Choosing a Motherboard for Your Computer

In the process of building your own computer, you will have to make several important decisions. Perhaps no decision will be more important than choosing a motherboard. The motherboard is like the heart of your system. Though everyone always talks about the processor as being important, it is certainly not as important as the motherboard. Choosing the correct motherboard is essential when building your own computer.

The motherboard controls nearly every aspect and function of your computer. The motherboard provides the physical links for video cars, for the cpu or processor, for the memory, and for every other device connected to it. The motherboard acts as the brain of the system and links all of the computer components together. Not only does the motherboard provide physical slots and connections for the components, it also provides communication between the components by way of its circuitry and design.

It is important to understand the impact that a motherboard has on the overall system in order to emphasize the importance of choosing a quality motherboard. Choosing a motherboard will require additional research beyond this article. This article is only intended to provide you with the basic knowledge needed when selecting a motherboard.

First, you must consider the size of the motherboard. For example, if you have chosen a computer case that is a Baby AT form factor, then you must also choose a motherboard that fits this form factor. You cannot choose a larger motherboard than your case is designed for. If you have chosen a computer case that is an ATX form factor then you can choose a motherboard of any size. I would recommend choosing the largest motherboard that your case can support. A larger motherboard will give you more options for adding additional components to your computer either during the building process or at a later date. Now that you have determined your size needs, you have narrowed the field of available motherboards only slightly.

The next consideration for choosing a motherboard is not always clear. Some would recommend that you should now chose a motherboard based of the processor or cpu that you will be using. I believe that is a valid argument. However, if you have not decided on a processor yet, you may have your heart set on a certain video card or the support of 5 or more hard drives. Depending on your situation, I suggest you arrange your criteria for selecting a motherboard in the order that best fits your needs. Criteria may include processors supported; number of hard drives supported; type of video card used; type of video card interface used; or the amount of ram the motherboard is capable of using. Once you have ranked your criteria in order, you will be able to narrow down the choice of motherboards significantly.

There are numerous manufacturers of motherboards and some are considered better than others. Once again, your budget will play a role in determining which motherboard is right for you.

Motherboards are listed by their compatibility with other components. For example, motherboards may support AMD processors, or Intel processors, but not both of them on the same motherboard. Motherboards may support only certain video cards and not others. Furthermore, they may only support up to a certain speed of ram modules. All of these requirements and specifications will me listed on the site of the manufacturer of the motherboard. If it is not listed, contact the motherboard manufacturer directly to ask any questions.

By no means is this article intended to be an exhaustive resource for motherboard selection. There are simply too many choices and considerations. This article is intended to get you started in choosing the right motherboard for your situation. Further research should land you with a motherboard that meets your needs.

For advice on choosing additional components to build you computer please refer to my articles related to each component and additional articles on assembly and other aspects of building your own computer.