New MotherBoard q..??

[DRACE]

Brand spanking new to hardware stuff, however I'm looking for a motherboard to buy but there's all this confusing stuff like
Slot ...
Socket ...
Slot + Socket ...
followed by numbers and/or letters and I honestly to God have no idea what they are. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Ideas also welcome.. I'm trying to build my own box with at least 1 GigaHz.. chip 99% from AMD. I got the video/sound cards all but picked out and thinking of a SCSI2 hd because of all the good things i've read about it.

My main concern is speed because I've suffered enough from lack-of-speed-stress that's bundled into the windows(any-release) operating systems.

[MandK_10]

If you are looking to get an AMD chip then you want the socket style chip. the older slot style chips had less onboard cache (the details are not important, just trust me here). If you go to www.pricewatch.com (http://www.pricewatch.com) you will find a section that will get you prices on boards that handle the AMD socket A chip. I am sure that if you go to www.amd.com (http://www.amd.com) they will also offer suggestions on brands of motherboards.

Also, every web based dealer that I have visited sections the boards off into sections specific to certain chips.


Mike

[ 21 July 2001: Message edited by: MandK_10 ]

[Screamin' Soulman]

For someone completely new to hardware you may be interested in buying bundled motherboard/CPU/RAM like those offerred at mwave.com (http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/Bundle.hmx?UID=&CID=&Back=).

I'm not sure how mwave's prices compare but by buying that way at least you know your getting compatible parts.

[nathaniel]

if your going for scsi I would recommed 10k rpm scsi drives (scsi3) since a 7200rpm scsi will cost you more (not including the scsi card) than a Ultra-66/100 IDE that did 7200rpms and is twice the size.
I have 89.5 gigs and three drives are 10k's and it makes a world of a diference in linux and windows.

NB

[bdg1983]

Unless you have money to burn, I would advise you get something like the Abit KT7A or KT7A-RAID since they both have builtin ATA100 controllers. A good 7200rpm/ATA100 ide drive with tweaks to your system could even beat a scsi2.

If this is going to be a work server, then go with the scsi, but for home use, I find the ATA100 to be very good.

[Klosters]

If you decide to buy from an etailer, always check up on their reputation at http://www.resellerratings.com before sending them the time of day. ALWAYS.