Choosing a motherboard for a computer

The main board (Mainboard, Motherboard) is a very important part in a computer, it is integrated with technologies that determine the features, speed, and stable operation of the whole system. The motherboard will decide which components can run on your computer. All components must be compatible and supported by the motherboard.

There are many motherboard manufacturers with different brands, codes, technologies, types, etc., enough to cause headaches when choosing a motherboard. The following are the basic parameters that you should know when choosing a motherboard.

Form Factor (Mainboard Size)

Choosing a motherboard for a computer Picture 1 Mainboards come in many different sizes

1. This is the parameter you should pay attention to first, the size of the Mainboard will determine whether your case will be large or small.

2. Also, pay attention, the large motherboards will have more features and are equipped with more slots that allow more components to be attached than the smaller motherboards. Currently, the mainboard has the following common sizes:

   1. Mainboard EATX has 1 - 4+ CPU slots, 8 - 16+ RAM slots, 4 - 8 Video Card slots, 6 - 16+ ports to connect to hard drives (SATA). This motherboard is often used for servers, high-end graphics processing computers,.
   2. Mainboard ATX has 1 CPU slot, 4 RAM slots, 2 - 4 video card slots, 6 - 12 ports to connect to hard drives (SATA). This is the common motherboard used for the computers you see every day.
   3. Micro-ATX mainboard has 1 CPU slot, 2 - 4 RAM slots, 1 - 2 Video Card slots, 4 - 8 ports to connect to hard drives (SATA). This motherboard is often used in small computer cases to stand or lie on a desk.
   4. Mini-ATX mainboard has 1 CPU slot, 2 RAM slots, 1 video card slot, 2 -6 ports to connect to hard drives (SATA). This motherboard is often used in microcomputer cases for desktops or in "All in one" machines.

Note that you can still attach a small Mainboard to a larger case, but not vice versa.

Mainboard parameters

Choosing a motherboard for a computer Picture 2 Mainboard Parts

Supported CPU

1. This parameter indicates that the motherboard supports Intel or AMD CPUs, which CPU slots to use, which CPUs to support.

See more instructions How to choose a CPU for a computer

Chipset

1. As the part that determines the technology and functions of the motherboard, it handles the communication between the CPU and the components on the motherboard as well as the devices that are attached to each other.
2. Depending on the technology and accompanying functions, the Mainboard has different types of Chipsets with different codes.
3. Manufacturers often take the Chipset code to name the type (Model) of the Mainboard. Through the name of the Chipset you can know which CPU this motherboard supports.

 You can find information about Chipsets with the latest technology on the manufacturer's website or use a search engine with the keyword as the name of the Chipset.

Memory

1. What type of memory can be used on the motherboard including: What type of memory, how much memory speed (Mhz), maximum allowed memory capacity, number of memory slots, .

2. Current motherboards are equipped with a multi-channel memory architecture (Dual-channel: Dual-channel memory; Triple-channel: Triple-channel memory; Quad-channel: Quad-channel memory), which is a boost technology. speed data transfer between the DRAM memory and the memory controller by adding more communication channels between them.

3. You also need to note a parameter related to the motherboard supporting ECC (Error-correcting code) and None-ECC memory types. ECC memory is mainly used for servers and other critical applications that require high security and stability, while Non-ECC is for use in general computers.

See more instructions How to choose memory for your computer

Graphics, onboard VGA 

1. Some motherboards have support for the graphics processing unit (GPU) built into the CPU.

2. The parameters to pay attention to are that the graphics processing device will use its own or shared memory (Share) with the system's memory, what are the signal output ports to the screen (HDMI/DVI-D/RGB) ),.

3. When using this type of Mainboard, there is no need to add a graphics device (VGA card), but you can still add a VGA card and choose to use any VGA at will.

Multi-GPU Support

1. Currently, due to the very high demand for graphics processing, it is necessary to combine more than one graphics device (VGA card) to increase the graphics power of the computer. This parameter indicates whether the motherboard supports multiple VGA cards or not, if so, what type of VGA card is supported and the maximum number of them.

Onboard Audio

1. Audio equipment (Sound) has been integrated on the Mainboard with parameters such as: 2ch (2 channels, using stereo speakers), 6ch (6 channels, using 5.1 speakers), 8ch (8 channels, using 7.1 speakers). ) . some Mainboards have an additional audio jack connected to the front for convenient use for headphones (Headphone) and Microphone.

Onboard Lan, Network

1. If there is this parameter, it means that the network connection device (LAN: local-area network) has been integrated on the Mainboard, the normal speed parameter is 100Mbps or higher, 1Gbps (Gigabit per second).
2. Some motherboards are equipped with wireless network devices (Wireless LAN). If yes, please pay attention to the parameters of the connection standard (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) and the support band (frequency 2.4/5GHz).

Expansion Slots (Expansion Slots)

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)

1. AGP is a slot used for graphics equipment (VGA Card) on previous motherboards.
2. The original AGP standard (AGP 1x) had a data transfer rate of 266MB/s. AGP 2x, 4x and 8x have speeds of 533MB/s, 1066MB/s and 2133MB/s.

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)

1. On the Mainboard, there are usually a few expansion slots available to add other devices when needed such as audio (Sound, audio), network connection devices (Modem, Lan), TV viewing device (TV Card), .
2. The PCI standard has a speed of 133 MB/s.

PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express)

1. Newer motherboards are equipped with high-speed PCI Express (PCI-Ex, PCIe) slots to replace AGP and PCI slots.
2. PCIe has versions 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 with each lane speed of ~250MB/s, ~500MB/s, ~1GB/s, ~2GB/s, ~4GB/s, respectively. . 
3. The parameters x1, x4, x8, x16 correspond to 1, 4, 8, 16 lines or lanes for data exchange. It also corresponds to the size of the slot from small to large. 
4. The x8 and x16 slots are used for graphics devices (VGA Card), the x4 slot is often used for high-speed communication devices such as disk drives (RAID card, SSD card), and the x1 slot is used for devices. wireless network device, expansion card for USB, SATA, . and still has VGA card using x1 interface standard.

PCIe 1.0 x1 => has a speed of about 250MB/s (250MB/s X 1); PCIe 1.0 x16 => has a total speed of about 4GB/s (250MB/s X 16)
PCIe 3.0 x1 => has a speed of about 1GB/s (1GB/s X 1); PCIe 3.0 x16 => has a total speed of about 16GB/s (1GB/s X 16)

The versions of PCIe are forward and backward compatible, which means that any PCIe card or version slots can be combined, but they will only operate at low speeds. best of both.

PCIe cards can be attached to any of the same or larger PCIe slots on the Mainboard. For example, a PCIe x1 card will fit into any PCIe x4, PCIe x8, or PCIe x16 slot. The PCIe x8 card will fit into any PCIe x8 or PCIe x16 slot.

Storage Devices

Standard connection port IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) or ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment)

1. The IDE/ATA port is used on older motherboards, this port is used to mount ATA-standard hard drives and optical drives (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM).

2. Ports ATA-66, ATA-100 and ATA-133 have speeds of 66MB/s, 100MB/s, and 133MB/s, respectively.

3. On the mainboard, there are usually 2 ATA ports, each port can be connected to 2 drives through a data cable with 3 ends (flat cable with 40 or 80 wires). This way you can mount up to 4 drives.
4. The IDE / ATA port is now no longer used, only higher speed connections.

Standard SATA connector (Serial ATA, Serial Advanced Technology Attachment)

1. The SATA port has a higher speed than ATA, used on newer motherboards. This port is used to attach hard drives and optical drives (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM) standard SATA.

2. SATA 1.0 (Serial ATA-150) has a speed of 1.5 Gbit/s (150MB/s); SATA 2.0 (Serial ATA-300) has a speed of 3 Gbit/s (300MB/s); SATA 3.0 (Serial ATA-600) has a speed of 6 Gbit/s (600MB/s).

Support Raid (Redundant Array of Displugged Disks)

1. RAID is a technology used to increase the performance and (or) reliability of data storage. A RAID system consists of two or more drives working in parallel. These disks can be hard disks, but there is a trend to also use this technology for SSD drives (solid drives). There are different levels of RAID, each optimized for a specific case.

2. RAID levels include: RAID 0 – striping, RAID 1 – mirroring, RAID 5 – striping with parity, RAID 6 – striping with double parity, RAID 10 – combining mirroring and striping.

If you are interested in RAID technology, pay attention to the types of RAID levels that the motherboard supports and find a detailed article about this technology on the website.

Rear Ports (Rear Ports)

Choosing a motherboard for a computer Picture 3 The connection ports are located behind the Mainboard

PS/2 . port

1. This is the port that connects to the keyboard (Keyboard) and mouse (Mouse). This port is used on older motherboards. Currently, newer motherboards use USB ports with higher speeds.

USB port

1. The mainboard is equipped with USB ports (Universal Serial Bus) used to connect the computer to external devices (peripherals) such as keyboards, mice, storage devices, printers, and technical devices. number.
2. USB ports have versions (Version): USB 1.0 has a speed of 1.5Mbit/s; USB 1.1 has a speed of 12Mbit/s; USB 2.0 has a speed of 480Mbit/s; USB 3.0 has 5Gbit/s speed; USB 3.1 has a speed of 10Gbit/s; USB 3.2 has a speed of 20Gbit/s.
3. On the mainboard, there are often many USB ports with many different versions and all have a clear note of which version.

Depending on the manufacturer, the USB port has different colors, but usually the USB 1.x port is white, the USB 2.0 port is black, and the USB 3.0 port is blue. The red USB port is the port used to connect to high-powered devices.

eSATA port

1. The eSATA (External SATA, External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) port is used to connect to an external SATA standard hard drive. 

Video Ports (Video Ports)

1. If the motherboard has integrated graphics equipment, it will be equipped with additional output ports such as D-Sub, DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort.

Audio Ports

1. If the Mainboard has integrated audio equipment, it will be equipped with additional input / output ports (In / Out) of audio signals.
2. Normally if the Mainboard supports 8 audio channels (using 7.1 speakers), there will be a total of 6 ports: 1 for Microphone, 1 for input signal (Line In/Aux ), 1 for two front speakers (Front). L/R) or headphones (Headphone), 1 for the two side speakers (Side L/R), 1 for the two rear speakers (Rear L/R) and 1 for the middle speaker (Center) and woofer (Bass) , Subwoofer).
3. Some motherboards will have an additional S/PDIF Out (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) port, which is a digital audio interface for high-quality audio systems.

If the motherboard supports 8 audio channels but has less than 6 audio ports, it will share the ports for Microphone and input signal (Line In/Aux ) to share with the output ports.

The above is just basic information of some parts and functions of the Mainboard, details will be explained more clearly in other articles. 

Accessories included with the Mainboard

Choosing a motherboard for a computer Picture 4 The motherboard must have all the accessories attached

1. Full mainboard will include: External box, Mainboard wrapped in special plastic bag, ATA/SATA plug for drives, manual, CD/DVD Driver used to install driver programs for devices on the Mainboard and may include a piece of Inox to cover the connection ports behind the Mainboard.

2. In addition, depending on the features supported by the Mainboard, it will have other accessories attached.

Guarantee

1. The normal warranty period of the Mainboard is 36 months (3 years), the warranty is accepted in the condition of damage to some or all functions and the warranty stamp on the Mainboard must be valid.

2. The warranty places all refuse if the Mainboard is damaged due to the user's fault such as fire, explosion of the chip (IC), drop, . some places receive warranty when the Mainboard is damaged (edema) the capacitors. .

3. If the motherboard is damaged beyond repair, it will be replaced with a new one, but in some cases that type of motherboard is no longer available, the user must consider changing another type according to the conditions of the place of sale (distributor) and must pay Return the accessories that came with the old motherboard.

Choosing a motherboard for a computer

Based on the above parameters, you will know which Mainboard and components will be compatible with each other so that you can choose to suit your needs.

Choose the Mainboard according to your needs

1. If you only need to use the computer in office work, study and access the Internet, you can choose the Mainboard that supports the type of CPU you want to use and has built-in graphics devices. , audio, network,.
2. If you use computers for professional work such as design, graphics, . or play 3D games that require strong computer configuration, you should choose high-quality motherboards and do not need to be built-in. graphics device because this device will be added to meet the processing needs of software programs.

You need to pay attention to the list of devices and components that will be attached to the Mainboard to choose the Mainboard with the necessary number of slots and the correct standards.

Select the Mainboard to synchronize with other components of the computer

1. If you want to use a new, high-speed CPU, check to see if the motherboard supports this type of CPU.
2. If you plan to use multiple graphics devices, make sure the motherboard has enough slots and is compatible with them.
3. You also need to calculate the amount of RAM (memory) you need to use to choose a motherboard that has enough slots and is compatible with them.
4. If you are using the integrated graphics device on the Mainboard, check that the video output ports are compatible with your monitor.
5. In addition, you also need to consider the size of the case when choosing the size of the Mainboard.

Manufacturers all advertise new features and technologies of motherboards, please refer to information and reviews on the Internet for more information about them.

Upgrade or replace the Mainboard

1. When upgrading or replacing the Mainboard, you need to pay attention to the parameters of the old components available such as CPU, RAM, VGA Card, . to choose the motherboard that is compatible with them. Older motherboards may not be compatible with newer devices, and conversely older devices may not always be compatible with newer motherboards.
2. In some cases, if you can't find a motherboard compatible with old devices, you will have to replace the motherboard with a new one and replace the old incompatible devices as well.