Motherboard is the heart of the whole computer system. It is the part that connects all the other parts together and make sure they run smoothly. As such, choosing the best gaming motherboard is the most important task that you need to do when building a gaming computer. This article will teach you how to choose the best gaming motherboard.

Decide which type of CPU to use

This may seem irrelevant to choosing a motherboard. In actual fact, this is the most important thing you need to do before selecting a motherboard. The reason being that the type of CPU will determine the type of motherboard you need. For example, if you choose an Intel CPU, then you have to get the socket 775 motherboard or else the CPU won't fit into the motherboard. Deciding on the type of CPU will help you to make a better choice when choosing the best gaming motherboard.

Determine if the motherboard supports the type of CPU you have chosen

As mentioned before, if you are using an Intel CPU, you have to get a socket 775 motherboard whereas an AMD CPU requires a socket AM2 motherboard. In addition, some of the older socket 775 motherboards do not support dual core processors (even though they use the same socket) or even quad-core processors. Check out the manufacturer's website to get confirmation before you buy the motherboard.

Overclocking feature

If you are overclocking your CPU, you have to get a motherboard that allows you to change the FSB speed and CPU voltage in small increments.

RAM support and no of memory slot

Your motherboard must be able to support DDR2 RAM, for a simple reason that DDR2 is currently the fastest RAM in the market. Extra thing to take note is the maximum speed of RAM that the motherboard supports. Some motherboards can support only up to DDR2 667MHz RAM while the latest ones can support up to DDR2 1066MHz.

In addition, you may want to upgrade your RAM in the future, therefore your current motherboard must have at least 4 memory slots and can support up to 8GB RAM so that you have the option to upgrade in the future.

SLI/ Crossfire ready

SLI / Crossfire ready motherboard means that you can make use of two identical high performing graphics card to render the graphics, thus achieving a faster and more realistic video effects. Not every motherboard supports this feature. As video effects getting more and more advanced, it will be soon that SLI or Crossfire technology becomes the standard for video display. Therefore, even if you are not using this technology now, it is still advisable to get a gaming motherboard with SLI or Crossfire feature.

SATA 2 controller

SATA2 can transfer data at twice the speed of SATA 1. When it comes to gaming, every single speed counts and that increase in speed might be the deciding factor in your game. A SATA 2 port is backward compatible with SATA 1 devices, but not the other way round. It is better for you to get a motherboard that supports SATA 2 devices. In addition, if you are using RAID, then you have to get a motherboard that has four SATA 2 ports.

Extra Features

You might want to consider extra features such as extra USB2.0 ports, firewire, integrated LAN and front-panel LED when choosing a gaming motherboard. Some of the motherboards contain more features than the other and you have to compare around to see the differences.

Features such as integrated sound and video are not as important in the best gaming motherboard since they could not contribute well to a good gaming session. For a gaming computer, you have to get a separate graphics card and sound card so as to play the latest game in the market.

Conclusion

When getting the best gaming motherboard, it is worthwhile to do some market research and compare with various boards. Since it is the most important part in the whole computer system, don't ever scrimp money on it.

Four iPhone 3G Motherboard US $51.00

Gateway NV7801U NV7802U MBB5702001 Laptop Motherboard US $125.00

IBM Thinkpad T40 T41 T42 Motherboard US $29.99

PCCHIPS M811LU v31 Socket A Motherboard AMD Athlon XP 1800 Heat sink fan US $13.95

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 213 GHz Dual Core Asus P5G41T M Motherboard US $33.55

hp pavillion dv9000 intel motherboard US $33.00

XBOX 360 XENON MOTHERBOARD w DVD DRIVE BOARD RROD 3RL E74 CONSOLE SYSTEM AS IS US $9.99

120mm Internal Desktop PC Fan Computer Case Cooling For Mother Board Video Card US $2.49

50X Ultra Low Z Blue Gold Motherboard Cap 1000uF 63VDC US $4.95

Lastest 6 in 1 PCI LPT ISA Motherboard Diagnostic Card Stability Test 6 bit US $17.99

40X Ultra Low Z Blue Gold Motherboard Cap 1500uF 63VDC US $4.95

ASUSTeK COMPUTER Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel Motherboard US $107.50

GATEWAY 4000321 Intel SLOT1 motherboard with 333MHz P2 66Mhz bus US $9.99

Dell INSPIRON 1150 Motherboard CPU HEAT SINC AND FAN PLEASE READ ALL US $20.50

MSI 865PE Neo2 Platinum P4 19GHz MS6728 Motherboard Jeans Huang Special Edition US $14.99

Latest 6 in 1 Motherboard Diagnostic Card Stability Test 6 bit Debug POST Probe US $19.50

DELL XPS M170 MOTHERBOARD BOTTOM CASING AND MORE US $40.00

hp p6610f custom micro desktop radeon 6870 730 watt 8gb ram foxconn motherboard US $599.00

Micron Milenia RS2100 motherboard with 600Mhz AMD Duron CPU AKBA0033 US $11.99

Gateway M460 Motherboard 31MA1MB0032 US $10.00

Question by AnGeLo: Motherboard?
I'm planning on upgrading my pc, but i wan't to know first what motherboard will support 1 or 2gb of ram ? a good price one.

Best answer:

Answer by jonathanlks
Basicly any motherboard you can buy will support 2gb of ram, most will support up to 4gb.

The best way to tell, is to see how many sticks of ram you have, (for example do you have 4 512mb sticks, 2 1gb sticks, or 1 2gb stick?)
Then look at how many memory slots your motherboard has.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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ASUS Crosshair IV Formula - AM3 - AMD 890FX - DDR3 - Republic of Gamers - ATX Motherboard...

ASUS M4A785-M - AM3 - AMD785G - DDR2 - HDMI - uATX Motherboard
ASUS M4A785-M features GPU NOS, ASUS Anti-surge, DirectX 10.1 Support, Turbo Key, ASUS EPU and ASUS Express Gate...

ASUS Socket 1366/Intel X58/Quad SLI & Quad CrossFireX/SATA3.0&USB3.0/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard s SABERTOOTH X58
Asus SABERTOOTH X58 Socket 1366/Intel X58/Quad SLI & Quad CrossFireX/SATA3.0&USB3.0/A&GbE/ATX Motherboard...

MSI G31TM-P21 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
MSI G31TM-P21 Desktop Board G31TM-P21 Desktop Motherboards...

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Boku has carved out quite a name for itself in the fast-expanding world of mobile payments for virtual goods. The startup, which has raised more than $40 million since its launch last year, is now in 61 countries and has deals with some 200 carriers. However, while the realm of gaming remains rich (see our latest numbers on Zynga), Boku is ready to expand beyond virtual goods and step into real world transactions— within the next twelve months.

By next year, Boku’s co-founder Ron Hirson, predicts that the company will be launching mobile payments for online (non-virtual) transactions and eventually, test programs for brick and mortar purchases. Boku has always wanted to become the PayPal of mobile payments, but has been hindered by lofty carrier rates. Historically, wireless carriers have charged roughly 30 to 40% to process transactions, making it very difficult for mobile payment companies like Boku to scale beyond virtual goods. That dynamic, Hirson says, is quickly shifting.

“We’re now seeing and having partnerships with carriers where the rates are coming down to about 10% which enables us to start moving beyond virtual goods that have no cost of good sold, to things like digital goods which have licensing and then maybe even physical goods which actually have material costs…

Mobile as an opportunity is starting to plateau, minutes have obviously plateaued and eventually data will follow the same. So there’s a need for carriers to explore new revenue opportunities and payments is a great value added service.”

Ten percent is a significant victory, relative to the previous baseline, but Hirson acknowledges that the rates will have to move even lower to support Boku’s grand ambitions. The magic number, he says, is probably near 5%— which he admits may not happen in the near term.

For those who are unfamiliar with the service, Boku (a rival of Zong) works with many game developers like Playdom and Playfish. When a user wants to purchase a virtual item, he enters his cell phone number on a site, the site sends a text message to the phone, the user confirms the transaction with a short reply, and all the charges show up on his phone bill.

For more on Boku’s 2011 strategy and carrier trends see the video above. On Monday, Hirson was also a guest on TechCrunch NOW with Charlie Graham, Shop It To Me‘s founder. Fittingly, we discussed Google’s recent investment in Zynga, the gaming company’s massive revenues, and what it means for Boku (that video is below).

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