Motherboard search tool?
Hi guys, I'm looking for a new system/motherboard for my home computer. But trying to dig through the steaming piles of crap out there to find the right board is painful. And I don't want to have to go and look at every single damn vendors site just to figure out what's available. Sigh... So does anyone know of a useful resource which compares motherboards and allows you to filter down the selection quickly and easily? Esp by features? So say I want: AM2 socket FireWire onboard 4gb > RAM potential Gigabit Ethernet >= 3 PCI slots 1 PCIe x16 >= 1 PCIe x1 or x4 How would I go about finding this easily? You'd think it would be simple, but no... it's a total pain. And of course I'm not totally sold on AMD, but I would like to support them since I like 64bit CPUs and the lack of hassle going over 4Gb of RAM, since I suspect that will be how I upgrade this system in the future, instead of getting more CPUs, etc. I've looked at ArsTechinca, Phoronix, LinuxBios (since I'd *love* to have a Linux BIOS for quicker boot times...), etc. But they're not that easy to figure out without spending way more time than I want. I'm starting to think I should just start coding up a Rails app to hold all this data and provide easy searches. Then I'd need to *find* all the data as well... whee! Yet another time sink. :] Thanks, John
On Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 11:39:07AM -0500, John Stoffel wrote:
And of course I'm not totally sold on AMD, but I would like to support them since I like 64bit CPUs and the lack of hassle going over 4Gb of RAM, since I suspect that will be how I upgrade this system in the future, instead of getting more CPUs, etc.
Most new Intel chips support x86_64 and hence don't have a hassle going over 4GB RAM.
Chuck> On Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 11:39:07AM -0500, John Stoffel wrote:
And of course I'm not totally sold on AMD, but I would like to support them since I like 64bit CPUs and the lack of hassle going over 4Gb of RAM, since I suspect that will be how I upgrade this system in the future, instead of getting more CPUs, etc.
Chuck> Most new Intel chips support x86_64 and hence don't have a Chuck> hassle going over 4GB RAM. Yup, I realize that. And it is a factor, since I could even decide to go with a board with builtin Intel graphics and be able to go completely open source with decent performance. Considering that I'm on a Dual PIII 550Mhz, 2gb RAM, Matrox G450 AGP, anything would be an improvement. *grin* I'm not going to purchase now, I'll probably wait until after Xmas for sales and such, but I am keeping my eyes open. John
Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:21:05 -0500 From: "John Stoffel" <john@stoffel.org> Chuck> On Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 11:39:07AM -0500, John Stoffel wrote:
And of course I'm not totally sold on AMD, but I would like to support them since I like 64bit CPUs and the lack of hassle going over 4Gb of RAM, since I suspect that will be how I upgrade this system in the future, instead of getting more CPUs, etc.
Chuck> Most new Intel chips support x86_64 and hence don't have a Chuck> hassle going over 4GB RAM. Yup, I realize that. And it is a factor, since I could even decide to go with a board with builtin Intel graphics and be able to go completely open source with decent performance. Any recommendation for an Intel board with builtin graphics that supports at least 8 GB of RAM?
On 11/15/2007, John Stoffel wrote:
So does anyone know of a useful resource which compares motherboards and allows you to filter down the selection quickly and easily? Esp by features?
So say I want:
AM2 socket FireWire onboard 4gb > RAM potential Gigabit Ethernet
= 3 PCI slots 1 PCIe x16 = 1 PCIe x1 or x4
I don't know of one specific site for comparing motherboards like that (and motherboard makers change their line-ups so often, it could be tough to keep such a site fresh). I usually figure out which chipset I want, first, and then narrow my search to motherboards with that chipset. If you're looking at regular ATX motherboards, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find one that *didn't* have onboard FireWire and Gigabit Ethernet. I suspect most motherboards these days will meet all your specs except for >= 3 PCI slots. The industry seems to be in a hurry to drop PCI slots. -- Rich
newegg.com, of course pricewatch.com Both have good filtering, though it may not be as granular as you'd like. Clint On Thu, 2007-11-15 at 11:39 -0500, John Stoffel wrote:
Hi guys,
I'm looking for a new system/motherboard for my home computer. But trying to dig through the steaming piles of crap out there to find the right board is painful. And I don't want to have to go and look at every single damn vendors site just to figure out what's available.
Sigh...
So does anyone know of a useful resource which compares motherboards and allows you to filter down the selection quickly and easily? Esp by features?
So say I want:
AM2 socket FireWire onboard 4gb > RAM potential Gigabit Ethernet
= 3 PCI slots 1 PCIe x16 = 1 PCIe x1 or x4
How would I go about finding this easily? You'd think it would be simple, but no... it's a total pain.
And of course I'm not totally sold on AMD, but I would like to support them since I like 64bit CPUs and the lack of hassle going over 4Gb of RAM, since I suspect that will be how I upgrade this system in the future, instead of getting more CPUs, etc.
I've looked at ArsTechinca, Phoronix, LinuxBios (since I'd *love* to have a Linux BIOS for quicker boot times...), etc. But they're not that easy to figure out without spending way more time than I want.
I'm starting to think I should just start coding up a Rails app to hold all this data and provide easy searches. Then I'd need to *find* all the data as well... whee! Yet another time sink. :]
Thanks, John
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I built a PC for myself last May based on the AMD 64 X2 5600 and this motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131095 It works like a champ with no issues or problems. I'm somewhat of an AMD fanboy but I'd admit Intel has the better processors these days, but if you are looking for an attractive price/performance ratio I think the AMD chips still have that edge. -- Gary On Thu, 15 Nov 2007, John Stoffel wrote:
Hi guys,
I'm looking for a new system/motherboard for my home computer. But trying to dig through the steaming piles of crap out there to find the right board is painful. And I don't want to have to go and look at every single damn vendors site just to figure out what's available.
Sigh...
So does anyone know of a useful resource which compares motherboards and allows you to filter down the selection quickly and easily? Esp by features?
So say I want:
AM2 socket FireWire onboard 4gb > RAM potential Gigabit Ethernet
= 3 PCI slots 1 PCIe x16 = 1 PCIe x1 or x4
How would I go about finding this easily? You'd think it would be simple, but no... it's a total pain.
And of course I'm not totally sold on AMD, but I would like to support them since I like 64bit CPUs and the lack of hassle going over 4Gb of RAM, since I suspect that will be how I upgrade this system in the future, instead of getting more CPUs, etc.
I've looked at ArsTechinca, Phoronix, LinuxBios (since I'd *love* to have a Linux BIOS for quicker boot times...), etc. But they're not that easy to figure out without spending way more time than I want.
I'm starting to think I should just start coding up a Rails app to hold all this data and provide easy searches. Then I'd need to *find* all the data as well... whee! Yet another time sink. :]
Thanks, John
_______________________________________________ Wlug mailing list Wlug@mail.wlug.org http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug
Gary> I built a PC for myself last May based on the AMD 64 X2 5600 and Gary> this motherboard: Gary> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131095 Gary> It works like a champ with no issues or problems. That is a nice board, and looks to be pretty much what I'd want. Plenty of built-in stuff, yet expandable down the road. I need PCI slot(s) because of my 8port serial board and my SCSI controller for tape backups. Eventually I'll be going down the line to something else, or a PCIe 1x SCSI controller, etc. Lots of room for expansion here. I reallly like this board for the firewire interface as well. Did you get a case with a front mount firewire port as well? Gary> I'm somewhat of an AMD fanboy but I'd admit Intel has the better Gary> processors these days, but if you are looking for an attractive Gary> price/performance ratio I think the AMD chips still have that Gary> edge. I'm mixed right now honestly. I really like how Intel has released lots of specs for their hardware, esp their video cards. AMD/ATI has made a good push in this direction too, so I'm leaning ATI for graphics no matter what. My needs are simple, rock sharp 2-d text, and some OpenGL or video performance for Stellarium or other graphics programs like that. My most graphical game is pysol. :] I just don't have time/energy to spend playing games right now, esp with two small kids in the house. I play Thomas the Tank engine instead now. *grin* Thanks again for all the suggestions guys! And gals... :] John
On Thu, 15 Nov 2007, John Stoffel wrote:
Did you get a case with a front mount firewire port as well?
Yep. This one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119077
My needs are simple, rock sharp 2-d text, and some OpenGL or video performance for Stellarium or other graphics programs like that.
Stellarium is very cool! I'm running it now with no issues. Had to configure my OpenGL for my Radeon x1600 Pro first. FWIW, I'm running Kubuntu 7.10 and Vista 64 Ultimate. Both are very stable.
most graphical game is pysol. :] I just don't have time/energy to spend playing games right now, esp with two small kids in the house.
I've been playing Half-Life2 in easy mode for the past 6 weeks. Ten years ago I would have finished it in hard mode over a weekend. :-) -- Gary
"John" == John Stoffel <john@stoffel.org> writes:
Gary> I built a PC for myself last May based on the AMD 64 X2 5600 and Gary> this motherboard: Gary> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131095 Gary> It works like a champ with no issues or problems. John> That is a nice board, and looks to be pretty much what I'd want. John> Plenty of built-in stuff, yet expandable down the road. Here's another one which has a couple more SATA ports, plus a second Gigabit port, for $10 more. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131013 Boy, I'm starting to like Asus' boards.
participants (6)
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Chuck Anderson -
Clint Moyer -
Gary Hanley -
John Stoffel -
Richard Klein -
Robert Krawitz