HI, I am looking into new, high end mother boards, but don't know an awful lot about the specs of them, in terms of what makes one better than another in terms of facts and figures, and not just i prefer this over that responses. could some one please help me understand a little more about this, thanks ian.
motherboard specs help
- Thread starter snookian
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Grantofhell
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Normally, I look at what you want to do with it first: HTPC, Mid gamer, Net Browser, High-end gamer, enthusiast.
Find a suitable socket (by brand) AM2+/AM3 for AMD - 775/1156/1366 for Intel. Check the native Front Side Bus if Intel. HT if AMD.
Also, what sort of RAM it supports. DDR2 single channel, DDR2 dual channel, DDR3 dual channel, DDR3 triple channel (for I7 systems)
What sort of chipset it is and how reputable that chipset is. IE: how they overclock if you intend to do that.
Brand is another big thing. Pick something with a large number of good reviews to avoid grabbing a lemon or just a low quality board. I believe in giving companies a chance, but if you want to avoid the hassle, just pick something reputable.
Connectivity. Make sure it has at least one of every type of popular port. PCI 2.2-2.3, PCI-E x1 and X16, FireWire, USB 2.0, SATA (eSATA if you please)
Features. Does it support SLI or CrossFire? How many ports of type does it have? Special features that help with overclocking? A particular BIOS perhaps. I/O bus - Certain boards have features like 8 channel onboard audio or optical S/PDIF, LAN Teaming. Can it Support RAID? If so, what types?
Find a suitable socket (by brand) AM2+/AM3 for AMD - 775/1156/1366 for Intel. Check the native Front Side Bus if Intel. HT if AMD.
Also, what sort of RAM it supports. DDR2 single channel, DDR2 dual channel, DDR3 dual channel, DDR3 triple channel (for I7 systems)
What sort of chipset it is and how reputable that chipset is. IE: how they overclock if you intend to do that.
Brand is another big thing. Pick something with a large number of good reviews to avoid grabbing a lemon or just a low quality board. I believe in giving companies a chance, but if you want to avoid the hassle, just pick something reputable.
Connectivity. Make sure it has at least one of every type of popular port. PCI 2.2-2.3, PCI-E x1 and X16, FireWire, USB 2.0, SATA (eSATA if you please)
Features. Does it support SLI or CrossFire? How many ports of type does it have? Special features that help with overclocking? A particular BIOS perhaps. I/O bus - Certain boards have features like 8 channel onboard audio or optical S/PDIF, LAN Teaming. Can it Support RAID? If so, what types?
