Motherboard Knowing your approach round a motherboard is a distinguishing attribute of a PC nerd. Let us assist orient you Form IssueThe type issue of a motherboard is its bodily dimensions. The hottest right this moment is the 18-12 months-outdated ATX type issue. The two different well-liked sizes are the smaller microATX and Mini-ITX . Intel tried and failed to exchange ATX with BTX . Two extra type components are the broader Extended-ATX and XL-ATX. XL-ATX is just not an official spec however usually denotes an extended board to assist extra growth slots. For an fanatic, ATX will cowl about 90 % of your wants. Besides providing probably the most flexibility in growth, it’s additionally the place you the get the widest vary of choice. You can get funds all the best way to the kitchen sink in ATX. MicroATX is normally reserved for funds boards, however there are a number of excessive-finish boards on this type issue nowadays. Mini-ITX is thrilling, however the restricted board area makes for few excessive-finish choices on this mini measurement. SocketAs we mentioned in our CPU write-up, your motherboard’s socket dictates all that the board will ever be. If, for instance, you purchase a discontinued socket equivalent to LGA1156, your selection of CPU is significantly restricted. The most trendy sockets right this moment are LGA1155, LGA1150, LGA2011 for Intel, and AM3+ and FM2 for AMD. For Intel, LGA2011 and LGA1150 have the longest legs. Though nonetheless useable, the solar is now setting on LGA1155 boards. AMD is actively supporting AM3+ and FM2, however there’s discuss of a brand new socket to exchange FM2. ChipsetThe chipset on a motherboard refers back to the “core logic” and used to ivolve a number of chips doing a number of jobs. These days, the core-logic chipset is down to 1 or two chips, with a lot of the performance moved into the CPU. Chipsets handle fundamental capabilities equivalent to USB, PCIe, and SATA ports, and board makers throw on extra controllers so as to add much more capabilities. You ought to pay particular consideration to the chipset in case you’re searching for sure performance, a few of which is simply doable on newer chipsets. The P67 chipset, for instance, didn’t assist Intel’s SSD caching, however the Z68 did. Current excessive-finish chipsets from Intel embody the Z77 , Z87 , X79 ; from AMD you will have the A85X, 990X, and 990FX. SLI/CrossFire HelpThe overwhelming majority of players by no means run a couple of video card, however it’s at all times good to know you will have the choice. AMD’s multicard resolution is CrossFire for 2 boards, and CrossFireX for greater than two. For its half, Nvidia has SLI for 2-card setups, tri-SLI for 3 playing cards, and 4-approach SLI for 4 playing cards. We received’t decide the relative deserves of every system, as this isn’t the place for it. Most boards that supply one, additionally provide the opposite, however don’t assume a CrossFire board will assist SLI. Read the specs forward of time in case you plan to run a number of playing cards. PortsOne of the primary variations between a excessive-finish board and a low-finish board is the ports. High-end boards are likely to have ports galore, with FireWire, extra USB 3.0, digital audio, eSATA, and Thunderbolt added on to persuade you that board B is healthier than board C. How many ports, and what kind, do you want? That is one thing solely you may reply. If you continue to run an older DV cam that wants FireWire, having the port on the board for “free” is at all times good. Thunderbolt can also be an extremely cool, ahead-wanting function, however may be very dear. If you by no means use it, you should have paid for nothing. These days, we are saying eSATA and FireWire aren’t wanted. What we wish, largely, is a ton of USB 3.0 ports. The final board right this moment is perhaps one with nothing however USB 3.0 ports, in case you ask us. SlotsIf you see a board with tons of these lengthy PCIe slots, don’t assume they’re all sizzling. PCIe slots could be bodily x16 in size (which means 16 lanes) however solely x8 or x4 electrically (which implies the info is restricted to x4 or x8 bandwidth). Cheaper boards might even disable some onboard gadgets when run in multi-GPU modes, whereas pricier boards use extra chips to unfold the obtainable bandwidth round and hold the gadgets working. AMD’s 990FX and Intel’s X79 don’t have the restricted bandwidth of the Z77 or Z87 chipsets, so in case you want a number of slots, you’ll wish to go for these chipsets. (*2*), Z77 and Z87 are the place you discover extra PCIe 3.0 assist. PCIe 3.0 doubles the efficient bandwidth over PCIe 2.0, however it’s nonetheless not formally supported on X79, and solely newer 990FX boards assist it now. Confused? Our recommendation is that if you really want to run excessive-bandwidth add-in boards for video seize or RAID functions, ask the producer what motherboards they’ve licensed for it first.Keep updated with crucial tales and the very best offers, as picked by the PC Gamer workforce. There are levels of fanatic computing and motherboards to accommodate all eventualities. POST LEDThis is a tiny segmented LED on the board that shows the POST code of the motherboard whereas booting. It could seem trivial, however POST LEDs are a godsend when issues go sideways on a machine. If all different issues had been equal, we’d take a board with the POST LED over one with out it.Backup BIOSA backup BIOS shops a reproduction BIOS on the motherboard that may be restored ought to the BIOS get corrupted. We assume it’s a pleasant function however a corrupt BIOS is fairly uncommon. Nevertheless, it’s in all probability higher to have a backup BIOS and never want it than to wish it and never have it.Wireless, premium sound, fan controls, and headers galore are the particular options board distributors use to hook you. You may dismiss them as pointless options, however so are the ability home windows and multi-speaker setup in your automotive. Certainly some extras aren’t wanted, equivalent to onboard Wi-Fi on a desktop field that can reside on Ethernet, however fan management, equivalent to Asus’s glorious FanXpert II, is worth it, as are premium audio circuits. Click the following web page to get in-depth data on arduous drives and SSDs!
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