How to Choose a Motherboard

Choosing a motherboard is not that hard. Yes, the motherboard is the most important part of your computer - but a few simple guidelines will have you choosing a motherboard like a master.

How to choose a motherboard can be broken down into a couple of simple considerations by asking:
- What processor will be used?
- Will it fit in the case I have, or the new case I want to buy?
- How much RAM (Memory) do I want?
- What Chipset do I need to go for?
- What other cool stuff & Must have's do I want/need?
- How many expansion slots do I need?
- And of course... what can I afford, or prepared to pay?

Pick your processor, this is the basis of your motherboard. I think processor has become more personal preference that anything else. I do think I have technical reasons for preferring Intel over AMD, but I have seen how this can be debated for days. There are many arguments going each way - I will soon write an article on this topic by itself.

Don't forget the size and shape of case you have, or what you are planning on buying. Motherboards come in different sizes, and are laid out differently. Look at how the expansion slots and additional ports will align with the holes in the back of the case and whether your case can actually take a motherboard of that particular size. For instance small cases for Media Center PC's can more often only take Micro ATX motherboards. You case's specifications will tell you which motherboards it can support.

Don't think that just putting as much RAM in your computer as possible is going to make it go super fast - there are considerations. Most desktop operating systems (all windows desktop operating systems) can only recognize up to 4GB RAM, so more than that is a waste. What do you need to be looking out for is RAM speed. If you already have RAM, make sure your motherboard can handle that RAM, if you are still going to buy RAM, make sure the motherboard supports the RAM you want to buy.

Chipset goes hand in hand with the RAM, and this is what determines the motherboards ability to handle different RAM speeds, etc.

Now, this is where you get to start having a little more fun, but can very easily hurt your budget, and very easily end up with things you do not really need, or should not have on-board. Decide carefully what is important. But first decide whether you want to use the on-board equipment, or whether you were planning on getting add-on cards for such as sound, graphics, etc. Here look at things like RAID as well; just remember that on-board RAID will not be the best RAID options and should not be considered for really serious applications and servers... on-board RAID is normally only RAID 0 and RAID1.

Expansion slots - well, this is what you need to take into consideration if you are building a higher end machine - because this is where you will be plugging that extra sound card for full 7.1 surround sound in, or that additional graphics card to really make your game-play pop! Also at this stage make sure that your new motherboard contains at least 1 PCI Express port, this is a new format, and is the way things are moving - this port format is MUCH faster than traditional PCI slots. You cannot add more expansion slots - so make sure you get what you need. The most that I have ever needed is 5 (Sound card, 2 screen cards and 2 TC Cards), but for most 3 should be sufficient.

Price... this is always the touchy one not only when choosing a motherboard, but anything else isn't it?!
I normally pick a brand of motherboard I like, and start in the middle of it's price range, obviously after I know for example what processor I want, etc. I then work down if I need to spend less money, looking at what I am sacrificing, or possible working up from there, tacking on more cool stuff if I can afford it, or need them. Just always remember one thing - there CERTAINLY is a difference between the cheap and nasty motherboards and the more expensive ones. The more expensive motherboards do use components that are manufactured to higher standards that can withstand being powered on for longer, can withstand load better, and the materials themselves are just of better quality, i.e. gold versus cheap metal. These things do make a difference, be careful! Without sounding biased I prefer Intel, Asus & Gigabyte motherboards. Intel is my favorite motherboard for business machines, while Asus motherboards are my first choice for gaming and multimedia machines.

I really hope this has helped you in choosing a motherboard that is best for what your requirements are. please do leave a comment or a question, even if you do not require a reply, your comment might just help someone else answer the question of how to choose a motherboard.

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