Clueless now - need help

sansnom

sansnom

sansnom

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Joined
14 Feb 2004
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1,103
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London
Hey

Could someone tell me quite simply where is the best source to find impartial, objective and standardised reviews, explanations and comparisons of the hardware available today?

I haven't been on the 'scene' since 2003 and it's proving to be quite difficult to learn about the changes because every site I look at is filled with technical blarb and the reviewer's "opinions" and how this and that would fare given some incredibly narrow application. The fact that none are standardised and almost all use completely different hardware setups makes drawing conclusions sketchy at best.

I need to learn about every component so CPU's, motherboards, gfx, sound, ram, hard disks etc. I made the mistake back in 2003 of thinking expensive = best and learned my lesson the hard way, this time around I want to make more informed decisions. (e.g. Hercules r9800pro for £300 was a big mistake considering it's application at the time and by the time it became useful it could be had for half the price and there were better alternatives).

Thanks
SN
 
thanks guys - I've tried to read through some of this stuff but I'm still very confused. I have some questions if you wouldn't mind:

I can't seem to figure out the difference between the Core 2 duo chipsets for example. There is the x38 chipset, the p35, 975, 965 and 'other chipsets' of which the Nvidia 680i falls within. What is the difference between these? The reviews I've read about the Nvidia 680 chipset suggests it's the best on offer for the Core 2's but the reviews are a year old...I would think there should be something else by now?

I'm also not sure I understand why there is a difference in the FSB these chips run - iirc in the p4 northwood the chipset governed what FSB would operate not the chip but in the case of the Core 2's it seems the faster the chip is the higher the FSB is. Does this have an implication on chipset/motherboards or am I completely missing something here?

Thanks
SN
 
From that list, only the x38, p35 (both intel) & 680i (nvidia) will run the new higher fsb intel chips. In itself, it's not a problem not being able to run them because they aren't any faster. But it will limit your future upgrade potential because most future chips will be on the higher FSB speed.
The x38 is intel's highend chipset & looks to be very high priced for what it offers. Ditto the nvidia 680i. You can get decent p35 boards for about £80. They offer all the features any normal user is likely to require & overclock great if that's something you do. For these reasons, the p35 is currently the most recommended chipset on here.
 
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