by Jeremy Jameson

Created on: July 02, 2007

The motherboard is the foundation on which everything else in a computer rests. If you are planning to build your own system, the first thing you'll want to do is envision what kinds of hardware you want in your build. Then you need to find the right motherboard to support all those devices.

For example, currently Intel's Core 2 Duo CPU's are the best you'll find on the market. If you're going for maximum performance regardless of cost, you'll want a motherboard that has a socket supporting the Core 2 Duo line of processors. Then let's say you want 4 GB of RAM in this build. Examine the max supported memory for the motherboard and the number of slots available for RAM. This will help you determine what capacities of RAM you can buy. Also take note of the max RAM clock speed supported, as you'll want to buy RAM of that speed. Consider graphics: a dual-card setup would require SLI (AMD) or Crossfire (ATI) support, so make sure the chipset on the motherboard supports the graphics technology you want. If you want lots of storage, consider looking for built-in RAID support. If you plan on buying an X-Fi audio card, onboard audio is not a factor to take into consideration. Also make sure the motherboard has enough PCI slots to accommodate any expansion cards you'll add.

Or perhaps you're shooting for the low-end to build a machine for fairly basic computing tasks. You can find some affordable boards supporting older processors, RAM, AGP or onboard graphics, onboard audio, and PCI slots now that they are considered outdated in comparison to the newer technologies. Just be mindful of future compatibility. Such bargain boards will surely not be compatible with the next generation of computing technologies (if even the current generation), so realize that it may be hard if not impossible to find replacement parts a couple years down the road.

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