Cheap motherboard: downsides and why it's not worth it

When we talk about cheap motherboard, we are referring to those that we are offered for very cheap prices when with chipsets that leaves much to be desired. And you will say, there are good brands behind, but the truth is that they offer a series of insurmountable disadvantages if we ever wanted to expand the power of our PC

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That is why today we are going to see why it is not worth buying a cheap motherboard. Stay in this short article to get out of doubts and know basically what elements you should take into account when making your purchase.

Why are there plates from 30 euros to 1000 euros?

Well, very easy, because there are people who can afford it and the truth is that sometimes it is so stupid to buy a plate for 30 euros, like one of 1000, at least for me it does not make any sense.

A motherboard is a complex board built in fiberglass and other fireproof elements where an integrated circuit is distributed that is capable of interconnecting all the peripherals and hardware that make up a computer. Without a motherboard, a CPU would be absolutely useless, since we would not be able to connect such important elements as the hard disk, the screen or simply the mouse and keyboard.

Well, the main element that we need to look at on a motherboard is the chipset. This element is going to determine to a large extent whether a motherboard is cheap or expensive, and we will reason in a moment. But there are other reasons such as cooling, the number of connection ports, its socket, RAM, etc., that also influence this issue.

Disadvantages of a cheap motherboard

After this short introduction let's see the key elements that determine when a plate will serve you only a few months, or more than 5 years.

Heatsinks and VRM

The VRM is the input and distribution of the electrical power of the board. And it is certainly in this matter where a cheap motherboard could be differentiated more from a decent one.

The VRM is divided into power phases, and generally, the more phases a board has, the better it will be able to distribute the current to the components, especially the CPU. This is not always the case, as sometimes one phase is not capable of giving the theoretical capacity, and a bad 12-phase VRM is equal to a good 6-phase VRM. The only way to know this is by testing and seeing opinions of other users, since the manufacturers do not give details.

Well, a CPU has a certain TDP (Thermal Design Power), and on all occasions it is exceeded when we demand the maximum of it. If we have a bad board, the VRM will be bad and will not power the CPU as it should, causing performance failures and even reboots for not being able to deliver enough power. What's more, it could shorten the life of our CPU and even burn out if we demand too much.

Also, VRMs get very hot, as a lot of current passes through them. That's why heatsinks are necessary, so make sure that the board you buy includes heatsinks in the zone, because if your CPU is powerful, they could be vital.

Chipset

If there is a differential element, almost more important in a motherboard than the CPU, it is the chipset. This chip or set of chips is responsible for interconnecting peripherals and storage to the CPU creating a data bus that can be a large bottleneck on a motherboard. Today, the chipset is also called the south bridge, since the traditional north bridge is located directly inside the CPU, and manages the connection of the PCIe x16 slots and RAM.

Well, the capacity of this chipset is going to be measured using LANES or data lines, and obviously, the more lines, the more capacity to carry data. Consequently, more devices can be connected without the board becoming saturated.

The chipset of the motherboard directly or indirectly influences the following elements:

• Storage: Very important, since a cheap or old generation chipset will not be able to handle the speed of new generation NVMe M.2 drives, and they are the current and immediate future. USB ports: the less powerful a chipset is, the fewer USB ports it can have, and today less than 6 per board we can hardly afford. In addition, they will be USB 2.0 ports, much slower than 3.0 and 3.1. CPU speed and RAM: There is no point in buying a basic chipset, for example the H310 to install an Intel Core i7-8700K CPU. Neither do high-frequency RAM memories. First, because they are much more powerful elements than this, and second, because we completely miss the potential of the hardware.

What chipsets to look at

We are not going to put here the entire list of chipsets or specifications of the market, but there are a number of chipsets that are the ones that we really must take into account in our purchase.

Recommended Intel Chipsets:

• Z-range: Z370, Z390 are the chipsets that allow overclocking on high-end CPUs from Intel. They feature 24 PCI lanes and up to 14 USB ports. New generation B range: B365, B360 and B250 in this order. They are chipsets that do not allow overclocking, but they are presented with 12 and up to 20 PCI lanes in the new B365 and 14 USB ports. X range: X299 and X99, being the chipsets of the previous and new generation of Intel processors for the top range desktop processors. The next next generation Intel 400 and 495: with Wi-Fi 6 support and 10nm CPU. But there is still time for this.

Recommended AMD chipsets:

• X range: X399, X470 and X370 for first and second generation Ryzen computers that allow high level overclocking and allow multiple GPUs and up to 18 USB ports. In the case of the X399 it is intended for Ryzen Threadripper, AMD's most powerful CPUs. Not to be confused with the Intel of the X range. B range: B450 and B350, which are lower range chipsets than the previous ones, although they still support overclocking. A little more cut in resources such as the inability to multi GPU but still with the ability to move good gaming equipment. The next X570 and B550: destined for the high and medium range of the new Ryzen 3000 processors that will arrive in June 2019.

Socket and RAM. Beware of compatibility

Another aspect that we should always look at is that the socket of the motherboard that we want to buy is the correct one for the CPU that we have or for which we want to buy. What we mean is that we should not only look at that a board has the LGA 1151 socket and intend to buy a Core i5-8400 for example, but that the compatibility information is essential.

Be very careful to look at the generation of the processor and the generation and lists of CPUs that the chipset of the board supports. For example, there are boards that only support 6th and 7th generation and others that only support 8th and 9th, never all four together. Obviously, you must buy a CPU according to the board, it is worthless to spend 60 euros on a B250 chipset if we want to place a CPU of the K family (unlocked).

The same goes for RAM, we need to know supported technology (DDR4), amount of memory (GB) and speed (MHz). The most basic chipsets will not support for example 64 GB of memory and much less speeds greater than 4000 MHz with XMP profile. An XMP profile is about implementing a DDR4 memory speed higher than the basic 2133 MHz, and not all chipsets or boards support it.

Storage and connection ports

A cheap motherboard is going to have 100% secure less storage capacity. The limitations of the chipset are insurmountable, and keep in mind that the LANES of a Z390 chipset of a 100 euro board will be exactly the same as those of a 500 board. Then there will be the optimization that the manufacturer does and how it uses them., but the limitations are the same.

This is most evident with cheap motherboards and underpowered chipsets. If you are thinking of buying a M.2 PCIe SSD in the short-medium range, then opt for a chipset from the ranges that we have proposed above, since otherwise your unit may not be compatible. M.2 slots support both SATA and PCIe, and of course SATA is much slower, and is the interface used on mediocre motherboards.

The same goes for USB ports mainly. Recall that a USB 2.0 works at 480 Mbps, while USB 3.1 Gen1 and Gen2 ports reach 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps respectively. Why would you want a board with only USB 2.0 ports at this point? Or with just 4 ports? Always invest in something that is slightly above your expectations of use.

Hardware expandability

Finally and coinciding with all the others, there will be the update capacity of a motherboard. A cheap motherboard will bring justification for basic hardware, this implies that its expandability is very limited. It is the same with cheap laptops.

Remember that the board + CPU + RAM memory pack is always critical when updating a PC. Never buy like new, a generation board that is no longer selling components or hard to find, for example a Z270 chipset board for 7th generation CPUs. Spend a little more on the latest on the market, we promise you'll appreciate it in the long run.

Remember that cheap, almost always is expensive, this is a golden rule when trying to spend as little as possible.

Conclusion and interesting links

Well, here are the reasons why a cheap motherboard is very different from an expensive or at least a "normal" cost. It is not always wise to go for the cheapest, especially in electronics. Technology advances very fast and a PC with a bad base can become obsolete in a matter of months, and you don't want that, do you?

Take a good look at their chipset, on the boards we analyze, to be aware of what they incorporate and our evaluations. And above all, look at its technical data sheet and these articles to know more about the components you should know:

Well, nothing, we hope that this article has been useful to convince you that a cheap motherboard is not always the best. What elements do you think influence more than those we have commented?