Techniques To Choose A Motherboard

After all the technical detail, now is the time for the action.

Here are some simple steps to help you choose your motherboard:

1. Choose your processor

Choosing your processor first will give you an idea what type of motherboard to get. If you are getting an AMD CPU, then you will know that you need a motherboard with socket AM2/AM2+ and supports DDR2 RAM.

2. Select a motherboard brand (ASUS, Gigabyte, ABIT etc)

Since motherboard is the most important part of the whole computer system, it is best to get one from a reputable manufacturer. Companies such as ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and ABIT are manufacturers that produce top quality motherboard.

3. Select the chipset

Once you have decided on the brand, it time to zoom in your motherboard search. You need to find the right chipset for your processor and RAM. Make sure your motherboard supports the CPU model that you have chosen and the latest type of RAM in the market.

4. Decide on type and number of expansion slot you need

Are you getting a AGP or PCI-e graphics card? What about your hard disk, IDE or SATA? How many PCI expansion cards are you going to use? You might want to get a motherboard that has at least 2 PCI-E 16x, 3 PCI, 4 SATA and 1 IDE slots. This should provide enough room for current usage and for future upgrade.

5. Miscellaneous feature such as extra USB 2.0 ports, firewire, front panel LED, integrated sound and video

These are the last of the selection criteria because they do not affect the gaming performance to a large extent. Most motherboards come with 4 USB2.0 ports whereas some provides front panel USB support. An integrated LAN will be useful if you are playing online game. An integrated sound and video will not be useful as they are not up to the standard for gaming. It is a plus if your motherboard have it, but don’t moan too much if it doesn’t.

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