General PC/Motherboard information

[Dolby]

Hey,

I've noticed many peripherals (flash discs, card readers etc) coming out in USB 2.0 - which is claimed 40x faster than USB - if one has a USB 2.0 port on their PC. How often do you get them? Do all new motherboards have them? Celeron or only new P4s?

Also, what is the most PCI slots a motherboard has? I've noticed MOST are 3x - but do you get more? I'd like a seperate sound card, wirless card, and space for at least 2 more - so I'd like 4x.

[werner]

I would say I havent seen a usb1.1 only mb for the last year and a half....every new mb has usb2.

micro-atx mb has 3 pci slots, full atx should have 5 pci slots (these are for amd)

for intel, they like using pci-express nowdays (incompatable with pci), so you tend to end up with 1 x "pci-e x16" connector (instead of agp), 3 x pci and 2 x "pci-e x4" on a full size mb...on a micro-atx it is 1x "pci-e x16" slot, 2 x "pci-e x4" slots, and 2 x pci slots.
newer amd motherboards also are starting to use pci-express, so if you are sure you want more than 3 x pci slots, you will have to go for an amd platform, socket 939, full atx, with no pci-express. You may find some hybrid socket 775 (intel) motherboard using a sis661 chipset with agp and pci, but these are a bit of a bodge, and you should stay clear of them if possible.

also, the newer high-end motherboards should have 7.1 sound on the backplate, so I dont see a valid reason for a seperate soundcard, unless there is a specialist use you are thinking about. So asus boards even have integrated wireless too...

re: the flash discs etc, although they may have a usb 2.0 "interface" it does not mean they run at full speed of the usb2 bus, i.e. 480mbps.

[gkm]

I thought about all new motherboard have USB 2.0, but it is probably a good idea to check the one you are buying. Celeron's and P4's tend to use the same motherboards. The socket and speed ratings (FSB) for the CPU and motherboard must just match.

Motherboards with up to 6 PCI slots are available according to a quick check on a price list I have.

[killadoob]

all new motherboard have usb 2.0 it is the standard now

you might you go to pc shop and they give you a board with 1.1 because they have old stock prolly

[Crash]

Couple things:

If you don't enable USB2 in the bios you won't get it. Some BIOS's (BIOSie? :)) will call it high speed or something else (Can't remember the name). Just check the mobo manual.

You might need to install a USB driver or Chipset driver to get USB 2 support. Especially on boards with VIA chipsets.