Things that should be present in every computer.

TechnoCorruption · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:41

I was talking to a mate last night about what features should be present in all computers to make them better, either things that already exist on some hardware or things that have not been bought to the market yet.

The 2 that I thought off which makes life easier for the user are on/off and reset buttons mounted on the motherboard, as far as I know DFI started this feature but recently other manufacturers are starting to use it on there boards. It makes life so much easier when you are working out of the case and means that you dont have to look for switchers to turn the motherboard on. Simple yet very effective.

The 2nd feature would be to make all future optical drives SATA only so that evry IDE cable I own could be stuck in a bin and covered in petrol, I really hate IDE cables and they make cases look untidy, the only problem with this is that motherboards would have to have a minimum of 8 sata plugs to accomodate the new drives.

I was seriously considering buying the Plextor drive just as it had Sata but at close to 70quid I couldnt bring myself to it, so what things would you like to see implemented into future hardware and how would it makes things better?

TechnoCorruption · 11 Mar 2006 at 13:50

Ah yes, The Fatal1ty AN8 SLI also has that button on the front panel, clearing the cmos without opening the case is genius.

TechnoCorruption · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:06

Yeah thats a good one, I really hate finishing off a new build and then having to read the manual (probly the only manual I do read, the others just get thrown to back of cupboard) and then trying to plug those stupid headers in with my chubby hands.

TechnoCorruption · 11 Mar 2006 at 15:11

@ Translucent Motherboard - That would look real nice, but pretty expensive I would imagine, I really liked the setup ATI had a past computer show where they had that white motherboard in a perspex case with ATI lit up in red lights.

@ Front Panel Audio - Sometimes I just dont understand the layout that manufacturers choose, have you seen the AW8 layout, sata slots under the graphics card :confused:

TechnoCorruption · 11 Mar 2006 at 17:24

Bigstan said:
I use needle nosed pliers and a torch to overcome the large/clumsy fingers problem but a standard plug would be infinitely more sensible.

I wish the SATA cables that come with the mobo would fit more securely instead of having to buy special ones so the damn things stay on.

I also like the idea of the clear cmos button on the case.

Stan

Some motherboard manufacturers are starting to catch on about the sata plugs, on my Abit Fata1ty AA8XE the sata plugs have little metal clips on which means to unclip them you have to push the metal in, There is no way they will come out of the drive/mobo without you unclipping it.

Makes you wonder if one company can do, why dont they all?

You can see the socket clips here, the metal clips hook into the holes.

TechnoCorruption · 12 Mar 2006 at 11:19

We have got a nice little list going here, as for the motherboard layout, what do you guys think is best, I personally think every board should be layed out like my AA8XE.

Before I go on, I would just like to point out I have taken the mosfet shroud off as it actually made temps go up, well done Abit :confused:

That is the only main flaw in my opinion, taking it off reveals all mosfets covered in thermal paste and heatsinks which helps a lot when moving some voltage.

But look where the 24pin plug and more importantly the 4pin plug are, they are in the perfect locations, no wires hanging halfway down the board, even the IDE cable is at a angle so the cable comes away from the board and not directly upwards.

It has the on/off and reset switchs on the board itself, the northbridge and southbridge are also in perfect locations. But more importantly the ram slots and cpu socket are correct, I know there are a lot of fans of the DFI Expert layout but putting the cpu socket where the ram is can only harm case temperatures in my opinion as the heat gets caught in the middle and not exhausted out the back.

But the board is far from perfect as the floppy slot is in a awful place if you use a card in the bottem pci slot and the panel audio slots are at the back, has anyone had the perfect motherboard, I have had quite a few AMD/Intel boards and havent found one yet.

TechnoCorruption · 12 Mar 2006 at 16:36

Do you work for DFI?

TechnoCorruption · 13 Mar 2006 at 09:38

Yeah, I cant really fault DFI really, the 925X T2 board of theres was excellent, Like I said they were first to initiate the on/off and reset buttons on the board and they always give you loads of accessories in there full packages.

Its just a shame they havent made any 775 boards in a while, the last one they made as far as I know was a 945 matx board, Lets hope they bring something to the market soon.