# Best place to shop for computer hardware? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459 "2003-08-25T04:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459/21 "2003-08-27T06:33:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DreadCthulhu \* > \*\*I second \*\* jtull \*\* suggestion of getting the Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboard - the onboard sound is wonderful, easily matching any of the Creative cards, and the onboard LAN is pretty good too. \*\* The onboard sound is good. The LAN cards added a bit to my ping–noticeable–but if you’re not a gamer, you probably wouldn’t even notice. I just had some BIOS bugs and kinks that needed to get worked out. ---
**Author:** ![jtull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e47774/32.png) [@jtull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtull)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459/22 "2003-08-27T12:10:44Z")
I didn’t have any kind of bugs with Asus A7N8X (rev 1.04, Deluxe). The only problem I had was when I tried to enable one of the onboard LANs (I had previously disabled both of them). Couldn’t get any of them to work right. A Windows re-install solved that. It was the chipset’s drivers (apparently you may encounter problems if you don’t follow the right installation path). No other issues. Not a single BSOD. Oh and the best feature: it does NOT have a whinny little fan on the chipset! ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459/23 "2003-08-27T17:08:34Z")
Well, while we’re waiting for updates I have two questions, actually 3. 1. I play a good deal of Quake 3. After playing for years on a 56k, I finally got 1.5 mps DSL, which of course dropped my ping down to 20 on a good day. I was, and am, still surprised at how much I get beat down sometimes, because I consider myself a pretty good player. I’ve noticed that my roomie, who has a faster computer, seems to run Q3 a little more “fluidly” then I do, so I look at my FPS which is in the 30’s. Anyway my long winded question is this. I currently game on a win98, P3 600 Mhz with an ancient Nvidia TNT2 with 512meg of Sdram. In a few weeks, I’ll be playing on a P4 2.8 Ghz 800 FSB, 512 DDR, and Radeon 9700 pro. What type of difference should I expect? 2. Why is the P4 _so_ much cheaper at Newegg then anywhere else I look, it kinda freaks me out. 3. I wasn’t aware that onboard lan could effect ping. My mobo will have it, should I use it or my old card. 4. I’ve heard nightmare stories and fairytale stories about the 9700 AIW, what’s the dope? Whoops, 4 questions, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459/24 "2003-08-28T02:22:44Z")
A lot of places just sell Retail stuff, meaning it comes in a box with a bunch of crap. NewEgg sells a lot of OEM stuff meaning it comes wrapped in bubblewrap with the manual taped alongside. Also, NewEgg sometimes sells just the ship, without the fan/whatever. My A7N8X was an earlier revision (can’t remember off the top of my head), but I had a month of BSoDs and CTDs that four Windows format/reinstalls, constant driver updates, etc. didn’t fix, but a BIOS upgrade did. My ping on my dedicated network card was 75-100, on the onboard LAN it ran 100-125. YMMV. I’d try it with the onboard LAN and see if your ping is any worse than usual, then mess with it. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459/25 "2003-08-28T03:09:24Z")
Sounds good. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-place-to-shop-for-computer-hardware/197459.md?page=1)