"KWW" said:
Thanks. They have so many variations, and, while I could delve into the
details of the chipsets, etc... I have been way too busy of late to sift
through the nuances and pick the best one...
One other thing, I was looking at the A7N8X-VM/400 and comparing it with the
A7N8X-X. Granted, I was tired, but, aside from the video on the "VM", they
appeared to be comparable. I was wondering if it would be a bad idea to be
cheap until late in the summer and (maybe) trying the VM, then updating the
video card before school in the fall.... unless there are other aspects of
the Nvida chipset in the "VM" boards that is inferior...
Thoughts?
The -VM boards don't have a lot of adjustments, so if there is
a problem with something, you cannot adjust anything to try to
fix it. Now, one problem right now with the -VM/400, is built-in
video corruption when a user puts PC3200 memory in it. The BIOS
on the -VM only understands how to set the memory according to
the SPD chip on the DIMM, so you cannot convince the BIOS to
use a DDR333 setting rather than DDR400. There are two solutions
to this - one is to buy PC2700 memory, where the SPD is programmed
with a top speed of DDR333, and the second is to buy an AGP
video card, to take the place of the built-in video. To me,
this negates the built-in video on this board, if it cannot
be trusted under all conditions you are likely to encounter.
I like to buy a board, where there is a reasonable chance that
the components can be reused, and PC3200 memory is worth more
to me than PC2700 would be.
(You could buy the -VM, do your build, if video is a problem,
buy the FX5200. Only if the price difference is important, and
you have time to experiment.)
Here are some links to various things you should investigate:
******
This link will list the CPU types supported by a given model.
http://www.asus.it/support/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx
There are many processor listings on the web, but I like
this one for the colorful table. This will give you some
ideas as to what you can buy. It lists FSB speed, and for
best performance in this case, FSB and memory should be
run at the same speed (FSB333 and DDR333, FSB400 and DDR400).
http://www.qdi.nl/support/CPUQDISocketA.htm
Always download the manual from the download page. Read
through the section with the BIOS screens depicted. This
will show you what parts of the computer can be adjusted,
like AGP speed, Vcore, Vagp, Vdimm voltages, and so on.
Compare the virtually unadjustable -VM to the other boards.
(I like to look at "Advanced Chipset Features", used to
adjust CPU clock and memory timings.)
http://www.asus.it/support/download/download.aspx
http://www.asus.it/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=A7N8X-X&Type=All
http://www.asuscom.de/pub/ASUS/mb/socka/nforce2/a7n8x-x/e1461_a7n8x-x.pdf
You should also inspect all the product web pages, for any hints
at limitations of the product. The DDR400 memory table in the
last link is sadly out of date, because Winbond BH-5 memory is
no longer being manufactured. Better to check Google or a
private forum, with your prospective memory choice, to see
if there will be problems.
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/mbindex.htm (main listing)
http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socketa/a7n8x-x/overview.htm
http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A7N8X-X&langs=09
******
The motherboard has built-in sound, and you may want to test
it, to see if it is noise free enough for listening to music.
If you get noise, try disconnecting the analog CDROM cable,
and select digital audio extraction to get sound from the CD.
A cheap sound card sometimes has more options than a low
end AC-97 motherboard solution (like bass and treble controls).
For video cards, an Nvidia FX5200 or an ATI 9000 can give
good non-game performance, and in some cases, are fanless
for less noise. You can enter a price range on this
page, and see what "pops up"
http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=48&DEPA=0
or go to this page:
http://www.pricewatch.com/menus/m37.htm
To help keep the model numbers straight, look at this
article, and pick one of the many color charts, to see
how the model numbering scheme is a poor indicator of
performance. To further complicate matters, video cards
can have the memory arranged as a 64 bit wide array or
a 128 bit wide array, and it can be hard to tell whether
you are getting a "bargain" or not. (I.e. Two cards
can have the same base model number, but they may not
have the same arrangement for the memory.) Judging by
the Newegg page, there is a tremendous price spread
for cards with the same "model number".
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html
On the Newegg web pages, there is generally a "Review" link
on the page of a product, and sometimes these reviews warn
of video cards that fail early in their lives. If the card
you find on Pricewatch happens to be sold on a Newegg page,
have a look through the reviews, to see if any users have
had problems.
Have fun,
Paul