I'm looking for a new motherboard?

Question

I need a PCI express slot

SATA hookups,

Quad core processor (preferably pentium)

2 gb of ram,

ATX form

all that included. Anyone know where might be a good place to find something like this?

And I'm 15, so the price can't be a freakish ton or anything. Help appreciated, I've been looking for days...

Answer 1

I suggest you try Newegg.com, they have CPU/Mobo combo deals that are not freakish.

http://www.newegg.com

Also, Fry's Electronics.  They have CPU/Mobo combo special deals

http://www.outpost.com

Answer 2

Let's go with what you listed. The spec's, of what you listed are easy to find.

1.PCI-Express x16 slot. Just want to give you a little info, so down the road when you go to install a graphics card, you're not perplexed.

PCI-Express has been out largely in the PCI-Express 1.1 version. The newer version is PCI-Express 2.0

A graphics card that is based on the PCI-Express 2.0 version, will work in a PCI-Express 1.1 based motherboard. PCI-Express is backward compatible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express (Good article to read about PCI-Express. More specifically for more info about the backward compatibility, read under the 'PCI-Express 2.0' heading, towards the bottom of the page.)

PCI-Express x16. The x16 designation means there are 16 Lanes for graphics data transmission. Graphics data goes back and forth across these lanes.

PCI-Express x1. This is used for various cards. TV-Out, Ethernet cards, Video Capture cards,etc. These are just some examples.

2.Sata hookups. Generally used for harddrives. If the motherboard supports RAID, you can install more than one Sata harddrive, and put them in a RAID configuration. (You can install two harddrives on an IDE cable. But, unless you want to buy optical drives,(CD/DVD), that are Sata based, you want the IDE header,{connection}, for the CD/DVD drives) As you know, Sata is much faster than IDE. (Also called ATA or PATA)

RAID:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

3.Pentium and Quad Core, are not names that are synonymous with each other. Two different Intel processor architectures altogether.

If you're planning on hard-core gaming, you may want to reconsider, and use a Core2 Duo, instead of a Core2 Quad. There are only a handful of games, that programmers have written for the quad core.

The majority of games will not utilize all four cores. HOWEVER, this IS the computer world, and I'm sure programmers are racing like mad to write games! lol! Plus BIOS updates are coming out all the time.

4.Nice amount of ram! How did you arrive at this? Start with 2GB's, and if you think you need more, install more. Be aware that a 32 bit O/S,(Operating System) will only 'recognize' 3.2 to 3.5GB's of 4GB's of ram. The usual Windows XP Home and Pro are examples of a 32 bit O/S. So why do people install 4GB's with a 32 bit O/S?

3.2 to 3.5GB's of RAM!

5.ATX form. Sounds like you've been doing your research! With an ATX form factor mobo,(Motherboard), there is more room on the board.

More room to generally install a larger heatsink/fan combo. More room to use a large, powerful graphics card, and POSSIBLY not have it go across one of the Sata headers, or other headers. (Just depends on the board design though! Some mobo manufacturers have it together, some DON'T!)

My opinion of a mobo that will fit your needs, and possibly your budget.

XFX nForce 680i LT SLI (Say THAT real fast ten times!)

1.Will support Pentium 4 cpu's,(Processor's) that are Socket 775, up to the Intel Core2 Quad.

2.Will support processors up to a 1333MHz FSB.

3.Will support DDR2 Sdram at 800MHz,(PC6400), and will support up to 4GB's of it with a 32 bit O/S. 8GB's with a 64 bit O/S.

4.Has two PCI-Express x16 slots. When two PCI-Express graphics cards are used, it supports them BOTH at x16! Not x16 for one, and x8 for the other like some mobo's. (Things they don't tell you.)

5.Has 1 IDE header.

6.Has 6 Sata headers.

The list goes on.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

(Oh, did I say it was $109 bucks!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVukfloRi...

You can also buy it as a Motherboard/Cpu combo.

Quad did you say?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...

Ram:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...  2GB's.