motherboards

[compsci]

Is there a motherboard out there that doesn't come with integrated audio or video, i rather add my own sound card and video card for ultimate performance. I know the integrated video and audio can be disabled, but they are still a waste to be on the motherboard. Als any good recommodations on a good motherboard looking for one that supports raid drives since the are faster than ide drives.

[saphalline]

Welcome to the PC Guide Forums!! :D

There are tons of mobo's that don't come with integrated video. You just have to pick one that uses a non-video chipset. Ie, get one that uses the i915P instead of the i915G, etc. Integrated audio, however, is nearly impossible to avoid. All modern chipsets have an audio engine by default, and it's so darn simple to hook it up that nearly all mobo manufacturers do. Gone are the days when nothing was integrated, but this can also be a good thing. For instance, with modern mobo's, you don't have to buy a NIC anymore! :D 10/100 Ethernet is built-in, if not full GbE! We're also in the realm of 8-10 USB 2.0 ports, so integrated functions are no longer considered bad. Except for onboard video... I don't think that will ever be a respected component... :p

RAID stands for "redundant array of inexpensive/independent disks", and it's a method of using more than one physical hard drive to build a single logical hard drive. The hard drives themselves aren't different, it's how they're used that makes them a RAID array. There are also several levels of RAID: 0, 1, 0+1, 1+0, 5, etc. Modern mobo's also have simple RAID implementations built-in. They can do 0, 1, and sometimes 0+1, and they can even span RAID arrays across both PATA and SATA drives! Very cool stuff.