A guide to buying the best motherboard for your PC

Motherboards, and especially those on top, often bring a large amount of stuff under your arm that you might not need, and that makes it very difficult. understand its features. You have motherboards ranging from less than 50 euros to over 1,000 so the number of models to choose from will not be available, so we'll see which features you should look for the most suitable options depending on what you need.

How to choose a good understanding of your motherboard

We repeat the fact that we do not want the best motherboard on the market, but the best one based on your needs. Having said that, let's look at the important factors when choosing a board that best fits your needs.

What budget do you have for motherboard?

As we mentioned, prices vary widely and will dictate the width of the motherboard. We range from basic boards for less than 50 euros to 1,000 euro boards, designed for HEDT range editing processes such as Intel Core X or AMD Threadripper, so depending on what you want and your budget, this is the go it is possible to find.

• Up to 100 euros: At this price there are motherboards that even allow an AMD processor limitation (or one with an X370 chipset), but if Intel does change, then you'll have to find motherboards that don't allow overulsing unless you get an offer good for Z370 boards. .
• From 100 to 150 euros: At this point you'll be getting Intel Z370 motherboards, which is what you will need if you want to go extra. You can also find other high-end AMD boards, even X470 chipsets and "premium" features such as RGB or Wi-Fi.
• From 150 to 200 euros: we increase the budget and the qualities and strengths we will gain are increasing. At this point you will find boards with better heatsinks, more VRMs that improve the robustness of overuls, and better connectivity including USB 3.1 Gen. 2.
• More than 200 euros: here we get into the "premium" category within either medium or medium / high level processes, which is exactly what you need. At this point we are already getting some of the best motherboards on the market, with a lot of features focused on overbulaing, good communication and very aggressive, game-oriented aesthetics. In this category there are also HEDT boards, which are designed for the highest quality processors, although in this case they usually start at 300 euros.

What processor will you use?

When choosing a PC to install, the first component you always think about is the processor. Once you are clear on which procedure to choose, you should provide a corresponding board, and the first thing we should see is that, which will automatically reduce the motherboards on a quarterly basis.

For example, if you're going to buy a third-generation AMD Ryzen processor, you'll need a socket motherboard AM4. If your choice is instead of the ninth-generation Intel Core, the socket you'll need is a LGA1151, and you have to make sure the motherboard is compatible with the processor, since both Intel and AMD have been using these socks for several generations.

For AMD this is a little confusing because it uses the AM4 socket for almost all of its processors, from the most basic Athlon to the Ryzen 7 3000 Series, but with Intel it's very different. In any case, if your chosen processor is HEDT, the Intel-based socket is LGA2066 and in the case of AMD it is TR4.

Need a motherboard size?

The motherboard size will determine the size of the rest, but especially the box and the amount of contact you carry. As a general rule, you will find three board sizes (though there are many, here are three most common; EATX size boards usually end up too high):

• ATX– The most common size, and 12 inches long by 9,625 wide. They have all the communication you need in a normal way.
• Micro-ATX: They're just as wide as the ATX, but they're 2.4 inches shorter. They generally have the same features but the PCI-Express and M.2 bases.
• Mini-ITX: They are the smallest (measuring 6.75 x 6.75 inches), made for mini PCs and PCs in SFF format. They usually have one PCIe socket and two RAM sockets to save space.

How much communication do you need?

It is important to know how many things you want to connect to motherboards before choosing them. For example, if you plan to have two graphics cards, you automatically discard the Mini-ITX boards, but also pay attention to the number of RAM bases, SATA ports, M.2, etc.

• USB 3.0 / 3.1 Type 1: You will never have enough of these, these days it is quality to connect to any device.
• USB 2.0: Reduced, but still useful for mice and keyboards.
• USB 3.1 Gen 2: not the majority of the speed-dependent limits, but since it's backward compatible it doesn't hurt to have a few of these.
• USB-C: more and more devices are using it, so it doesn't hurt that the board is already compatible with this interaction.
• HDMI / DisplayPort effects: if you're going to use a dedicated image, it probably doesn't matter if there are video output effects or not.
• Audio ports: it is important if you intend to connect 5.1 speakers, in particular.
• Thunderbolt 3: Usually you'll only need this if you're going to use dedicated cards.

RAM and PCI-Express bases

Most market boards have four RAM bases, which will allow you to have a good number of memory. As is common today with 8GB of RAM modules, a four-foot plate It will already allow you to have 2 × 8 GB and extend it to double if you need it (even quadruples using 4 16GB modules). However, on high-end boards with processors that support Quad-channel memory, you will get 8 bits of RAM.

As for the PCI-Express basics, on a standard PC you will need one x16 graphics card. However, you should know that you can use it for many other things, such as SATA / USB cards, sound cards, PCI-Express storage and long etcetera. Recommendation not to go astray, and even if you don't use them in the short term, leave the door open for future expansion.

Which chipset should you choose? Do you intend to go too far?

Finally, the processor you selected will specify the chipsets you receive depending on the compatibility. If you choose the highest chipset for your platform (Intel or AMD), you will have only one choice (Intel's X299 or X399 for AMD), but for mid- or higher-level players, the options are far more limited.

If you are planning on Overclock the recommendation is that you want the Z370 chipset in the Intel case, or the X370 / X470 in the AMD case. If you don't plan to overcompensate, Intel's side has the chip340 H370, Q370, B360 or H310 options, which, although less expensive than the Z370, are actually new and have almost the same power (for example, the USB. 3.1 Gen 2, something the traditional Z370 chipset doesn't have. )

In the case of AMD, you'll have the B450, B350 and B300 chipsets which although they support overlapping, are not the best option for them. In addition, you will lose some USB and SATA ports in relation to the X370 chips, so in this case you will have to pay extra to a better chipset.

What about the sound?

Unless you are an audiophile, in the event that you have a trained external audio and sample card, any sound card built into modern PC boards will be ready for you, and you should always remember it. make sure you have enough connectors in case you have a speaker system around it.

So, don't be fooled by marketing strategies that will try to make your eyes sound fun and amazing, because they usually all have the same sound quality or less.

Other factors to consider

Since motherboards are one of the most versatile computer components, it's very difficult to choose. So far we've defined the ones we consider the most important and which to consider in terms of your needs when choosing the best motherboard, but there are some "add-ons" that we'll list below that never affect its usefulness.

• Power button and reset on the board itself: They're always good, especially if you change hardware often or just like to test. They avoid having a box with strings and their buttons.
• Diagnostic panel: A small speaker that connects to the mother board comes in handy to tell us if there is a mistake with known beeps on the mother board. But if the board has a diagnostic panel that will tell us the error number to look for in the manual, everything will be much easier and faster. In addition there are many boards that when everything is ready, use this panel to indicate the processor temperature, something that is always integrated.
• Wi-Fi connection: If you don't have a physical network connection near a computer, it's always good that the board has its WiFi mode so you don't need external dependencies.
• Dther Ethernet ports: a single Gigabit Ethernet port will give us enough bandwidth to do whatever we need, but if you're planning on using a PC as a home server or video stream, the double port of RG-45 Gigabit remains useful.