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If you love home deliveries and want to get the computer home-delivered, chances are that initially you may get impressed by the figures the computer shows on start up, but there is a possibility that one might repent later when add ons need to be incorporated It can even be shocking, when it is told that although the computer can be upgraded, the same is not desired. Let’s explain these points in the context of present day’s hardware market: These days, it is normal to opt for Pentium – III, 700 MHz, with 64 MB/128 MB SDRAM etc. Ever seen a newspaper advertisement which informs about the type of motherboards on which the computer would be based ? Well! More often than not, neither you would see such an advertisement nor your dealer would tell you about it. Though a big dealer may prove to be a good guide yet it is usually the a small time dealer, who would normally suggest the technology, he is dealing in.
For example, after talking to dealers, you may conclude that your choice of P-III, 700 MHz is the best deal available in the market. But what about the bus speed of your motherboard. In most cases, you will probably not be aware of the bus speed. A P-III 700 MHz maybe a good computer, yet if it has a bus speed of 100 MHz, then the machine may become obsolete soon. World over, bus speed of 133 MHz has become the standard and in some branded computers like the IBM, it is available for quite some time now. If the bus speed is 100 MHz, the processor would be of the same frequency and same would be the case with the RAM. Instead, if you opt for P-III 650 MHz based on Intel motherboard, which supports P-III – 650 MHz EB processor, with a bus speed of 133 MHz, you will find the performance better. The price in this case may be roughly equal to the P-III 700 MHz computer. This processor (P-III, 650 MHz EB) is cheaper than the P-III 700E processor, The higher price for RAM and Motherboard would add up to be the same finally. In future, 133 MHz processors are going to be the standard norm. How can you upgrade a motherboard, which supports only 100 MHz bus speed, to 133 MHz? Make sure the motherboard supports 133 MHz RAM as in future 100 MHz RAM might have archival value only. Go for a technology, which would last for a while at least. Forget about the cost. Has anyone suggested you to consider AMD Athelon (Motherboard and Processor) instead of Pentium-III processors? Normally people do not have much information about the latest in hardware, so they rely more on the established norms. AMD Athelon is an excellent choice, if you would like to think beyond the standard norms. The best thing about these processors is that they come as a package, which includes motherboard and processor, courtesy the AMD, whereas in the case of Pentium-based assembled computers, the motherboards are normally made by some other companies like, XO Infotech, Vintron, Procomm etc. Since the chipset used on these motherboard is of Intel, these are called Intel motherboards, whereas actually they are not Intel motherboards. However, genuine Intel motherboards are also available but these are costly, so are not usually available. Besides this, AMD Athelon processors work on bus speed of 200 MHz., which is much faster than the currently available Pentium processors. The price of this processor also compares well with the Intel processors. So, there is no reason why this processor should be left out of considerations. Another point worth considering while buying a computer is whether one is buying an AT or ATX motherboard. If the purchase is for home, then this point is not quite valid. For heavy workload, one should purchase an ATX motherboard. An ATX is an industry-wide open specification for a desktop computer motherboard. It improves the motherboard design by taking the small AT motherboard that has been an industry standard and rotating by 90 degrees the layout of the microprocessor and expansion slots. This allows space for more full-length add-in cards. Moreover its design also allows more possible I/O arrangements for a variety of devices such as TV input and output, LAN etc. It uses few cables and the power supply has a sidemounted fan, which facilitates direct cooling of the processor and the cards. Thus all these value additions make it very useful. Normally all major branded computers like IBM; Compaq, Apple etc make computers with ATX motherboards. This is a better technology, which the dealer will not suggest until you ask him, and if you are not aware, you might end up buying something which is fast becoming obsolete. Coming to the low-end computer, the best strategy would be to explore the market first. In the low-end segment, there is a wide range to choose from. Right from Intel P-II, P-III 500 MHz, P-III-600MHz, Celeron, and AMD K62 to Cyrix M-II 333 MHz. The best computer would be the one, which caters to all requirements at a less price. In this category for Pentium-based computers there is one good motherboard named as Intel dual 810. This motherboard has onboard 4 MB AGP card and a full duplex sound card. It is upgradable up to P-III 800 MHz, but supports bus speed of 100 MHz. There are other good motherboards also like Intel 440 ZX and Intel SE 440 BX2. However, if you are planning to get an AMD K62 computer assembled, then you can consider SiS 530 motherboard, with 8 MB AGP card and a sound card on board. You can also use this motherboard for Cyrix M-II 333 MHz processor. There is another good motherboard from ASUS with ALI chipset, which is also quite good for AMD. In the low-end segment, there is a lot of variety to choose from. All you need to do is to explore and ask your dealer for more features about various components. In this article, the focus was on motherboard, as it is the most critical component in a computer. As far as, other critical components are concerned, they are standardised and we do not have much to choose from. Thus, if you are buying a P-III processor 700 MHz., though there are different models, but there are no two products by this name. Similar is the case with RAM. In case of RAM you should always ask for warranty from your dealer and as far as possible buy standard RAM only like TechRam, Simmtronics etc., as these RAM come with a life time warranty. If you knew all this before the purchase, you might end up saying, "I knew it, so I bought it." |
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