How to choose a Motherboard

Motherboards (alternatively, Mainboards, mobo, or planar boards) are the backbone of any computer system. Without a working or properly installed motherboard, the computer is just an inert junk of plastic. The latest motherboard technology right now is called PCIe or PCI Express. In PCIe, the shared bus is replaced with a shared switch. Each device in the system will have exclusive access to the switch, and the switch will be able to create point-to-point exclusive communications between devices.

When choosing a motherboard, it is important to carefully consider the following concepts.
Non-Integrated System Board – each major component are installed in computer as an expansion card, like video card, sound card, LAN card, etc.
Integrated System Board – most of the component that would otherwise be installed as expansion card are integrated into the motherboard circuitry and were designed for simplicity.

Selection of motherboards
Consider the following when selecting a new or replacing a motherboard:

1. The footprint, or size requirements, form factor of the computer case. Such as ATX (Advanced Technology Extended), Micro ATX, NLX (New Low Profile Extended), and BTX (Balanced Technology Extended).
2. Compatibility with other devices such as CPU/processor, power supply, memory modules, and storage devices.
3. Compatibility or type of BIOS (Binary Input Output System).
4. Memory needs of the system. The type of memory, is it DDR2 or DDR3? How much memory can the motherboard handle? How many modules can the motherboard physically hold?
5. Number of expansion slots. How many regular PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)? How many PCIe? Availability of an AGP (Accelerated graphics Port) if there is?
6. Number and types of ports. How many USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports at the back of the motherboard? Are there USB slots integrate on the motherboard? Availability of a Firewire, serial port, parallel port, and keyboard and mouse port?
7. What integrated peripherals are included on the motherboard? Such as Network card (LAN card), video card, or sound card.
8. Disk controllers. IDE (Integrated Device Electronics), RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Discs), or SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment).
9. Are there drivers available for all the on-board components that match the operating system you want to use?
10. Is the motherboard going to be used in a media center PC? If so, are the television/cable connections available?

The NForce 790i SLI Motherboard

Product Review Nvidia release a new motherboard, the NForce 790i SLI FTW (For The Win) from EVGA. The new 790i SLI motherboard is completely new and different board because it has a digital PWM or Digital Pulse-Width Modulation, what it does do, so that you can overclock further. If you try to look at 790i SLI, it looks pretty much the same with the old ones but there are few things that are missing especially on the CPU area. You will notice that there are no transistors, capacitors, they not there, and that’s because all the power of the board is controlled digitally with the digital PWM. So that, it will give you more stable frequency, more stable voltage, clean power, and higher efficiency rating. EVGA claims that their use of solid-state capacitors and 100-percent ferrite-core chokes should also improve the board’s signal-to-noise ratios in extreme overclocking situations. The 790i SLI is the best for gaming, the reason is there are three PCI Express x16 slots so that you can try three SLI video card monster on the board. Another reason that NForce 790i SLI motherboard are really good it’s because it has 4 DDR 3 memory slots, it can support up to 2000 MHz DDR3 memory and a 1,600MHz front-side bus. The only way you can get to 2000 MHz if you use the SLI ready memory with EPP (Enhanced Performance Profile). The 790i SLI is also equip with VDROOP to keep your voltage stable when transition from idle to load and it protects the CPU from voltage spikes as the processor swings between light and heavy workloads. Let’s get to the overall view of the components of NForce 790i SLI motherboard. Socket 775 supports 1600 MHZ FSB, 8 GB of DDR3 memory, three PCI Express x16 slots, two PCI Express x1 slots and two regular PCI slots. There are nine SATA headers, E-SATA, two gigabit LAN, two PS2 ports, coaxial and optical S/PDIF, 7.1 HD audio, ten USB ports and IDE and Floppy headers in case you want to use some of those ancient technologies or something like that. For me, I like EVGA it is an awesome brand and for three reasons. First, the 90 day Step-Up program, if there something new they let you Step-Up on it. Second, 24 hour costumer support just in case you need help. And last, it has a Limited Lifetime Warranty, if there’s anything goes wrong with your board, you got a new one without loosing money.