net> writes:
Gary> On Mon, 10 Aug 2009, Clint Moyer wrote:
I'll add that there are a lot of advantages to building with an integrated motherboard.
Gary> I agree from a convenience and cost perspective, however if Gary> optimal performance is a priority you still need to purchase Gary> discrete components.
Umm... I disagree with this statement. It's more of a 'it depends' really. :]
I'm not sure that it really is an 'it depends' statement. Can you name a single component where the discrete option isn't the path to the highest performance? Video, drive controllers, NICs... Onboard components are primarily chosen for "value" and it usually shows. (That being said, onboard components are usually good for the average case and, assuming they can actually be fully disabled (not always a given historically), can be a good place to start.)
Gary> No matter how much the technology advances intergrated Gary> components will alway reduce the overall perform of a system to Gary> a variable degree.
Or you could say that "Your system is obsolete the second you build it, so don't sweat it" and just live with this.
True but not quite his point, I think. I think the gist was "onboard components aren't top of the line and maybe significantly behind that line".
I've been looking at a new home server, and I don't *care* about graphics performance. I want lots of PCI and PCIe slots, lots of SATA ports, dual Gigabit ethernet and integrated graphics. Probably AMD, since that will give me plenty of performance. And be quiet too. Silence is golden you know... :]
Your metrics for performance are quite different from mine. Sure, a seperate high performance graphics card would be nice, but I don't play any computer games all that much, and I could drop one in.
John
If you want high performance SATA, NICs, or pretty much anything else, you'll want a discrete component for that too. (Though again, the performance of the onboard components, even though somewhat dated, is usually pretty decent for regular home use.) So I suppose my take on it would be "Start with onboard components if it doesn't cost you of your requirements (and doesn't cost too much) and plan on using discrete components to get higher performance at the start and as your later upgrade path.". Frank