▷ Motherboard: everything you need to know before buying?

Are you looking for all the information about motherboards before buying one for your PC ? Don't worry, in this article we will teach you everything you need to know! And it is that, many already know what our motherboard will be practically by instinct, but getting started in the assembly of a computer is not as easy as we think we remember even more when currently we can find many different elements that specialized our computer in ways that in the past it was impossible.

Today we are going to review what is important to achieve the objective we want, to mount our own computer, and we will start with that component that unites everything in position and which is largely the spinal cord of the computer we want and in the format where we want it.

Index of contents

Form factor

How big do we want our computer to be? How many graphics cards will we want to mount? How much RAM? It is the first question that we should ask ourselves and the answer will be found in the different factors that have been standardized both by highly influential companies and by the growing needs of us users.

In addition to well established formats, we can also find motherboards with form factors completely dependent on a specific objective. Many of them can form computers as we know them, others more specific for more specific or specialized tasks.

In the PC world there are three very recognizable form factors and others that try to make their way, but this reduced, standardized variety is what also allows us to find components that we can then easily join together so that the whole set work as we expect.

These three form factors are the ATX, the Micro-ATX, both powered by Intel itself, and the Mini-ITX powered, in this case, by VIA. The three formats go from largest to smallest and share something important: the main anchor dimensions and the distances of the expansion cards with the rear slots. This means that in an ATX chassis we can mount any of the other two smaller factors: Micro ATX and Mini-ITX. The four main anchor bolts match, the rear seating area is the same size, and the cards snap into place.

The difference between them is in its lateral and vertical size, which will allow, basically, more capacity to expand connectivity in the form of expansion cards, storage, RAM, etc. The general lines of these formats allow us to affirm these fundamental keys to keep in mind when choosing the appropriate format in terms of expandability:

• ATX: Up to 7 expansion cards, one or two processor sockets, 4-8 memory banks. Micro-ATX: Up to 4 expansion cards, a processor socket and 4-8 memory banks. Mini-ITX: 1 expansion card, a socket for a processor and 2 memory banks.

There are other formats that add or reduce size, some surely sound like DTX or Extended ATX. Their incidence in the market is less and surely if you ask about them it is because you no longer need this guide. We will also be able to find a great variety of options in the most widespread formats, but these three will allow us to have very compact, medium-sized, or medium-large computers with great expandability. That is really what to consider.

Processor socket

The next and most important thing is to choose the socket that will house our processor. This is basically a need for compatibility since without the proper socket our processor will not work or will not work properly.

We will not only have to take into account the format of the socket but also the version because some processors share socket, but not the pinout of the same and we may have problems if we do not choose properly. In some motherboards we will not have this dilemma since the processor will be completely integrated into the motherboard, with no possibility of change.

There are currently two socket formats. On the one hand, the LGA (Land Grid Array), which we see mainly in Intel processors but that we also find in the most powerful AMD Threadrippers. In this type of socket the connection pins to the processor reside precisely in the socket, they are easily recognizable by those small spring-shaped pins that cover the entire socket. There are many varieties of this LGA format, but on desktop computers, and the date of this article, the most widespread are the LGA1151 for Intel processors, LGA2066 for higher-end Intel Core i9 processors and LGA4094 for AMD Threadripper processors.

AMD's TR4 is the largest LGA socket we can find for home processors.

The other more widespread format is PGA (Pin Grid Array), which we see in low-end and mid-range AMD processors such as the famous Ryzen socket AM4 in all its generations. This socket is characterized by its large number of holes and because it is the processor that also has the male pins that enter each of those holes in the socket.

The AMD AM4 is a very current example of a PGA socket.

Other formats on the market are the ZIF Socket, which we saw in the old "cockroach" chips with side pins. On your new motherboard you will surely find them still in the form of CMOS chips for the motherboard bios.

Another format as much or more widespread is the BGA (Ball Grid Array) that we see in processors of direct integration on the motherboard or also in all the dedicated GPUs that are commercialized. This type of assembly is for temperature welding and is made at the factory or with very specialized tools that we will not have at home and therefore not particularly friendly to make replacements, repairs or improvements.

Chipset, the great forgotten motherboard

Although there is a tendency to think that the socket is intrinsically related to the motherboard chipset, the truth is that the dependency is circumstantial and is more defined by what processors we can mount on the motherboard. I mean that we can have socket motherboards compatible with a certain processor, with the wrong chipset, and vice versa, chipsets that support certain processors, but with the wrong socket format (BGA, LGA, etc.).

It is true that everything is related and normally we will look for our desired motherboard in terms of the chipset, although each day it has less weight, it will have the appropriate socket for the generation of processor that we want to mount and it will also add or remove features such as connectivity or storage capacity.

The chipset is no longer so important, without a doubt, but choosing the right one will mean a lot when it comes to achieving our price and performance objective. A chipset designed for a certain type of processor will not support others, although we can find some that support several generations of processors and, of course, are accompanied by the appropriate socket for that support.

RAM

Standardization is what allows us to assemble our computer by pieces, which makes a series of processors can be mounted on a certain socket, a certain chipset works in tune with a certain processor and this standardization continues for each component that we install in our computer. Memory is no stranger to this and in fact it is one of the most standardized components that we can mount on our computer.

Some motherboards support up to 8 memory banks for configurations up to quad channel.

The memory RAM, the compatibility with it, currently depends on several factors, but above all on the support of our processor. Some processors support one type of memory, or multiple. DDR4 memory is currently the one we mount on new computers, but there are processors that support both memory formats, although it is rare to find motherboards that support both now and will never do so at the same time. When the change from DDR3 memory to DDR4 started if we could find them, but we could only mount one format at a time, never in combination.

It is important, in this of the memories, to know the memory controller that our processor has, or the processor that we are going to buy, because depending on whether it has support for double, triple or quadruple channel then we will have to supply the same number of modules to take advantage of that parallel mount of RAM access. If our processor is dual channel, we will have to buy them in pairs, and the same, and so on. The most powerful processors, with quadruple memory channel, will require four equal modules to take advantage of all their bandwidth.

We can find ready-to-assemble multi-channel kits on the market. It is the fastest and usually the cheapest solution to meet our needs and those of our processor.

If we do not comply with this rule then we will have a simple channel assembly or asymmetric channels where only part of the RAM will take advantage of the parallelism and when we go beyond that capacity of use the rest will remain in smaller channels. It is best to look carefully at the documentation of the motherboard, not so much for compatibility, but to see how many modules we need to take advantage of the full potential of the processor.

RAM can be found at different speeds, different voltages and even different sizes, but everything is standardized by the JEDEC association, to which the main players in the industry are attached, with certain freedoms in the form of extended mode control chips that Intel has de facto standardized as XMP. That allows us, with two clicks, to take advantage of frequencies that are beyond the JEDEC standard for each evolution of RAM.

In this image we see how these memories comply with various JEDEC standards and an extended XMP mode that allows it to reach 2666MHz.

Currently choosing RAM is simple, it will be enough to choose a format, which will depend on the slot size that our motherboard has (DIMM or SO-DIMM) and that will be largely related to the form factor of the motherboard. SODIMM will be found in laptops, very compact format computers and proprietary format motherboards and in some ITX motherboards where you want to minimize consumption, mounting height, etc.

Some highly integrated motherboards use SODIMMs, but they are the least and usually very compact in size. It also integrates the processor.

Storage

In the past, what little we had to choose on a motherboard is how many SATA connectors we would need. Now we will have some added factor such as support for PCI Express units, how many M.2 connectors of this type will we need and with what format.

To try to summarize this small conflict of concepts we can currently find these types of connectors on almost any motherboard that is commercialized:

• M.2 connectors with PCI Express interface: they have different sets of pins depending on the bandwidth they support and some also allow the mounting of SATA drives, but not all. The size is 22mm wide and the lengths range between 42 and 110mm, being the 80mm the most widespread format and the one that we should have in our new motherboard. They are faster than SATA drives and support new protocols like NVMe that improve performance substantially.

• M.2 connectors with SATA interface: This connector has the same shape and also the same dimensions, but only supports SATA drives, slower, but also cheaper.

• SATA connectors: This type of connector is a classic and has been anchored in the 6Gbps interface for years. It has no loss and depending on the form factor of our motherboard, it is normal that we find between 4 to 8 connectors.

Expansion, is it important on a motherboard?

All the new and domestic motherboards that we can find in the market use the PCI Express interface as a means of adding cards that add functionality to the system. Currently the most widespread standard is PCI Express 3.0 but it is more dedicated to graphics cards and we usually find it in the form of 16x slots, the largest we find in home formats. The next generation of processors will use the PCI Express 4.0 but the physical format is the same and it is retro compatible so we should not worry much today about the choice of board.

If we have to take into account the number of connectors that we will need, for what we are going to use them because depending on the size we will also have higher or lower speeds and also what processor we will need to, for example, properly run two graphics cards or more. Currently almost all the amount of PCI Express lines are supplied by the processor itself and not by the chipset so, once again, everything is quite related.

The graphics cards use all 16x interfaces, but it is not a requirement and they can work at lower link speeds and at 8x speeds we don't usually have any loss of performance. The length of the interface guarantees a maximum theoretical speed, but in practice there will be many variables to take into account. If I can summarize you in that, if we are going to mount a single graphics card, we should not worry much about how many or how the different PCI Express slots on the motherboard are electronically connected.

Connectivity

Normally all motherboards on the market, regardless of size, are currently equipped with excellent levels of connectivity for both peripherals and networks. All come equipped with Ethernet connectivity and we will find a great variety of models in any size that also add wireless connectivity with the latest generation of Wi-Fi added to the Bluetooth support for peripheral connectivity.

Connectivity for wired peripherals also comes from the latest technologies, among which we can find the entire catalog and versions of USB where the new USB-C with speeds of up to 10Gbps is the big star. My only advice in this regard is that we choose the motherboard based on the front connectivity of our chassis or, conversely, that we choose the chassis based on the front connectivity capabilities of our motherboard. In this way we can enjoy the best connectivity also on the front of the box.

End use of a motherboard

In the end, all these important factors that we have listed for the purchase of a motherboard should not alter the main objective of any PC that is none other than satisfying the uses of its owner. If you are going to use your computer to work, to play, to design, to program or all of this at the same time, you must be clear about what you want and always provide an approximate budget to avoid deviating from the objective.

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The motherboard is an important component that will define the rest of the computer to a great extent, but in the end almost all modern motherboards offer similar benefits, the differences are usually small details so my advice is to buy wisely and go to meet the needs of the most cutting-edge technologies at all times without letting ourselves deviate from the objective with the promises of benefits that we will not really need later in our daily and habitual use.