Computer Motherboards

Motherboards are so named because a motherboard is the 'mother' of all your computer's components. Every piece of hardware you add will interface with and is controlled by the motherboard; for this reason it is probably the single most of important piece of equipment you will purchase for your new computer.

As with any other computer component, your choice of motherboard depends heavily on your intended use for the machine.

Types of Motherboards

There are three main categories of motherboards. The first type comes with its own video card built-in and often has other features such as a built-in sound card, modem and other devices. This might sound simple and elegant, but in fact if you're building your own computer anyway this is probably your least desirable choice since it offers far fewer upgrade options than a standard motherboard. The second type is the standard motherboard which comes with one CPU slot, an AGP riser for your video card, a slew of PCI slots, and support for advanced features such as RAID; this is the most popular type of board and is most likely what you want. The third type of motherboard is a dual-processor board, which you should look into only if you have a specific need for another processor or have lots of extra cash lying around.

CPU

It's imperative that you know what type of CPU you want before you buy a motherboard, since not all CPUs fit in all motherboards. If you are getting a Pentium 4 CPU, you need a Socket 478 motherboard; if you're going with a 32-bit Athlon or Duron CPU you need Socket A; and if you're getting one of the new 64-bit Athlon CPUs you need Socket 754 or Socket 940. There are also dual-processor motherboards to consider, but if you are considering a dual-processor system the cost will skyrocket; if you actually need two processors for what you'll be doing it's unlikely you need to read this article.

Memory Sockets

Don't forget to make sure the motherboard you select is compatible with the type of memory you want. SD RAM is an older type of memory that will be supported by most older motherboards; if you're in the market for a motherboard I don't recommend getting one that supports only this memory type. DDR SDRAM is supported by Socket A and many Socket 478 motherboards and comes in much faster speeds, 266 - 333 MHz as opposed to 133 for SD RAM. If you are getting a Socket 478 (Pentium IV) motherboard, RD RAM support might be a good idea as this is the newest and fastest type of RAM.

Other Things to Watch For

Watch for USB 2.0 compatibility, as it is reputedly faster and more reliable than standard USB, yet still fully compatible with all standard USB devices.

You should also try to get a motherboard that supports Ultra DMA 133 hard drive transfer speeds in order to take advantage of the faster hard drives available, even if your current hard drive is only Ultra DMA 33.

Speaking of hard drives, there are numerous motherboards on the market with RAID support; RAID is a method of creating a redundant filesystem for backup purposes and requires an extra hard drive to implement. Don't bother with it unless you are very worried about data loss.

We've provided you with some preliminary information you will need to make an intelligent motherboard purchase, but you will still have to shop around for yourself to find the motherboard that is best suited to your specific needs. Before you run out to the local computer supply depot, however, let's talk about your CPU.