How to choose a motherboard? With the best species

In today's article, we want to tell you how to choose the right motherboard. The choice of a motherboard must be taken very seriously because it is she who is the connecting link of all other devices together. Therefore, the stable and durable operation of your computer will depend on how much correct your choice will be. If your old motherboard breaks down, then we advise you to repair it, entrusting this matter to specialists, thereby you will save money on buying a new motherboard.

Next, we will tell you about what motherboards are, how to choose a motherboard so that it fits the processor, what you should pay attention to when buying a motherboard, and at the end of the article, we will consider specific models of motherboards. Well, let's start everything in order.

Motherboard and processor

First of all, you must decide what architecture your future computer will have, namely based on which processor manufacturer: AMD or Intel. This is an important parameter when choosing a motherboard further.

Socket selection

A socket is the kind of connector on your motherboard that will match the socket on your processor. It is the socket connector that separates the motherboards.

• Sockets starting with AM, FM, and S support AMD processors.

• Sockets starting with LGA have support for Intel processors.

What type of socket corresponds to your processor, you will learn from the instructions for the processor itself, but in general, the choice of the motherboard occurs simultaneously with the choice of the processor, they seem to be selected for each other. There are also motherboards on sale with a pre-installed processor, but we will not focus on this, since our task is to select the motherboard itself.

Separately, we would like to note the number of sockets on the motherboard. If you want to build a server, then buy a motherboard with multiple sockets. The number of sockets means support for processors, that is, if the motherboard includes 2 sockets, then it can simultaneously work with two processors, the maximum possible number of sockets on one motherboard is 4 pieces. Typically, motherboards with more than one socket are used for servers.

Chipset

A chipset is a microcircuit that is contained on the motherboard and acts as a link between all devices. The most popular chipset manufacturers are AMD, Intel, ATI, and NVIDIA.

Memory slots

Computer memory (RAM) is one of the most important parts of your computer's performance. Accordingly, the more memory slots, the more sockets can be installed in the motherboard. For a personal home computer, 4 memory slots will suffice. As for the type of memory, the most relevant today is the DDR3 memory.

Bus frequency

This indicator means the total throughput of the motherboard, the higher it is, the faster the performance of the entire system will be. Please note that the processor bus frequency must match the motherboard bus frequency, otherwise a processor with a bus frequency higher than that supported by the motherboard will not work.

PCI slot

The PCI slot connects additional devices to the motherboard: video card, sound card, network card, TV tuner, WI-FI adapter, etc.

We would like to note that the more these slots, the more additional devices you can connect to the motherboard. The presence of two or more identical PCI-E x16 slots for connecting video cards indicates the possibility of their simultaneous and parallel operation.

Because modern additional devices include cooling systems and simply have an overall view, they can interfere with the connection of another device to an adjacent slot. Therefore, even if you are not going to stuff your computer with a lot of internal add-ons, it is still better not to save money on PCI slots so that you can seamlessly connect even a minimal set of additional devices.

Hard drive connectors

The most relevant today is the SATA connector for connecting hard drives, which replaced the IDE connector. Unlike its predecessor, SATA has a higher data transfer rate. Modern SATA connectors support 6 Gb / s speeds. The more SATA connectors there are, the more hard drives you can connect to the motherboard.

Please note that the number of hard drives may be limited by the case of the system unit. Therefore, if you want to install more than two hard drives, then make sure that there is such an opportunity in the case.

Even though the SATA connector is actively replacing IDE, new models of motherboards are still equipped with an IDE connector. To a greater extent, this is done for the convenience of the upgrade, that is, by updating the computer components to save all the available information on the old hard disk with an IDE connector and not have difficulties copying it.

If you buy a new computer and plan to use an old hard drive, then we recommend using it as an additional hard drive. It is better to rewrite the existing information to a new HDD with a SATA connection since the old one will noticeably slow down the operation of the entire system.

USB connectors

Pay attention to the number of USB connectors on the back of the motherboard. The more of them, the better, respectively, since almost all existing additional devices have exactly a USB connector for connecting to a computer, namely: keyboards, mice, flash drives, mobile phones, WI-FI adapter, printer, external hard drive, modem, etc. . P. To use all these devices, you need a sufficient number of connectors for each device.

USB 3.0 is a new standard for data transfer via USB interface, the data transfer rate reaches 4.8 Gb / s.

Sound

Each motherboard has a sound controller. If you are a lover of listening to music, then we recommend choosing a motherboard with a large number of audio channels.

• 2.0 - the sound card supports stereo sound, two speakers or headphones;

• 5.1 - the sound card supports a surround sound system, namely 2 front speakers, 1 center channel, 2 rear speakers, and a subwoofer;

• 7.1 - surround sound system support, has the same architecture as for 5.1 system, only side speakers are added.

If the motherboard has support for a multichannel audio system, then you can easily build a home theater based on a computer.

Cooling

To cool the chipsets on the motherboard, heatsinks are often used, so take this fact into account when choosing a case and cooling system. The colder the chipsets are, the better the performance of the entire computer will be. Very often, the reason for the failure of the motherboard is the swelling of the capacitors, and this, in turn, occurs due to poorly thought-out cooling, both of the motherboard and all components in general. Also, the cause of overheating may be dust, a layer of which forms inside the system unit, to avoid problems with the operation of the computer, clean it, and it is better to entrust it to our specialists who will do it quickly and efficiently. Read about how to call our master on this page.

Additional functions

• Fans. Each motherboard has connectors for fans (coolers), to ensure reliable and good cooling of all internal components in the system unit, it is recommended to have 6 such connectors.

• Ethernet. This is a controller installed on the motherboard that connects to the Internet. If you plan to actively use the Internet, and your ISP supports a speed of 1 Gbps, then buy a motherboard that supports this speed. In general, if you buy a motherboard for a rather long period, and do not plan to change it in the next 3 years, then it is better to immediately take a card with support for a gigabit network, knowing how rapidly our technologies are developing.

• WI-FI. Some motherboards have a built-in WI-FI module, so if you have a WI-FI router, then buying such a board will get rid of unnecessary wires, but the truth is, WI-FI will not be able to please you with high speed, like Ethernet.

• Bluetooth. Having a Bluetooth controller is useful. Thanks to it, you can not only download content from your computer to your mobile phone but also connect a wireless mouse and keyboard, and even a Bluetooth headset, thereby getting rid of annoying wires.

Which company to buy a motherboard

Today the most popular motherboard manufacturers are ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and Intel.

We would like to highlight ASUS motherboards, which have proven themselves in the component market. ASUS motherboards work great on both AMD and Intel processors.

Intel processor motherboard

For Intel processors, we recommend using the ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z motherboard (price $ 200), a more budgetary option - ASUS P5G41T-M LX (price from $ 50). By the way, ASUS Maximus IV GENE-Z was recognized as the best motherboard for i7 in 2012.