What to look for when buying a Mobo

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 17, 2012

Similar to my post on CPU.

What should i look for if buying a Mobo.

All i know is the amount of slots u want to use like maybe 4X RAM , 1X PCI-E 16 2.0 / 3.0 for GPU etc

Dual Bios , backup Bios just in case.

Able to OC or no ( I think all Mobo now is able to OC ur CPU right ) ?

What else ? Well AM3+ Socket since i prefer AMD series.

Is there anything else important ?

Also is there any disadvantages if i buy a Micro ATX Mobo for gaming ?

txus.palacios · May 17, 2012

- Enough slots for what you want. Enough S-ATA ports for what you want.
- Dual BIOS or a way to flash the BIOS if it bricks <- a must.
- Able to overclock, if we're speaking of Intel, a P/Z/X chipset.
- Intel Gigabit Ethernet (I had problems with Realtek ethernet)
- Warranty. A nice warranty is always good.
- Nice VRMs that do not like to set themselves on fire.
- Fits your case.
- Fits the layout you need (f.ex, x1, x16, x1, x16, PCI, x16@x8, PCI)
- Well-known brand (f.ex. ASUS, EVGA, GIGABYTE)

There're no disadvantages if you buy a mATX for gaming, as long as that mATX is a good one and not a value one that lacks a lot of features you may need.

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 17, 2012

U mean Vram ? Whats a Vram , is there a place i can read about this ??

Realtek is those USB, on board Audio sound card right ?

Mandrake4565 · May 17, 2012

Even though on most boards you are able to overclock on, you probably shouldn't on some. Keep an eve on the heatsinks on the boards. If you notice the better boards usually have more substantial heatsinks on them. If you are planning on doing an OC go with a higher end board IMO.

txus.palacios · May 17, 2012

I mean voltage regulator module. The "MOSFETs".

You're asking what you should look for when buying a mobo to overclockers. Well, we overclockers like to get the last megahertz we can from a CPU, and if the VRMs can't keep up with that pace, and the VRMs decide to go pyro style and blow up, we have problems. Thus, we prefer boards with a nice VRM.

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 17, 2012

Mandrake4565 said:
Even though on most boards you are able to overclock on, you probably shouldn't on some. Keep an eve on the heatsinks on the boards. If you notice the better boards usually have more substantial heatsinks on them. If you are planning on doing an OC go with a higher end board IMO.

But i do not tend to do any OC actually lol

Hmm heat sinks, are this the heat sinks ? ?

http://techgage.com/viewimg/?img=/r...gabyte_ex58_ud5_05.jpg&desc=Gigabyte EX58-UD5

About the VRAM , i still dont quite understand , i will try to look it up on the internet.

2 problems , my PC knowledge its only average and my English aint any better LOL !

txus.palacios · May 17, 2012

VRMs!! Not Vram, Vram is another thing (voltage applied to the DDR modules).

And yes, those are the heatsinks.

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 17, 2012

ok VRMS i will look it up lol

EarthDog · May 17, 2012

vRAM is used when talking about videocard ram.

As far as what to look for in a board if you are not overclocking.. the amount of ports you need, looks, price. Anything else like VRMs do not matter for you since you are running stock.

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 17, 2012

Well that make things easy because i cant find anything about VRMS at all !

Even in Motherboard manufacturer page. But i did saw a forum someone asking what it is too. Those are the circular things on the Mobo right ? Near the heat sinks

Mandrake4565 · May 17, 2012

It's Motherboard VRM Voltage Regulator Module

http://www.google.com/search?q=moth...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 17, 2012

Ah so it is those little circular things.

Since we talk about Voltage Regulating , is there such thing that ur PSU is giving too much juice lol ?

Lets say if a normal basic simple working desktop. U throw in a 1300 W PSU lol, will bad things happen ?

txus.palacios · May 18, 2012

Gh0sT-NoVa said:
Ah so it is those little circular things.

Since we talk about Voltage Regulating , is there such thing that ur PSU is giving too much juice lol ?

Lets say if a normal basic simple working desktop. U throw in a 1300 W PSU lol, will bad things happen ?

Is there any problem if you ask a guy that can lift 1300kg easily a 300kg load?

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 18, 2012

Hmm not to troll but if think specifically and technically yes u might.

Long story short , i guess its no problem then.

Read below for long story =)

I said it might its because well , since the guy can lift 1300 KG right , surely his have alot of strength. So if he could not control his strength which is constant power that for lifting 1300 KG , then if when he lift a 300 KG its overpower. So when he lift the 300KG, well it will just launches up in the air.

So i guess if the PSU have control ( Well of course it does i bet lol ) then its ok =)

If the PSU doesnt control the constant 1300W power i guess bad things might or will happen =)

Am i right ?

EarthDog · May 18, 2012

The point would be wasting a ton of money for no reason getting a 1.3KW PSU for a system that would use less than 400W (single GPU with overclock).

txus.palacios · May 18, 2012

Ok, my analogy kinda failed, methinks.

Instead of lifting something, imagine he is holding it, for example, a piano that fell down a roof. He is just holding it, no lifting, no flying weights, nothing else.

Jake26 · May 18, 2012

Ghost, I am not very knowledgable so when I chose my MoBo, I started with the socket. I already choose my processor so I then went with a board that fit.

I really recommend reading alot of reviews. I mostly read the parts about the components, features and then I skipped to the end and read the conclusion (since all the technical stuff ment little to me).

:attn:

Lastly, if you have a window on your case, you gotta consider the color.

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 18, 2012

Jake26 said:
Ghost, I am not very knowledgable so when I chose my MoBo, I started with the socket. I already choose my processor so I then went with a board that fit.

I really recommend reading alot of reviews. I mostly read the parts about the components, features and then I skipped to the end and read the conclusion (since all the technical stuff ment little to me).

Lastly, if you have a window on your case, you gotta consider the color.

Hmm y the color ? U mean the case's lighting or the case color ? ?

I sort of already planned what to get.

A Gigabyte Mobo ( I can never remember the model but i know which one ) that fits AM3+ , FX4100.

With 4X Dual Channel up to 2.0 GHZ (OC) RAM slots.

1 PCI-E 16X ( Since i only be using 1 GPU )

Also with other PCI slots, for Sound Card i guess , i be getting a Sound Card too Mobo ones suck lol. I know since i have a Roccat Kave 5.1 Surround , aint working so well on my current Mobo from DELL , maybe my DELL Mobo suck lol

6 X SATA 3 6GB/S

2 X USB 3.0
4 X USB 2.0

A Cooler Master Elite 431 PLUS casing

Well of course all this are in the future lol, still saving up for a new GPU and PSU first.

txus.palacios · May 19, 2012

The color of the mobo to match the color scheme of your build.

Gh0sT-NoVa · May 19, 2012

O lol , i wont worry about that much. Hard to get a matching 1 though , but Gigabyte is blue so uh the case i think its blue too the light.

But lighting i thought its no big problem , my friend mod his case he put red LED lights on his case. I think those LED lights that car uses

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