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Motherboard Buyers Guide Plus Computer , Component and Motherboard Info

Motherboard buyers guide
When it comes time to buy motherboard and processors , the main thing to think about is , this is the heart and brain of your computer.


You can easily replace a graphics card or CD drive, but the cost and hassle of replacing a motherboard can be pretty large. You might have to upgrade RAM as well.

So it’s better to ascertain exactly what you are looking for to begin with.

The first thing to consider is how much expansion you’ll need in terms of PCI slots or USB Ports, as a good rule of thumb, you should be looking for around 5 PCI port and 4 USB 2 ports “ Not USB 1 as this is significantly slower “.

A lot of motherboards today do have built in Video , Sound and Network cards.

The built in network card is usually fine as it will at least be 10/100 which is fast enough for virtually everyone.

motherboard buyers guide

When it comes to the sound card it’s a simple choice of do you need anything more than basic ? , if so you’ll want to find a motherboard without a sound card built in.


Motherboard Diagram
I’ve never been a fan of the built in video cards, they never seem to come with a very good graphics chip or they have too limited a memory.

If you’re going to use the computer for any kind of intensive graphics applications such as games, animation or other high level graphics work. The only option is to purchase a separate graphics card.

motherboard buyers guide

When it comes to performance of the motherboard , generally this is decided by the speed of the processor , for instance a fast processor will require a higher FSB or front side bus speed.

When purchasing a motherboard look around for a Processor and motherboard bundle.

Usually this will be a little cheaper than buying separately , but it also means the motherboard and processor will be fully compatible and will come with the heatsink and fan .


Motherboards range in price from about $30 to well over $300 , but the price can be kept to a minimum if you purchase exactly what you need , rather than changing it a few months down the line.

Going for the cheapest around in terms of motherboards is usually always a false economy.

motherboard buyers guide

A simple way to get a fast motherboard and processor for a low price,

How about looking around for types such as Gigabyte motherboards, which come with an easy to use over clocking utility.

I evaluated one of these on my computer and was able to run a Pentium 4 2.8ghz at 3.2ghz.

The pc was used for over a year without any problems, and was also left on for weeks at a time.

Not bad a P4 3.2 for the price of a 2.8

Be sure to checkout our other buyers guides

motherboard buyers guide and computer and component and motherboard info , motherboard diagram , buy motherboard pc protection

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