| The heart of any computer is the motherboard. | | | | The expansion slots are the places where you |
| It is that big board inside the computer that | | | | put extra cards onto the motherboard, like |
| everything is connected to. It performs the | | | | graphics cards, extra sound card or a |
| role of traffic lights and policemen, | | | | wireless internet card. The old standard is a |
| directing flows of information to where they | | | | PCI slot and these are appropriate for most |
| are needed, when they are needed. | | | | expansion cards, excepts new graphics cards. |
| | | | |
| Choosing the right motherboard does not have | | | | The most simple of graphics cards are |
| to be a huge issue, even though there is a | | | | sometimes available for PCI slots, but not |
| lot to consider. I will start off with the | | | | too many. More common are AGP cards and the |
| most major parts and move onto the the things | | | | newer PCI express (PCIe) cards. AGP slots |
| that are less important or non-essential. | | | | come in speed variants up to 8x, make sure |
| | | | the slot matches your card. PCI and PCIe are |
| Firstly is the socket type. | | | | incompatible, so don't be confused by that. |
| | | | The PCIe slots are much longer and have a |
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| | | | Fourth is hard drive and optical drive |
| The socket is the place where the processor | | | | connections |
| (CPU) connects to the motherboard. There is | | | | |
| no compatiblility between sockets, so it has | | | | Two kinds are available, IDE and SATA, IDE is |
| to be the right one. The socket connection | | | | older with a thick cable and SATA is newer |
| needs to match the connection of the | | | | with a thinner cable. SATA capability is |
| processor you have or the one you intend to | | | | usually an add-on, you can see a dedicated |
| buy for the computer. | | | | chip on the motherboard. IDE is being phased |
| | | | out, but is still used for many drives and |
| Most older Intel Pentium 4s utilise socket | | | | all optical devices like DVD and CD drives. |
| 478. Newer ones use socket 775. AMD chips | | | | IDE has speeds of ATA66, ATA100 and ATA133, |
| utilised socket A for a long time, but now | | | | SATA has speeds of 150Mbps and 300Mbps the |
| the AMD Athlon 64 series and Semprons use | | | | latter sometimes referred to as SATA2. Make |
| socket 939. Just check with someone as to | | | | sure your board supports as much or more than |
| what yours or your intended one will have. | | | | you intend to install. |
| | | | |
| Your choice of chip will have a lot to do | | | | Fifth is the extras |
| with your needs, but choosing one with an up | | | | |
| to date socket type will ensure slightly | | | | The number of extras available on motherboard |
| longer motherboard life as you can upgrade | | | | has increased greatly and so has the quality |
| the chip for a while. | | | | of the extras. Things to be expected are USB |
| | | | 2.0, a sound card and network slot. Other |
| Second is the memory type | | | | things which it may or may not have are |
| | | | firewire and extra USB slots. |
| DDR is the RAM of choice for most systems, | | | | |
| but some newer systems, which includes all | | | | So with all that in mind you should be in |
| Pentiums with socket 775 use DDR2. These two | | | | good stead to make a good decision on your |
| kinds are not interchangable and have a | | | | purchase. Happy shopping. |
| different number of pins. Both DDR and DDR2 | | | | |
| come in different speed ratings measured in | | | | Roundup Socket type - A, 478, 775, 939 |
| MHz. DDR has a usual 400MHz denoted as DDR400 | | | | |
| or PC3200, while DDR2 can go a little higher | | | | Memory (RAM) - DDR, DDR2 |
| and comes in slightly faster speeds. Just | | | | |
| make it match what the board needs. | | | | Expansion slots - PCI and one of AGP or PCIe |
| | | | |
| Third is expansion slots | | | | ATA - ATA66, 100 or 133. |
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