Buying a motherboard..

The first thing that you are gonna need is the motherboard..

If you do not know what a motherboard looks like...the above picture will serve you as reference..

The Motherboard is the most important component in your computer system. It is the backbone that connects to all of your other computer components. Choosing the right motherboard will determine how fast your computer is gonna run..


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Here are the things to look for when choosing a motherboard

1)Processor Socket
2)Micro Form Factor
3)Chipset
4)Cpu Support
5)Buses

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The processor socket is going to determined what type of processor that is going to match with your motherboard. Socket in simpler terms means the number of pins that your CPU is gonna use..

The Processor socket is located on the top corner of your motherboard..the one with a warning note on it...LOL!

So let's focus more about the socket...

1)AM2 or Am2+ socket by AMD
2)LGA 775 socket by Intel
3)LGA 1366 socket by Intel (New model)


Currently,these are the three commons socket that are widely used and marketed today. In these sockets,you are gonna place either the AMD or Intel processor. More on that in the CPU section..



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This is also another factor that's going to determine which motherboard you are going to buy...

Currently,there are three types of form factor that are being marketed today. The list are as follows:

1)Micro ATX factor
2)Standard ATX factor
3)ITX factor

In simpler terms, micro means small, standard means normal and ITX means very small. If you still dont get it, heres some pictures example of the form factors.



These form factors are determined by the number of buses and slots of ur motherboard (Refer to the top picture above), As you can see Atx has the most number of buses/slot while ITX has none..

ITX tends to be cheaper than Micro ATX and Micro ATX tends to be cheaper than ATX. Means that Atx is the most expensive..

Usually,these slots and buses are equipped by video cards,sound cards and other plugins that your computer's gonna need...If you think that you need to use more of the slots,then is recommended to buy a standard ATX.. or else just leave with Micro Atx..

But then again,for those who wants to build a gaming computer..u will need to buy Standard or due to SLI and Crossfire which u can refer to on the Video Card section..



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Next, the right chipset is the thing that you are going to look out for..chipsets in simpler terms are the key features to ur motherboard. Some motherboards have different chipsets than other motherboards. This is because of the features that the chipset includes in the motherboard. For example, some chipsets allow to install your RAMs up to 16gb while others until 8gb..

For Intel, you can visit this website for comparison of the different chipsets..

http://compare.intel.com/pcc/default.aspx?familyID=10&culture=en-US

HINT: Since today intel chipset market is focused on Intel X38, Intel X48,Intel P45 and Intel X58 chipset,it is just necessary for you to compare these four..Based on my experience, if you are on a budget, it's best if you go for P45 chipset as the others are more for overclockers..=)

For AMD, you can visit this website for comparison of the different chipsets..

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_14603,00.html

AMD have a more wide range of support and variety in their chipsets than Intel like including onboard high quality graphics, etc..but u will need to buy an AMD processor. Just like for Intel chipset motherboard, it also can only support intel processors.

For those who need demands, you can go for nvidia chipset, which is very popular among overclockers and it supports intel procesoors...=)

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Again when you are buying a motherboard, u will have to see whether the motherboard supports your type of processors.

For example, if the motherboard only supports up to intel core 2 duo and ure planning to buy the intel quad core, im sorry but you will have to look for other motherboards...But, when you search the internet and found out that your motherboard that you are going to buy have a bios upgrade which supports intel quad core....i better advise you to stick to the first plan unless you have two computers at home which you can use to download the bios..

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In motherboards today, they uses only three types of buses/slots

1)PCI Express slot
2)PCI Express x1 slot
3)PCI slot..

PCI express slot is usually for video cards,PCI express x1 and PCI slot are usually for sound cards and other plugins..

Then again, if you think you need to use more slots, then u have to buy ATX..or else juz stick to Micro ATX..

Hope this answer your questions and enquiries on how to choose the right motherboard..Follow these Guidelines and you should get a Motherboard that suits your needs..

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I have included in the links section of some of famous computer online shops in the US...this will help you minimize your research before actually heading down to the stores and grabbing one...=)


If you have any questions, please bring it up on the tagboard or comment it here..=)

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