Miskin IT News

Basic information about desktop PC motherboards.

We can’t really recommend any particular motherboard as there are so many on the market. They tend to fall into 3 categories: Budget, normal and higher priced (usually for gaming). Expect to pay around £30-50 for budget and £100+ for high end models. If you’re using your computer just for surfing and word processing then a budget board will usually be adequate. What you do need to check for is compatibilty and other built-in functions. Below is a list of what to check:

Processor and Socket: Motherboards usually support only either Intel or AMD processors not both. You also need to check which models and sockets they support in that make. Intel have differing LGA sockets while AMD have differing AM sockets. The motherboard specs will usually make it clear which ones they support and what model processor.

Motherboard Size: Size will generally be dependant on your tower (case) size or vice versa. The standard size for a PC is ATX although there are smaller micro, mini and flex sizes which usually fit inside the standard ATX but not the other way around. Also look out for BTX which is has a slightly different lay out from ATX and offer better cooling and efficiency but are more expensive.

Power Supply (PSU): The standard ATX tower now may come with a new ATX2 power supply. Check which PSU your motherboard uses specifically what pin setup.

Memory: Your motherboard will have at least 2 slots for RAM Memory which at the moment will come in just one dimension size but not all RAM is the same. Firstly RAM comes in certain types of which DDR is the current standard. DDR2 is the most common with DDR3 being the most modern. Older computers used SDRAM PC which you may still find and before that EDO.

As well as type, RAM also has a hertz rating called memory clock which you should be aware of as certain motherboards only support up to a certain memory clock speed. Typically DDR2 clock speeds are around 533, 667, 800Hz with the new DDR3 RAM going up to 1800Hz. Most modern motherboards will support any type of DDR2 RAM though but do check.

It may also to worth noting the maximum amount of RAM a motherboard may take and whether it’s compatible with the manufacturers RAM. There is usually a list on the manufacturers website of tested RAM and it’s always worth buying better known brands such as Corsair, Kingston or OcZ. Most motherboards let you mix RAM size but try not to mix clock speeds as it can cause major problems.

PCI Slots: PCI slots are where your extra internal cards plug into. Make sure your motherboard has the amount you need but generally you won’t need more than 3 as they as less popular now USB has arrived. Typically you may have a PCI sound card and a PCI wireless adapter. One important thing is to check what graphics card slot is used.

Most modern motherboards use the bigger PCI-Express slots and if you’re purchasing a graphics card then insure it’s PCI-Express and also check PCI-E version. Currently there are 3 versions of PCI-Express and motherboards that support v3 will usually support v2 and v1 cards and vice versa e.g A v3 card will run on a v1 board but only at v1 speeds. It’s likely though that your motherboard may have a graphics card built-in which may be suitable for your needs.

Also worth noting is how many PCI-E slots a motherboard has. Boards that are Nvidia SLI or ATI Crossfire can support more than one graphics card for super gaming performance. You may not need this function and so will save money purchasing one without these extra slots. Older motherboards use AGP or standard PCI slots for graphics cards but are now out-dated and maybe hard to find.

Disk Drives: Check what plug types your motherboard has for the disk drives. Usually disk drives come in either S-ATA or IDE/ATA with S-ATA being the newest. It’s likely that your motherboard supports both but new ones may only support S-ATA and older ones only IDE so make sure you check. Be careful when using Windows XP and older verions as they do not fully support S-ATA and require you to install S-ATA drivers during the Windows installation which may cause problems for inexperienced users or if the drivers are unobtainable.

Others: One thing that is very difficult to check is whether your graphics card (if purchasing a PCI-E one) actually fits in your motherboard. If your RAM is big and chunky then it has been known for larger graphics cards not to fit in especially if the motherboard is poorly designed or a mini/micro ATX so do a search for your motherboards name and graphics card to see if there are any complaints or issues. Larger wider cards may also stop you using the PCI Slot next to it so bare that in mind.