Learning the hardware

[i3nb]

Hi,

I am new to actual building of computers but not them in general, so I am curious with all these boards and chassis's coming out and models which could get quite confusing, how would you determine what is needed and what is best. For example I am looking at Supermicro and they have tons of mobo's and chassis's for a line, but since I'm new are there useful tips when shopping for a mobo/chassis, what to look for, performance or all they the same and what ram would be best for it.

Thanks.

 

[g-unit1111]

Supermicro manufactures boards that are meant for enterprise servers with high end work loads. They have no purpose on a consumer / gaming / professional system.

Proximon's guide explains the differences better than I can: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/257075-31-guide-choosing-parts

 

[i3nb]

Seems to be the right forum to place it in..

 

[g-unit1111]

Super micro boards are not as good as many of the other brands in my opinion. You wont find as many features or heatsinks that are as elaborate on super micro boards. I prefer Asrock for the workstations I sell. For the money they are the best. Any case that fits the motherboard size is fine. I use silverstone and coolermaster for my own pcs and the ones I sell.

That's because they're meant for servers, not for gamers. There's definitely better server motherboards out there but you do not want those on a gaming or professional rig.

 

[dingo07]

your best bet is to spend countless hours sitting in front of the computer reading reviews of the products and learn the "language" of the specifications that mean something. it's a daunting task that takes years for some to get a grasp of. the more you read and understand, the better off you'll be in being able to see the difference between, say, 2 Z77 chipset motherboards from different manufacturers

happy reading!