| There are the following major aspects you should be considering while
choosing computer motherboards:
Chip set is all about
controlling a motherboard. The chip set determines what features motherboards
may have as well as their limitations.
The chip set also determines the type of CPU and memory (RAM), and
which integrated features, such as video, sound, USB, and LAN ports are
installed. The manufacturers build computer motherboards around different chip
sets, most of which are made by such vendors as Intel, VIA, SiS, and nVIDIA.
CPU slot determines the type of
a processor to be installed. This parameter is the second feature that is
listed by computer motherboards manufacturers, after the type of a chip set.
These are the latest
types of CPU slots:
- Socket A/462 for AMD Athlon/Duron processors
- Socket 370 for Intel Celeron/Pentium III processors
- Socket 478 for current Intel Pentium IV processors
RAM. Computer motherboards
are determined also by the type of slots for memory chips.
These are the types of
memory slots:
- SDRAM for Socket 370 motherboards
- DDR SDRAM for Socket A/462/478 motherboards
- RDRAM for some of the Socket 478 motherboards
Form factor
If you are building
your own computer, you have to know the form factor of your motherboard to
match your computer case.
The most computer cases
are ATX compatible which allows your AT motherboard to fit inside an ATX case
so long as the case power supply has an AT power connector.
It is also possible to
fit microATX/flexATX motherboards in a regular ATX case. But it is impossible
to fit ATX motherboards in an AT computer case as well as in a microATX/flexATX
case.
Almost every
motherboard comes with integrated sound support. There are also motherboards
with built-in digital sound, LAN and video support. |
