[Kalapalo]

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me with a mobotherboard question. I know some mobo have an onboard graphics card. I was wondering if they do is it possible not to use them and use a card that I already own instead? Last of all what are the essential specs in a mobo if any? Thank you for the help

[tweakmonkey]

Yes, you can use a standard graphics card. Most motherboards will automatically disable the onboard graphics if an additional PCI, AGP, or PCI Express video card is added to the PC. Some will require you to go into the BIOS (usually F1, F10, F11, F12, or Delete key) when you first turn on the PC and disable the onboard video.

What do you mean by essential specs of the motherboard?

[Kalapalo]

Like what makes a good motherboard. Are they all the smae just with some extra slots? whats a good motherboard have. I am interetsted in asus. Thank you

[Wedge_]

You should decide roughly what sort of system you want before you start restricting yourself to boards from a single company like Asus. The most basic choice is probably whether to go for an AMD or Intel processor. Once you've decided that, concentrate on boards that have good reviews and a good set of features, like SATA support, 6+ USB ports, PCI express, etc. What I usually do is decide on a particular chipset (eg nForce4), then look for reviews comparing boards from different manufacturers with that chipset to get an idea of which is the best choice.

If you can post some details about what sort of system you're building, it would probably help people to give you advice.

[log1c]

I know a lot of motherboards do not even have built in video. If you do some searching around, you might find a motherboard without built in video. In fact, you can find them without audio or network if you already have a quality sound card and a network card. I agree though, decide if Intel or AMD is your road, and narrow your search from there. It's also hard to go wrong with reviews from current owners or tech sites.

[SoulAssassin]

Originally Posted by Wedge_

6+ USB ports

You uhhh running a webcam server? :P

[Wedge_]

Originally Posted by SoulAssassin

You uhhh running a webcam server? :P

Nope We just have a lot of USB stuff around...MP3 players, digital cameras, Bluetooth dongles, mobile phones, PDAs etc. It's nice not to have to bother switching things around all the time, or to have to go and buy a hub. Anyway, it's pretty easy to find boards with lots of USB ports - the last two I've bought have both been nForce4 based, one MSI, one DFI, and they have 8 and 10 ports respectively.