What to know about Motherboard

Motherboards

Motherboards these days are getting more and more simplistic as more and more technology is moved onto other parts of the system.

The key points to focus on with the purchase of the motherboard are as follows

• Socket – is the CPU supported by this motherboard?
• Size – does this motherboard fit into my case?
• Motherboards come in a range of sizes from mini-ITX all the way up to E-ATX and beyond. The key difference other than size is the features offered by each board.
• Power distribution – if you plan to overclock a CPU, ensure that a board has adequate thermal management as well as adequate power to the CPU. 6 phases is often recommended as the minimum.
• Chipset – each chipset has a different set of offerings. For example, the Z77 chipset for Intel 1155 CPU’s offers better overclocking abilities than the H77 chipset.

Generally, most enthusiasts look at four major brands: Asus, MSI, Gigabyte and AsRock for motherboards. Each has their ups and downs as well as different colour schemes and special features such as the Asus AI Suite and Fan Xpert 2.