Motherboards

[Phaiz]

I'm planning on building a custom desktop this year and as most of you already know.. I'm an idiot when it comes to computers. Motherboards are one thing that I am entirely inexperienced with. I understand you need specific ones in order to do things such as crossfire or SLI but what else do you look for?
How do you determine what a good mobo is?
How do you determine which is better?

 

[SgtGiraffe]

I'm planning on building a custom desktop this year and as most of you already know.. I'm an idiot when it comes to computers. Motherboards are one thing that I am entirely inexperienced with. I understand you need specific ones in order to do things such as crossfire or SLI but what else do you look for?
How do you determine what a good mobo is?
How do you determine which is better?

well first amd and intel mother boards only fit amd or intel cpu and you need 2 look for a mother board that is compatible with your selected cpu since they have different pin patterns and different power consumption I look at negative and positive reviews and the price

I'm a newish computer builder so I don't know a ton of details but I'm sure someone in these forums can give you full info

 

[ModSe7en]

http://www.logicalincrements.com/
It would help if we knew what you were planning to do with it (you mentioned SLI, etc), otherwise this is the best I have.

 

[Phaiz]

http://www.logicalincrements.com/
It would help if we knew what you were planning to do with it (you mentioned SLI, etc), otherwise this is the best I have.

I really only mentioned that as an example of what I know. I've reviewed the option of using SLI yet I simply don't believe I would benefit from it for the cost. I'm assuming that most customization sites wouldn't allow you to build a computer with parts that won't work together, therefor I would really only need to know more basic things rather than something such as "higher numbers means better board".

 

[Shula]

First nail down a price range for your entire build. There are so many part options that it gets overwhelming. Then pick out the cpu you want to go with. Because As Giraffe said, Not only are there boards for amd and intel chips, but there are also socket types within the brand of cpu. I always pick my cpu first and go from there.

Are you building from the ground up to assemble at home or just picking out parts on a list for somone else to build?

Things to consider imo:
How much ram it takes and the bus speed.
Availability of usb 3.0 slots
Pci express 2.0 or 3.0 for your video card.

I prefer Asus or Msi boards for gaming rigs. i buy whatever is on sale with decent reviews when building my kid's rigs.

 

[Phaiz]

First nail down a price range for your entire build. There are so many part options that it gets overwhelming. Then pick out the cpu you want to go with. Because As Giraffe said, Not only are there boards for amd and intel chips, but there are also socket types within the brand of cpu. I always pick my cpu first and go from there.

Are you building from the ground up to assemble at home or just picking out parts on a list for somone else to build?

Things to consider imo:
How much ram it takes and the bus speed.
Availability of usb 3.0 slots
Pci express 2.0 or 3.0 for your video card.

I prefer Asus or Msi boards for gaming rigs. i buy whatever is on sale with decent reviews when building my kid's rigs.

I would be afraid to build one myself so I'm using a parts list on cyberpowerpc.

 

[Phaiz]

What do you disagree with @bluehawk ?
Please, state your opinion. The more I know the better

 

[bluehawk]

What do you disagree with @bluehawk ?
Please, state your opinion. The more I know the better

It's cheaper to build your own computer than have some company do it. It's really not that complicated to do. Every computer has mother board, processor, ram, video card and cooling all you do is put them all together. I would recommend something like asus 787 with one of the i7 processors as long as you read the mother board instruction Manuel it's a piece of cake to plug everything in

 

[Shula]

I agree with Bluehawk on this. Before I built my first pc I watched 3-4 different videos on youtube and did some research. It just sounds more intimidating than it actually is and you will get way more bang for your buck by doing it yourself. There are plenty of people here to help you along the way and you will get a lot of satisfaction having done it yourself. Check out some videos and I think you might change your mind once you see that it's not that difficult.

:-)

 

[bluehawk]

I agree with Bluehawk on this. Before I built my first pc I watched 3-4 different videos on youtube and did some research. It just sounds more intimidating than it actually is and you will get way more bang for your buck by doing it yourself. There are plenty of people here to help you along the way and you will get a lot of satisfaction having done it yourself. Check out some videos and I think you might change your mind once you see that it's not that difficult.

:)

Asus actually has step by step how to put your computer together with most of their mother boards on you tube real easy to follow along for beginners.

 

[Kobe]

It's cheaper to build your own computer than have some company do it. It's really not that complicated to do. Every computer has mother board, processor, ram, video card and cooling all you do is put them all together. I would recommend something like asus 787 with one of the i7 processors as long as you read the mother board instruction Manuel it's a piece of cake to plug everything in

Just want to clear up, he probably meant Z87 not 787.