I was this close to ordering a new set of hardware for a hefty upgrade when it dawned on me I was getting the motherboard only because of aesthetic and past hype. I really can't tell what makes a 'good' mobo and what doesn't. Originally I was going with the Asus Sabretooth but am I paying a lot for features I don't need? As I'm running down through the list of features I either see things I don't understand fully or functions/gimmicks I can live without.
I'll only ever have 2 gpus at most, 2x 280X if ever; no use for strong onboard audio... have a good sound card already and the rig this will be a part of will be exclusive for gaming with 1 dvdrw, 1 SSD, 1 HDD and a maximum of 5 USB ports used at any given time. I look for flexibility and lean towards current gen tech but something tells me I could get the same use and quality for a much lower price because the rest, for me atleast, is a bunch of hyped, ambiguous, proprietary, ®'d jabber. Again, maybe one of you will set me straight on this :p
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlis...subid=2574
this is where I'll be ordering from and preferably the mobo suggested will be listed here, not that I'm limited to just that. Thanks!
EDIT: And what on earth is Lucid Virtu MVP 2? I keep seeing it but no matter how hard I looked I still don't know if it's useful or not. T_T
If you´re picking one for Dolphin, the Z87 is recommended as it can handle high overclocks easily (or at least that´s what I´ve seen on these forums).
(03-04-2014, 08:42 AM)DJBarry004 Wrote: [ -> ]If you´re picking one for Dolphin, the Z87 is recommended as it can handle high overclocks easily (or at least that´s what I´ve seen on these forums).
Gaming and emulation in general but dolphin is the benchmark. The list linked in OP is the Z87 section
To be more specific, the MSI one is recommended (or used to be?).
(A bit off-topic) admin89, where are you...?
Z87 chipsets aren't just better for overclocking. They're the only chipset that can OC the cpu. Almost any Z87 board will likely be satisfactory for the OP. When in doubt get one that's fairly cheap yet well rated. Or read some reviews from professional sources.
KazumiZorah Wrote:EDIT: And what on earth is Lucid Virtu MVP 2? I keep seeing it but no matter how hard I looked I still don't know if it's useful or not. T_T
You didn't look very hard. This is the first result when googling it:
http://lucidlogix.com/products/virtu-mvp...r-windows/
Takes you right to the companies product page. Basically it's a set of proprietary chipset drives that allows the IGP (integrated graphics processor) on your cpu and your discrete GPU (graphics card) to both be used by the system at the same time. This enables some pretty nifty features. I'm not going to take the time to explain them all in detail here because it's a lot of information and it can easily be googled if you really want to know. I don't think it's necessary or that most people will care about having it. The drivers have also been known to be buggy in the past. I don't know if that's changed recently or not. Motherboard manufacturers have to pay royalties to lucid to support it so motherboards that support it tend to cost a bit more as a result.
KazumiZorah Wrote:Again, maybe one of you will set me straight on this
I would love to but you haven't asked any specific questions (other than the one I answered above). So there is nothing for me to answer.
Based on the advice I dropped 90 euros off the price tag with MSI gaming series. I could even go a little lower but it's a pretty nice looking board to boot.
(03-04-2014, 03:35 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]>You didn't look very hard. This is the first result when googling it
>Takes you right to the companies product page.
I'd have to be pretty new to the internet to miss that. Call me cynical but a for-profit company's description of their own product is not exactly a source of accurate, unbiased information. And this also goes for:
(03-04-2014, 03:35 PM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]I would love to but you haven't asked any specific questions (other than the one I answered above). So there is nothing for me to answer.
Going down through the description of any hardware, particularly motherboards and half of it is cool-sounding words and one-liners ending in ® or ™, perhaps followed by a hyped utopic description. Oversensationalism tells me that the product described is worth a whole lot more to the people selling it than to the poor sods buying it, and my quote "maybe one of you will set me straight on this" was me being open to the possibility that most of that was actually worth the price tag. At the end it's all paranoia but you'd understand if you didn't know shit about hardware :p.
Thanks
KazumiZorah Wrote:I'd have to be pretty new to the internet to miss that. Call me cynical but a for-profit company's description of their own product is not exactly a source of accurate, unbiased information
It's literally just a description of what the product is/does. That can't be biased. When they start talking about how the product will benefit you that's when things can start to get biased. But you don't have to read that part or take it to heart. If you want to know what a product does just skim the description. It will state it somewhere among the marketing nonsense. Once you know what it does it's up to you to decide if its intended function would actually be useful for you. Being afraid to read any information about a product from the company that developed it is irrational. If you have critical thinking skills you should be able to sort through what's what pretty quickly and often times the develop/manufacturer is the only company capable of providing certain useful information about the product.
Besides if you were so afraid of that why not just click on one of the other search results like number 2 or 3? Those are from 3rd party sources.
KazumiZorah Wrote:Going down through the description of any hardware, particularly motherboards and half of it is cool-sounding words and one-liners ending in ® or ™, perhaps followed by a hyped utopic description. Oversensationalism tells me that the product described is worth a whole lot more to the people selling it than to the poor sods buying it, and my quote "maybe one of you will set me straight on this" was me being open to the possibility that most of that was actually worth the price tag. At the end it's all paranoia but you'd understand if you didn't know shit about hardware
Ok let me rephrase. Which specific "cool-sounding words and one-liners" are you concerned about? It's very hard for me to answer this question if you don't tell me that since everyone has different features they need/want from their motherboards.
Often times I just figure out what X feature does and then ask myself "would I actually use this?". And yes I can understand the paranoia. Marketing departments and salesmen are the swine of the earth. My two biggest
hobbies obsessions right now are computer hardware and reef keeping/aquaculturing. Both of these industries are flooded with an alarming level of pseudoscience nonsense happily paraded around by consumers as "facts" in an attempt for them to feel better about their purchase decisions. In my experience the only way to sort the facts from fiction is to have at least a cursory understanding of the underlying science and mathematics behind the products along with critical thinking skills, rational skepticism, and the time/will/skill to do proper research when something isn't clear.
(03-05-2014, 08:10 AM)NaturalViolence Wrote: [ -> ]In my experience the only way to sort the facts from fiction is to have at least a cursory understanding of the underlying science and mathematics behind the products along with critical thinking skills, rational skepticism, and the time/will/skill to do proper research when something isn't clear.
Wise words. I consider myself rational in that I give great value to critically analyzing a situation or description but admittedly I am more often than not irrationally repulsed from a cursory understanding because of sales pitches and professionally photoshopped images that inevitably accompany. It's like a mental gag reflex. And no I don't think it's right to list every gimmicky function I don't understand and expect you to answer for me. You'd end up having to quit your aquaculturing hobby to make time for it :p, besides most features become standard in current gen tech; sadly we don't live in a post-scarcity utopia where I can have hardware designed to my specifications (which is why I can't find a modern television model that isn't some SMART crap!). I'll put more effort into learning the specifics and leave broader questions to forums.
As for Lucid Virtu I had looked at numerous 3rd party sources and while I understood its basic function I have no sense to what extent it's effective. AFAICT on supported games it reduced load/temps slightly and lowered frame rates [VERY] slightly. Considering it's buggy and not universal I now opted for the cheaper MSI gaming mobo that doesn't include it.
Quote:I can't find a modern television model that isn't some SMART crap!
You don't have to use the SMART features, but you will end up using them if you have them as it's really convenient for catch up TV and YouTube.
(03-05-2014, 10:52 AM)AnyOldName3 Wrote: [ -> ]Quote:I can't find a modern television model that isn't some SMART crap!
You don't have to use the SMART features, but you will end up using them if you have them as it's really convenient for catch up TV and YouTube.
1: It's been 5 years since I owned a TV and 7 since I last had any channels. THe only show I watch is adventure time and that isn't available in my country so I resort to[REDACTED]
2: Youtube is handy when embedded in forums as reference and occasional browsing but I hardly ever go on it.
3: NSA. Well ok not really but as I see it smart connectivity is an exploitable security/privacy weakness that doesn't come with any benefits, especially if it comes with a webcam built in.
I'll get a SMART tv when it's open-sourced (ie in 2050).