When we decide to assemble a new computer, we have to select all (or most) of the components. We have a huge offer on the market which allows us to create good systems whatever the price. But, there are components like the base plate that it could be cheaper I know remove some unnecessary items.
The motherboard, as you well know, is the main element where all the components are connected. The problem they have is that they have an excess of connections and capacities that 90% of users are not interested in. Even those that might have some use really don’t and only make the product more expensive.
All this is superfluous in gaming motherboards
We have become accustomed to large motherboards, with countless internal and external ports, even with RGB. But many of these added elements only make the final product more expensive, without benefiting the user. Instead, there are interesting things that could be used or improved that seem forgotten.
This is all we would get out of a motherboard:
- PCIe and M.2 ports: It’s not that we’re going to delete them all, but a large part. Beyond a PCIe x16 and a couple of PCIe x4s, the rest is superfluous since most users will never use them. Also, we would leave some M.2 PCIe on the motherboard, because it is normal to occupy one, so adding two or even three makes the product more expensive at all
- SATA connectors: We are also not going to load all these connectors, but if we reduce their number to a couple, at most. Years ago it made sense to have four, six or more of these connectors, but today that doesn’t make much sense. Most users do not even use them in the presence of M.2 PCIe SSDs and their increasingly attractive price. Also, the SATA port is technically obsolete.
- RAID controller: It makes very little sense these days that a motherboard would allow you to create arrays of hard drives. That was when mechanical hard drives or HDDs made sense, since you’ve pooled a few or more of them together and improved performance with RAID 0. With SSDs, it’s not worth it bother and creating RAID 1 groups seems more logical to do on a NAS.
- VGA, DVI and PS2 connections: Did we come back in 2000 and no one told us? Seeing a VGA or PS2 port on a high end motherboard hurts the eyes, why fool us. We can admit the presence of DVI in the input range, but hey, it doesn’t make much sense nowadays
- RGB: There is still time for manufacturers to launch motherboards without this element which brings nothing. Most use it four times and end up turning them off because they’re annoying, only turning them on when there’s a visitor. They make the motherboard more expensive to add something that does not affect performance in any way.
Two things to urgently improve
We have already seen all the elements that we would get rid of, which ultimately serve to make the motherboard cheaper. Although now we are going to make it a bit more expensive with two items that should be upgraded accordingly. These are forgotten elements and we do not know the reason. These are:
- Sound chart: We don’t know why, in the last five or six years, it has deteriorated so much. A few years ago, high-end motherboards had great sound cards, but today’s ones are pretty simple. There is a huge drop in quality from these, although they are then sold as fabulous with Japanese capacitors and other items that are more cosmetic than anything else.
- VRM Stages: We weren’t referring to the VRM phases themselves, which in some ways could be polished, we’re referring to the heatsinks. Aesthetics prevail in most cases, resulting in a loss of efficiency in heat dissipation. It may sound silly, but heat in the end is nothing more than energy waste
Let us know in the comments what you think of our thinking and what things you would like to see added or removed on motherboards
