What motherboard you can chose from is completely limited by what CPU
you choose. This section is therefore broken up into different CPU categories.
Other things to look at in a motherboard are
compatibility, reliability, component placement, brand name, chipset,
chipset manufacturer, speed, cache, and other included features.
Except possibly for some of the high end CPUs you should be able to
find an AT or ATX motherboard for any CPU type. However, there will be
more of a selection of ATX as the AT motherboards become less and less
popular.
Features to look for on all boards:
- ATA-66 Support
- Any board you buy today should support ATA-66 which allows high
speed access to IDE hard drives.
- Motherboard Monitoring
- The ability to monitor the processor and motherboard
temperatures from windows is a nice feature in a motherboard. This
also allows you to monitor if a fan fails and keep your processors
from overheating.
- Future CPU support.
- The ability to buy a board and have it support processors more
powerful than the one you have now is quite beneficial. This
usually doesn't last long, but you might be able to for go
purchasing a whole new motherboard and CPU by just upgrading the
CPU.
- Expansion Slots
- AGP
- Necessary for most graphics cards these days.
- PCI
- 4 or 5 Slots for all the other cards you install in your
system such as: modem, sound card, network card, DVD decoder
card, and more.
- ISA
- Not needed today, unless you have old components that are
ISA bus type. Otherwise you shouldn't need more than one.
Purchase the motherboard based on the CPU.
AMD K6-2 and AMD K6-III (SOCKET 7)
- Both of these CPUs use a Super Socket 7 Motherboard. So when
shopping for a board for these chips those are the key words to look
for.
Intel Celeron (SOCKET 370)
- Intel Celerons come in both PPGA and SEC and some can be converted
for use in SEC motherboards, but first we will discuss PPGA motherboards
or Socket 370
Intel Pentium IIs and IIIs (SLOT 1)
- Intel Pentium IIs and IIIs use a SEC connector interface with the
motherboard. Make sure to get a board that can support the speed of
the processor that you have chosen.
AMD Athlons or K7s (SLOT A)
- AMD released their Athlon processor late this year and it was the
first time any company has produced a faster chip than Intel intended
for use in PCs. There are very few manufactures of motherboards with
the Slot A interface that Athlons require. Motherboards that have a
Slot A actually run at higher speeds than those that run Slot 1 or
anything previously made.
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SUMMARY:
There are lots of good motherboard manufactures out there. The best
way to decide which motherboard is right for you is to look at the
features that each one has. Then you need to look at online reviews
that are available from hardware review sites. Also make sure that you
check out the motherboard manufacturers site before you purchase from
them, find out how good they are with customer service and product
support.
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RECOMMENDATION:
Some motherboard manufactures make tons of motherboards, many more
than other smaller manufactures and therefore they tend to bring costs
down. FIC is one such company that makes lots of good motherboards.
Other good manufactures include ASUS, Soyo, ABIT, TMC, Tyan Trinity and others. A
primary consideration of course is price. Make sure you don't pay too
much for a motherboard.
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This table may contain errors, but it should give a good idea
of where to get certain types of motherboards.
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