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Desktops: Question about motherboards...
Yes, every motherboard can be turned into a "basic" one
by dlauber - 9/18/09 9:25 PM In reply to: Question about motherboards... by MrKassnerWhile I am genuinely puzzled why you wouldn't want the features on today's motherboards, you can generally disable the features you don't want to use. It's pretty easy -- just go into the BIOS and disable the USB ports, serial and parallel ports (if the mainboard even has them), ethernet ports, onboard audio, onboard video, just about anything you want to disable. But for heavens sake, you're going to need the SATA and/or IDE channels for your hard drive and/or DVD drive. No resources are wasted by the mere presence of these channels.
You can always add a USB 3.0 card when they become available -- it's not likely it will conflict with your existing USB 2 on the motherboard (certainly if you disable the USB in the BIOS).
To get into the BIOS, you hit either the F2 or Delete key, depending on the motherboard. See the manual that comes with it -- although your initial screen usually tells you what to hit to enter the BIOS.
Then you'll have the basic bare motherboard of your dreams. May I strongly recommend an Asus mainboard -- they tend to be rock solid with great online support and whenever there is a problem, a new BIOS is posted pretty quickly. I've built about 60 computers and Asus are the only motherboards I'll use anymore.
Not really what I meant...
by MrKassner - 9/18/09 10:49 PM In reply to: Yes, every motherboard can be turned into a "basic" one by dlauberI had wanted a "basic" motherboard for simplicity, smaller size, and upgrade capabilities without older hardware still being there. It wasn't something I really needed, it's just something I've wondered since the day I built my desktop.
hmmmm
by Dango517 - 9/19/09 2:08 AM In reply to: Question about motherboards... by MrKassnerThis is an electronic device that uses electricity, if the circuit can't be completed then no resources are used.
If you do not use a printer then no resources are used for it. Same goes with the rest of it, so, simple unplug those things you do not want to run. Viola you have a basic motherboard. On/off switches do the same thing, by the way. LOL
Chances are you have more wasteful programs on that PC using up needless resources then all the hardware you could plug in.
The other way around
by F_demon - 9/19/09 10:29 AM In reply to: Question about motherboards... by MrKassnerLet's try to think the other way around;
What if there would be a pc with just a cpu, ram and just for todays sake sata slots.
PS/2 is quite usefull for troubleshooting if the pc doesn't start up, but the mouse port I could do without as well.
Most people want:
-usb
-soundcard
-videocard (necessary, integrated or otherwise)
-ethernet
-a way to connect their harddrives and actually run an OS
That would already be 5 slots, where most motherboards have 7. Add to that things like a raidcard, tv-tuner or a 2-slot videocard and you would be running out of room fast and the bottom of the board would be quite messy.
And from a business point of view:
The board itself wouldn't be really expensive, but the possible compatibility problems and the bios-updates that would need, makes it a very expensive solution in the long run.
If it's low power/small form factor computing you are after there are a few options:
-Fit-PC
-Nvidia ION (15-40W full load) picture wiki
-AMD 785G-based motherboards. (free cpu choice, capable integrated videocard)
-Nvidia 9400-based (similar to above, free cpu choice)
Probably even more, but they have slipped my mind for the moment.
-VIA
Not only that
by Ross Quinnell - 9/21/09 1:21 PM In reply to: The other way around by F_demonthere are motherboard that are small they call them micro ATX for just for people how don't want the extra power for gaming.
also you need to have ps2 connections on there just in case your usb ones don't work not only that usb is standard for universal components so it can be useful for everyone in every way.
you cant get rid of the NIC ( Network interface card because everyone needs that for desktops.
when it comes to motherboards with the things you don't use just don't use them they don't do anything apart from doing nothing .Also if people wanted unnecessary plugs mb ad-dons would need to become un-standardized and the people who make the os would say to them self's what should we put in are new os and what we should not included in our os it makes things more complicated for os developers.
Because all of the usb pugs and fire wires and so on are standardized the os developers can say oh we can put this in because everyone use's them.
but you can't get any desktop smaller than a Micro atx . The pce also needs to be fairly big because of the air flow so it can keep cooler
Nothing to worry
by eddiesydfrey - 9/23/09 9:05 AM In reply to: Question about motherboards... by MrKassnerI guess that would be possible if you go straight to MSI or ASUS and request for that kind of board. =) Just kidding. But why do you really need to remove the good old stuff?
If you're worrying about resources, simply don't use it. You can still add the USB 3 in the future. But essentials like SATA and IDE are for your HDD... how would you run your PC without these stuffs?
I remember even PCs 20 yrs ago have IDEs right?
Mr Kassner - I totally agree
by tz31 - 10/12/09 10:51 PM In reply to: Question about motherboards... by MrKassnerI would like to find the same basic motherboard. I want the MB to have a CPU, memory, northbridge (no southbridge), power, BIOS, and as many x16 PCIe slots as possible. I haven't been able to find one so far.
I think the problem may be that what you are proposing hasn't been practical in the past due to the large number of custom interfaces. Every device required a separate piece of hardware and protocol. For example, mouse/keyword (ps2), video (pci, agp, pcie), printer (lpt), modem (rs232, pci), soundcard (southbridge, pci), ide, sata, scsi, etc. No to mention ancient BIOS support built into the southbridge which may some day be replaced by UEFI.
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