CPU's & Motherboards

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Malc

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Wannabe Geek

#23437 29-Jun-2008 14:34

Hi Newbie to site
Currently wanting to purchase new desktop PC. Are very non techie.

With CPU's how interelated with motherboards are they.

Looking at Intel 4600, 4700 & 8400 all Duo core obviously as they go up I take it they become faster better spec?

With motherboards how do I tell by the codes which is better for example Asus PSVD2-VM SE verus a Intel DP35DP ATX or a Intel D945GCNL. Basically want to know what is better or more compatible with CPU's mentioned above.

uses for a computer are basically email, internet surfing, excel & word but i do want to use a 3D building package which requires a dedicated graphics card of minimum 64mb and reccommended 512mb which leads to my final question how do you know whats a good graphics card is palit, leadtek etc all the same and are they Nvidia Geforce.

So many questions and I hope you are not as confused as me. Look forward to any assistance.
Malc

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#141369 30-Jun-2008 08:57

Probably best thing to do, is let us know a budget and we could offer ideas....

Pretty much with motherboards and CPU's, its the sockets you check to start with.
Mainstream Intel systems use Socket 775 and AMD uses Socket AM2.

With those CPU's youve mentioned, theyre all Intel 775 based, and the 8400 is the most powerful of them. Long as you stick to known brands for motherboards (Asus, MSI, Abit, Intel etc) then you shouldnt have any problems with the CPU, but the reason for all the different types is that some might offer RAID on board, video on board, overclocking options, multiple graphics card options, extra whizzbang options.

If you are just wanting something for general day use and CAD, then getting a $400 motherboard might be overkill for you, usually around the $200 mark gets you a decent motherboard.

Personally myself when I was looking at building a new machine a little while ago for gneral day use and gaming, I was looking at a Intel Core 2 Duo 8200 CPU with a ASUS P5K range motherboard - there is a whole range of P5K motherboards however, all with different options and pricing........

With video cards, Ill admit Im a bit out of touch with them, but personally Id stick with the Nvidia chipset and a known brand again such as Asus or XFX. Most video cards are aimed more at gaming etc....with some CAD programs etc, these cards dont offer a lot for the money really because they dont req the 3d grunt the cards have. If its CAD work, then I think the Nvidia Quadro cards are the ones to look at but the price goes up. Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong on this point :)

Hope that info is a start of some help... :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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