I would like to begin by saying a BIG THANK YOU to all MS members for their reviews, I have learnt a lot from them.
I am planning to buy an assembled computer. My budget is 50K. My requirements are word processing, major surfing, watching a lot of movies, a little bit of gaming and serious AutoCAD. Following is the configuration I have made with my own little research; I am in need of your advice. This is a long thread, requesting for your patience. Please post the reply with answer nos and for this convenience I have put question nos, I think it is a challenge for anyone to be able to answer all but I am expecting somebody in this group to do just that!
• Boxed Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 3.0E GHz, 800MHz FSB, 90nm (3years warranty)
• Boxed Intel® Desktop Board D865GBF (3years warranty)
Intel® Desktop Board D865GBF Features
Form Factor ATX (11.60 inches by 9.60 inches [294.64 mm by 243.84 mm])
Processor Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 Extreme Edition processor in an mPGA478 socket with a 800 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor in an mPGA478 socket with a 400/533/800 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Celeron® D processor in an mPGA478 socket with a 533 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Celeron® processor in an mPGA478 socket with a 400 MHz system bus
Memory Four 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
Support for DDR 400, DDR 333, and DDR 266
Support for up to 4 GB of system memory
Chipset Intel® 865G Chipset
I/O Control SMSC LPC47M172 LPC Bus I/O controller
Audio SoundMAX 4 XL with AudioESP audio subsystem using the Analog Devices AD1985 codec
Video Intel® Extreme Graphics 2 controller
Universal 0.8/1.5 V AGP 3.0 connector supporting 1x, 4x, and 8x AGP cards or an AGP Digital Display (ADD) card
Integrated retention mechanism
Peripheral Interfaces Eight USB 2.0 ports
One serial port
One parallel port
Two Serial ATA IDE interfaces
Two Parallel ATA IDE interfaces with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support
One diskette drive interface
PS/2* keyboard and mouse ports
Expansion Capabilities Six PCI bus add-in card connectors (SMBus routed to PCI bus connector 2)
OR
• Boxed Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 530 3.0E GHz, 800MHz FSB, 90nm (3years warranty)
• Boxed Intel® Desktop Board D915GAV (3years warranty)
Intel® Desktop Board D915GAV Features
Form Factor ATX (12.00 inches by 9.60 inches [304.80 mm by 243.84 mm])
Processor Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 Extreme Edition processor in an LGA775 socket with a 800 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor in an LGA775 socket with a 533/800 MHz system bus
Support for an Intel® Celeron® D processor in an LGA775 socket with a 533 MHz system bus
Memory Four DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
Support for DDR 400 MHz and DDR 333 MHz DIMMs
Support for up to 4 GB of system memory
Chipset Intel® 915G Chipset
I/O Control LPC Bus I/O controller
Audio Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem using the Realtek ALC860 audio codec.
Video Intel® GMA900 onboard graphics subsystem
LAN Support 10/100 Mbits/sec LAN subsystem using the Intel® 82562EZ Platform LAN Connect (PLC) device
Peripheral Interfaces Eight USB 2.0 ports
One serial port
One parallel port
Four Serial ATA interfaces
One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support
One diskette drive interface
PS/2* keyboard and mouse ports
Expansion Capabilities Four PCI Conventional* bus connectors
Two PCI Express* x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector
Question 1 – Should I go for Prescott or Northwood? Prescott CPUs get heated quite fast but are faster than their Northwood counterparts. Are these rumours or facts?
Question 2 – The differences are that 865GBF will come with mPGA478 socket and the 915GAV will come with LGA775 socket. Which socket is preferable?
Question 3 – What is the difference between the onboard sound and video cards of the two motherboards?
Question 4 – Since I am going for Creative Inspire 5.1 5200 speakers, do I need to buy a separate Creative Live 5.1 sound card or would the onboard sound card of 865/915 be sufficient?
Question 5 – What do you mean by PCI Express?
Question 6 – 915 provides 4 SATA interfaces while 865 provides 2, other than my one 160 GB SATA HDD, what else can I do with extra SATA interfaces other than connecting another SATA HDD?
Question 7 – Where can the 8 USB ports be used? Can you please mention their usage? I know of connecting a PEN Drive, your camcorder or digital camera.
Question 8 – Can you please explain the different LAN supports provided with 865/915? Which one is broadband enabled? What will I need if I want to connect it to a broadband connection, card or some other thing or nothing if everything is provided on the MOBO?
Question 9 – What can I expand with these MOBOs?
Question 10 – Do I need to buy a separate graphics card for AutoCAD or will the integrated on will be sufficient, if sufficient, then which one, 865 or 915?
Question 11 – Which memory is better, DDR OR DDR2, as 915 supports both?
Question 12 – Which MOBO supports Firewire or it a feature of the cabinet?
Question 13 – Have I missed something to ask which is important, please let me know?
• 1 GB (512 x 2) DDR @ 400 MHz Hynix RAM
Question 14 – Should I go for Hynix or Transcend?
Question 15 – Should I go for 2 sticks (512 x 2) or one stick (1 GB x 1) as the MOBO supports Dual Channel Memory?
Question 16 – How many yrs of warranty should I get?
Question 17 - It is recommended to buy matched pairs (two identical sticks) of DDR for dual channel boards. How do I ensure during the assembly that the assembler is putting matched pairs (two identical sticks) of DDR for dual channel boards or not?
Question 18 – Have I missed something to ask which is important, please let me know?
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