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Windows 7 - So how do i choose a Motherboard? |
06-18-2011
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#1 | | |
So how do i choose a Motherboard? Hello lovely people of 7F.
So ive been wondering for a while now that its time to build me a new PC.
But i really don't know how to choose a motherboard.Im the kind of person who knows what part does what and how do i install them,but other than that,i dont realy know how to choose any of the parts.
So first of,i chose the video card and the processor i wantet. Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Videokaardid / Club 3D Geforce 500 series GTX 550 TI PCIE 1GB GDDR5 2X DVI (video card) Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Protsessorid / Intel Core i5 2310 2,9GHz 6MB S1155 (Processor)
Now this is were i get stuck,how in the hell do i choose a motherboard?Does this work? Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Emaplaadid / MSI Socket 1155 H67MS-E23 B3
Halp?And another question,when and why would i need to use a liquid cooling system?
would appreciate it,thanks. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number ELITEGROUP COMPUTER SYSTEM CO.,LTD. OS Windows 7 64x CPU AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ (2 CPUs), ~2. Motherboard NFORCE6M-A V3.0 Memory 4000MB RAM Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Sound Card Onboard IDT HD Monitor(s) Displays LG Widescreen Screen Resolution 1440 x 900 Native Keyboard Some Logitech keyboard Mouse Razer Lachesis 4000 DPI PSU 450 W Codegen Case Black....Standard Cooling Air Cooling Stock Heatsink and Fan Hard Drives 320 GB Internet Speed Slow...dont ask. Other Info Roccat Sense Mousepad |
06-18-2011
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#2 | | Windows 7 SP1, Home Premium, 64-bit |
One would use a liquid cooling system for very very heavy overclocking.
You have chosen a socket 1155 processor. Therefore any socket 1155 motherboard will work.
The only caveat might be regarding your case. If you have a micro ATX case, you must use a socket 1155 micro ATX motherboard. On the other hand, if you have a regular ATX case, you can use either a micro ATX motherboard or a regular ATX motherboard.
The major difference between ATX and micro ATX motherboards is that the latter do NOT have PCI slots--which many people don't need anyway. Your processor should have built in video and your motherboard will probably have built in audio, so you may not need PCI slots. Micro ATX motherboards and cases are smaller and usually a bit cheaper, so you can save some money if you don't need PCI slots.
Regarding motherboards---some brands have better reputations that others, but all of them can have bad examples, so it's a bit of a crap shoot.
Motherboards will differ in such things as:
Number of RAM slots
Number and type of USB ports
Number and type of SATA ports
Number of eSATA ports; many don't have it.
Presence or lack of built in audio; most have it
Presence or lack of built in networking; nearly all have it.
Etc.
Decide which of those features you will need. Decide on whether you are going with ATX or micro ATX. Decide if you can get by with 2 RAM slots (micro ATX motherboards often have only 2 RAM slots). Two RAM slots is enough for 8 GB of RAM, which is plenty for nearly everybody.
The better motherboard brands include Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Intel, and maybe Asrock. Some models are better for overclocking than others, so you should decide if you will be overclocking. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one OS Windows 7 SP1, Home Premium, 64-bit CPU Intel Sandy Bridge i5-2500, not overclocked Motherboard Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3, full ATX Memory 4 GB Crucial DDR3-1333 Graphics Card none; graphics are integrated on CPU Sound Card onboard: Realtek ALC892; external: USB Behringer UF0-202 Monitor(s) Displays NEC 90GX2-BK 19" LCD Screen Resolution 800 x 640 Keyboard Leopold Tenkeyless with Cherry Blue switches, USB Mouse Logitech or Microsoft optical wired; either USB or PS 2 PSU Seasonic SS-560KM, modular Case Antec Solo II Cooling CPU: Scythe Big Shuriken; Case: Scythe Slipstream 800 & 500 Hard Drives System: Intel 320 Series SSD, 80 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD15EADS-00P8B0, 1.5TB Other Info Power consumption of this system, including monitor: 68 watts at idle; 144 watts at full load |
06-18-2011
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#3 | | Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit |

Quote: Originally Posted by ignatzatsonic One would use a liquid cooling system for very very heavy overclocking.
You have chosen a socket 1155 processor. Therefore any socket 1155 motherboard will work.
The only caveat might be regarding your case. If you have a micro ATX case, you must use a socket 1155 micro ATX motherboard. On the other hand, if you have a regular ATX case, you can use either a micro ATX motherboard or a regular ATX motherboard.
The major difference between ATX and micro ATX motherboards is that the latter do NOT have PCI slots--which many people don't need anyway. Your processor should have built in video and your motherboard will probably have built in audio, so you may not need PCI slots. Micro ATX motherboards and cases are smaller and usually a bit cheaper, so you can save some money if you don't need PCI slots.
Regarding motherboards---some brands have better reputations that others, but all of them can have bad examples, so it's a bit of a crap shoot.
Motherboards will differ in such things as:
Number of RAM slots
Number and type of USB ports
Number and type of SATA ports
Number of eSATA ports; many don't have it.
Presence or lack of built in audio; most have it
Presence or lack of built in networking; nearly all have it.
Etc.
Decide which of those features you will need. Decide on whether you are going with ATX or micro ATX. Decide if you can get by with 2 RAM slots (micro ATX motherboards often have only 2 RAM slots). Two RAM slots is enough for 8 GB of RAM, which is plenty for nearly everybody.
The better motherboard brands include Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Intel, and maybe Asrock. Some models are better for overclocking than others, so you should decide if you will be overclocking. Sure they do! 
There are a bunch of Micro ATX boards with PCI slots. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self-built OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit CPU Intel Core i7-3770 Motherboard Gigabyte Z68A-D3H-B3 Memory G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 F3-10666CL9D-8GBNT Graphics Card Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 6670 Sound Card Realtek ALC892 Monitor(s) Displays Samsung SyncMaster P2370HD, Dell 1703FPT Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080 Keyboard Logitech Deluxe 250 Mouse Logitech MX518 PSU SeaSonic M12II SS-500GM Case Lian Li PC-9F Cooling Zalman CNPS9900LED Hard Drives Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ Internet Speed 8 Mbps |
06-18-2011
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#4 | | Windows 7 X64 Professional/Windows 8 |
You won't be overclocking much with that CPU. If you want to overclock you will need a CPU with a K at the end. The K indicates an unlocked multiplier. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Brew - Always under construction OS Windows 7 X64 Professional/Windows 8 CPU intel i7-2600K Motherboard Asus P8Z68 V-Pro/GEN 3 Memory 8GB G.Skill Sniper DDR3-2133 (2X4GB) Graphics Card EVGA 670 2GB Sound Card Asus Xonar Monitor(s) Displays Asus 24" LCD VW246H Screen Resolution 1920X1080 Keyboard Logitech G510 Mouse Logitech G500/Logitech Wireless PSU CORSAIR HX850W Case Cooler Master HAF X Cooling Corsair H100 w/ 4 noctua fans in push/pull. Hard Drives Crucial M4 128GB,Crucial M4 64GB,Samsung HD103SJ 1TB, 1TB WD FAEX,Samsung 1.5TB, EXTERNAL HD- 2X Rosewill case esata w/ 1TB Samsung spinpoints & Black X esata 1TB Spinpoint, Rosewill USB 3.0 dock 1TB Spinpoint, Seagate GOFlex Pro 500GB & 750GB USB Internet Speed Foot Messenger speed Other Info 2nd Computer- Samsung RF711-SO1 17" Laptop i5-2310M, 8GB DDR3-1333, Crucial M4 and OCZ vertex2, Nvidia GT540M.Win 7 HP X64. |
06-18-2011
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#5 | | |
Since you have chosen your processor, that greatly narrows down your choices for motherboards (thank goodness, since there are thousands and thousands).
Picking and choosing a motherboard is a lot to do with personal preference on brand, which will be developed over time, and what you need it to do. Since you have a grapics card picked out, you can open your options up to motherboards without onboard grapics as well. From there, you need to choose if you want to have USB 3.0, Sata III, and how many expansion slots you think you might need. Your motherboard will also determine how much RAM and what type you can use, so that is a factor as well. If you like, you can tell us some of these requirements that you think you might want to use (Say, you want 8GB of DDR3, but might want 12 in the future, and USB 3.0 is important, but sata III is optional, something like that) we would be more than happy to help you narrow down your choices | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Pugh Technologies OS W7 Professional x64 CPU AMD Athlon II X3 445 Rana 3.10 GHz Motherboard MSI 870A-G54 Memory PNY XLR DDR3 1600 4x2GB Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 (fermi) 1GB GDDR5 Sound Card Realtek ALC892 onboard Monitor(s) Displays ASUS VE205t, Viewsonic VX2035WM Screen Resolution 1600x900, 1600x1050 Keyboard Logitec 55 Mouse Razer Deathadder PSU Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Case ThermalTake Armor A90 Mid Tower Cooling 3x 120mm in, 1x 120mm & 200mm out, self built hydro-cooler Hard Drives 977GB Hitachi Hitachi HDS721010CLA332
244GB Western Digital WDC WD2500AAJS-65B4A0
488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAJS-00A8B0
488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00UU3A0 Internet Speed 20 Mbps D/L, 9 Mbps U/L |
06-18-2011
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#6 | | |
If "The Risky" wants to overclock his CPU any significant amount, there will be two requirements:
1) a "k" suffix CPU (unlocked multiplier) The least expensive one is the I5-2500k. In the US, that's not a great deal more expensive than the I5-2310.
2) a P67 or Z68 chipset board (not an H67 board, like the one listed)
Water cooling is used for at least two reasons. Overclocking is one. Silence is another.
Other factors in choosing a board: number of SATA ports, external SATA (eSATA), firewire (IEEE 1394), PATA (parallel ATA, also known as IDE), USB3, SLI/Crossfire, PCI slots, etc. If those are unfamiliar to you, you may not need them.
Beyond that, there's the ego thing. I don't know how many people run Windows 7 Ultimate on home gaming PCs just to have the highest-end possible version of the OS. Or the people who spend more money and effort on case mods than most people spend in building a basic PC. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number homegrown OS Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1 CPU Intel Core I7-3930k Motherboard Asus P9X79 Pro Memory 16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133 Graphics Card eVGA GTX680 Sound Card Creative X-Fi Titanium Monitor(s) Displays As PA246Q Screen Resolution 1920 X 1200 Keyboard cheap Logitech USB Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer (old optical) USB PSU PCP&C Silencer 750 Crossfire Case Silverstone FT02 Cooling Noctua NH-D14 Hard Drives Corsair Force GT, 120 GB
WDC 1.5TB Caviar Black Internet Speed 6Mb cable Other Info Pioneer BDR-205
Samsung SH-203B
Monsoon 5.1 speakers |
06-19-2011
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#7 | | |
Well,thank you,all of you.
Since i've reached towards another question,i though of it to ask it right here, rather than to create a new topic.
Lets say,i decide to build a PC with these parts,what else would i need to add/change?
Motherboard Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Emaplaadid / MSI Socket 1155 H67MS-E23 B3
Processor Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Protsessorid / Intel Core i5 2310 2,9GHz 6MB S1155
Case Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Korpused / Thermaltake*V9 Coating
Video Card Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Videokaardid / Club 3D Geforce 500 series GTX 550 TI PCIE 1GB GDDR5 2X DVI
PSU Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Toiteallikad / Inter-Tech Power Supply Energon EPS AC 230V, 50Hz, DC 3.3/5/
Hard drive Hinnavaatlus / Arvutiriistvara / Kõvakettad / Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200rpm 32MB NCQ SATA 3Gb/s
And i apologize in advance for the language on the pages.
Last question,and this is for the European Users.What EU pages do you use to buy parts for you rig?Preferably a page that ships all across Europe. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number ELITEGROUP COMPUTER SYSTEM CO.,LTD. OS Windows 7 64x CPU AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ (2 CPUs), ~2. Motherboard NFORCE6M-A V3.0 Memory 4000MB RAM Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Sound Card Onboard IDT HD Monitor(s) Displays LG Widescreen Screen Resolution 1440 x 900 Native Keyboard Some Logitech keyboard Mouse Razer Lachesis 4000 DPI PSU 450 W Codegen Case Black....Standard Cooling Air Cooling Stock Heatsink and Fan Hard Drives 320 GB Internet Speed Slow...dont ask. Other Info Roccat Sense Mousepad |
06-19-2011
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#8 | | Windows 7 SP1, Home Premium, 64-bit |
Your parts list does not include RAM or a DVD drive.
And you may need thermal paste and fans.
Does your motherboard include built-in sound and a NIC? Most do. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one OS Windows 7 SP1, Home Premium, 64-bit CPU Intel Sandy Bridge i5-2500, not overclocked Motherboard Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3, full ATX Memory 4 GB Crucial DDR3-1333 Graphics Card none; graphics are integrated on CPU Sound Card onboard: Realtek ALC892; external: USB Behringer UF0-202 Monitor(s) Displays NEC 90GX2-BK 19" LCD Screen Resolution 800 x 640 Keyboard Leopold Tenkeyless with Cherry Blue switches, USB Mouse Logitech or Microsoft optical wired; either USB or PS 2 PSU Seasonic SS-560KM, modular Case Antec Solo II Cooling CPU: Scythe Big Shuriken; Case: Scythe Slipstream 800 & 500 Hard Drives System: Intel 320 Series SSD, 80 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD15EADS-00P8B0, 1.5TB Other Info Power consumption of this system, including monitor: 68 watts at idle; 144 watts at full load |
06-19-2011
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#9 | | Windows 7 x64 OEM Build 7600 |
Future-proof motherboards would be best though. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Built OS Windows 7 x64 OEM Build 7600 CPU Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield Motherboard MSI P55-GD65 Memory Team Elite DDR3 1333 CL9 (4GB Kit) 2GB x 2 TED34096M1333(H)C Graphics Card HIS ATI Radeon HD 5850 Sound Card Realtek ALC889 integrated Chipset Monitor(s) Displays Samsung P2250 21.5" inch Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard Razer Lycosa Mouse Razer Deathadder 3500DPI PSU Corsair HX650W 650W Case Antec Nine-Hundred Two Cooling Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-GP Hard Drives Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB |
06-19-2011
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#10 | | Windows 7 X64 Professional/Windows 8 |
I went to the link for the PSU and had trouble reading it, but it sounds like an external UPS and not a power supply. Am I reading it wrong? | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Home Brew - Always under construction OS Windows 7 X64 Professional/Windows 8 CPU intel i7-2600K Motherboard Asus P8Z68 V-Pro/GEN 3 Memory 8GB G.Skill Sniper DDR3-2133 (2X4GB) Graphics Card EVGA 670 2GB Sound Card Asus Xonar Monitor(s) Displays Asus 24" LCD VW246H Screen Resolution 1920X1080 Keyboard Logitech G510 Mouse Logitech G500/Logitech Wireless PSU CORSAIR HX850W Case Cooler Master HAF X Cooling Corsair H100 w/ 4 noctua fans in push/pull. Hard Drives Crucial M4 128GB,Crucial M4 64GB,Samsung HD103SJ 1TB, 1TB WD FAEX,Samsung 1.5TB, EXTERNAL HD- 2X Rosewill case esata w/ 1TB Samsung spinpoints & Black X esata 1TB Spinpoint, Rosewill USB 3.0 dock 1TB Spinpoint, Seagate GOFlex Pro 500GB & 750GB USB Internet Speed Foot Messenger speed Other Info 2nd Computer- Samsung RF711-SO1 17" Laptop i5-2310M, 8GB DDR3-1333, Crucial M4 and OCZ vertex2, Nvidia GT540M.Win 7 HP X64. So how do i choose a Motherboard? problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:00 AM. |  |