If you're looking to build your own PC the motherboard you choose will serve as
the foundation. Your motherboard determines many of the other components
that you'll be able to use in your system. Conversely some other components
such as the processor determine which motherboards you can choose from to
begin with. Before we get started here's a big tip: Use Newegg's comparison
feature. if you go to the Newegg motherboard page you can select up to
five motherboards and receive a detailed look at how they compare in terms of the
topics discussed in this how-to. Check out the links in the description
below this video to try it out yourself. The first decision you'll need to make
when choosing a motherboard is deciding whether you want to go with Intel or AMD
for your CPU. Both offer processor options across a wide variety of
different price points and performance levels. Whether you're putting together a
low-cost build for light home use or something powerful enough to handle 3D
content creation, or gaming and streaming at the same time. Once you've decided
which CPU family is best for you then you'll need to pick a motherboard that
uses the right socket. Basically a processor socket is the mechanism
through which a CPU is attached to a motherboard. You need to pick a
motherboard with a compatible socket for the CPU that you plan to purchase. Not
every Intel motherboard ever made will work with every Intel CPU on the market.
When looking at the CPU you have or want to buy a Newegg look for the indicated
socket type. Right now the most common socket you'll need to know are LGA 1151
for modern Intel CPUs and AM4 for AMD CPUs. Then you'll need to make sure to
look for motherboards that match that socket type. Often a motherboards page on
Newegg will contain additional information about which CPUs it supports.
Motherboards come in different sizes meaning that you have some flexibility
in building your PC to fit into your environment. If you have plenty of space
then you might want to use a full sized tower case but if you're building a home
theater PC that's meant to sit beneath your living room TV then you'll likely
want to use a much smaller case and motherboard. Generally speaking the
larger the motherboards physical size the more components it will support.
Use the size of your planned PC and the components you want to install as guides
to choose your motherboard form factor. The ATX form factor is the most common
for PC building but Micro ATX and Mini ITX are options for more compact builds.
Not all cases support all form factors, so check the product pages for both your
case and your motherboard to make sure that they are compatible. The components
of your PC will all connect to your motherboard in one way or another, most
often through the PCIe or SATA interfaces. The PCIe connection is how
you'll connect many of your most important components like your graphics
card and PCIe slots come in a variety of different sizes with X4 and X16 being
the most common. PCIe 3.0 is the most common version of the connection on the
market right now but some of AMD's most recent board's support PCIe 4.0, but
they're still backwards compatible. When paying attention to connectivity options
on your motherboard you'll want to make sure there are enough slots and ports
for the components you want in your build. Now let's talk about graphics
cards. Though some CPUs are capable of outputting basic graphics on their own,
if you want to do anything fancy like gaming then you'll want a dedicated
graphics card which you'll connect to your motherboards PCIe slot. Most modern
motherboards and graphics cards will work together as long as you have an
available PCIe slot so your GPU selection isn't as important to your
motherboard choice as some other factors. The main considerations here will be
whether you're buying an especially heavy and powerful GPU in which case you
might want to look for motherboards with reinforced PCIe slots to handle the
weight or if you're planning on running multiple graphics cards together which
will require you to pick a board that allows for that. Today PCs are commonly
equipped with at least 4GB of RAM. How much RAM you need for your own
PC depends on how you plan to use it and 8GB
is typically a safe recommendation for most light users, with 16 or more
GB being a good bet for heavier users. RAM plugs into a motherboard via a
rectangular slot that's used for the kind of RAM in use today. The dual inline
memory module or DIMM. The number of DIMM slots in a motherboard determine how
much RAM you can add and it most commonly varies from two to eight slots.
You can add one RAM module at a time but you will get the best performance when
you install RAM and matched pairs. RAM is usually purchased in kits of two or four
DIMMs for example if you were looking to equip your PC with 16GBs of RAM
then you would typically buy a kit with two 8GB DIMMs. When choosing
RAM you'll see designations like DDR4 and DDR3 that indicate its generation
and speed numbers like 3000, 3200, and 3600.
Your motherboard will support a wide range of RAM types but make sure
you compare your board with your RAM to ensure compatibility. Every PC needs
somewhere to store its data and that's going to come in the form of a
traditional hard drive or an SSD. The most common way to connect a storage
drive today is through the SATA 3 connection and that will be supported by
just about any motherboard you can buy. On the cutting edge of storage
technology you'll find NVMe SSDs. This is a newer protocol that offers increased
bandwidth, lower power use, lower latency, and other advantages. NVMe SSDs come in
two form factors: cards that plug into PCIe slots and compact versions that
plug into M.2 connections. If you're considering an NVMe drive check to make
sure your motherboard will support it. One last major consideration when
choosing a motherboard comes down to the types of connections
available on the back IO panel. For most people the number of USB ports is going
to be the most relevant number here with high-end boards that
are more focused on gaming and content creation generally having more options.
Audiophiles might want to pay special attention to any extra audio connections
the board supports too. Rounding out your motherboard selection process you'll
want to think about what extra features you'd like in your board and how much of
a premium you're willing to pay for those features. Many modern motherboards
sport customizable RGB lighting and some are specially designed to be more liquid
cooling friendly. Some have built-in Wi-Fi
while others have special cooling features that make them better suited
for gaming and overclocking. Motherboard product pages will give you a rundown of
the notable features so once you've determined the core of what you need in
terms of compatibility with the rest of your build plans you can let these
extras along with your price range and preferred manufacture make your final
determination. As you're deciding on the right motherboard for you, you'll want to
make sure that it meets your needs for both today and tomorrow. If you know that
you'll never want to upgrade your PC beyond its original configuration then
you can choose a motherboard that provides exactly what you need to get up
and running, but if you think you might want to expand your PC later then you'll
want to make sure your motherboard will support your needs as they grow. Check
out the links in the description below to shop for motherboards on Newegg, and
don't forget to use the handy comparison tool to make your choice easier.