Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
USB 3.0 support would be nice, but in practical terms USB 3.0 peripherals are
still thin on the ground. USB 2.0 is sufficient for our current needs and likely
to remain so for the foreseeable future. If at some point we find a gotta-have
USB 3.0 peripheral, we'll simply install a USB 3.0 expansion card. Because we
transfer camcorder videos on Robert's main office system, a FireWire port isn't
necessary.
In terms of A/V outputs, it's essential that the motherboard provide at least
an HDMI connector with HDCP support, and we'd like to have a dual-channel
DVI-D connector as well. Standard 5.1 audio out is required, and we'd like to
have a digital audio out as well.
Entering all of these requirements into the NewEgg filtering system returned
nine suitable boards, including models from ASUS, eVGA, GIGABYTE, Intel, and
MSI. Any of those would be suitable, but we have a strong preference based
on experience for motherboards from ASUS, GIGABYTE, and Intel. Over the
years, we've come to use ASUS and GIGABYTE motherboards almost exclu-
sively for AMD-based systems. For Intel processors, we've found Intel mother-
boards to be rock-solid reliable, so for this system we chose the retail-boxed
Intel DH55TC motherboard.
Memory
Crucial Ballistix CT2KIT25664BN1337 4 GB Kit (2 GB
×
2)
The Intel DH55TC has four DDR3 memory slots and supports dual-channel
memory operation with PC3-8500 or PC3-10600 modules in capacities up to
4 GB per slot. Our original rule of thumb was 1 GB of RAM per processor. With
the advent of multi-core processors, we modified that rule to 1 GB per core.
Nowadays, with multi-core processors running multiple threads per core, our
current rule is 1 GB per thread. On that basis, we decided to install 4 GB of
system memory.
When we checked the Crucial memory configurator to find modules compat-
ible with the DH55TC motherboard, we found that four 1 GB modules cost
more than two 2 GB modules, so we chose a 4 GB kit with two 2 GB PC3-10600
modules. Using only two DIMMs means we leave two memory slots free for
future expansion.
At the time we ordered, Crucial offered three PC3-10600 4 GB memory kits,
one with its standard modules with CL9 memory timing, and the other with
its high-performance Ballistix modules at CL7 or CL6 timings. The CL6 Ballistix
kit cost 50% more than the standard kit, but the CL7 Ballistix kit was only $8
more. We chose the CL7 Ballistix kit for its superior cooling and additional safe-
ty margin over the standard modules. (We'd probably have chosen the same
memory for the mainstream system, but when we built that system the CL7
Ballistix modules were selling at a significantly higher premium.)
