Many gamers wonder how a motherboard is a good game result achieved. It was none other than very demanding 3D gaming performance and consumes system resources which for years. When you buy a set of motherboards, we have a number of factors.

The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) on the motherboard

as a condition of stable operation motherboard, the former PCB layout and various types of electronic components is very important. Given the PCB shield, signal lines and defects will be two tracks on all lines on the table evenly.

The best motherboard on the 6-layer PCB with a specific color, smooth, clean, and tidy array of welding parts or instability and errors are often use in overclocking motherboard.

Supply circuit

Some good players are often high, and high-power processors, which consume lots of energy, overclocking, even when working with frequency standards, never mind. For example, the maximum current Prescott core P4 now stands 91A, power near or above 100W. Therefore, you have a motherboard that sufficient power and stable voltage that can ensure smooth delivery.

Overclocking motherboard

we have many motherboard manufacturers are just doing research overclocking to use their products. Major brands such as Intel, ASUS and Gigabyte, and so forth, are generally difficult to provide a jumper or BIOS settings for overclocking, with special software that has a little overclock.

Security

Overloading overclocking processor and safe to do Try these risks early minutes motherboard manufacturers compete for new technologies such as AI Overclocking ASUS CPR overclocking tool and the introduction of protection, etc.

Extension

The game is a pattern of progress in the hardware clock. Today, a strong expansion, the motherboard supports all functions of the dominant product is a video card capable of 3D graphics performance of SLI gamers add his or Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor upgrades are needed in the future.

Multi-channel capability

for the motherboard market certainly very good audio system controls. Doom 3 will take you to a scene that respiration is similar to home theater. If you have a 5.1 audio system, use the full use of it, I am sure you are brand new Doom 3: the monster that you just cry and audio — Doom3 with a very clear position, players must use these products where the sound – the sound and fire. We can say that this game is not perfect, as in DOOMS surround sound is off! Fortunately, the motherboards for game can be six or eight channels of output and high-definition audio; we must help the speakers on the 5.1 standard purchases.

Considering the factors above, too, between Intel P43 series motherboard ASUS P5QL PRO P5QL or MSI ASUS P43t-C51 is a good choice.

Here is  a personal list of  best  5 AMD Athlon motherboards which I’d recommend. Check them out – they are excellent motherboards which will last you a long time.

ASUS A8N-SLI

The ASUS P5ND2-SLI Deluxe is an all new AMD 64-bit Socket 939 platform which gives leading performance with multimedia applications. With SLI PCI Express graphics, Serial ATA RAID, dual Ethernet, 6-channel audio, IEEE 1394, USB2.0 – you can just imagine what power you can get out of this one.

MSI K7N2G-ILSR

The MSI K7N2G-ILSR offers ard offers a combination of performance and flexibility at a reasonable price. Everything you need is built in: AGP 8X, Serial ATA RAID, dual Ethernet, 6-channel audio, IEEE 1394, USB2.0 and the nForce2 integrated graphics processor. Highly recommended.

Chaintech SK8T800

Chaintech has always made quality motherboards and the SK8T800 is no exception. A Socket 754 platform, this board provides AGP 4X/8X support and incorporates a long list of features. It has performed very well in various benchmark tests too. Overall, a solid motherboard at a very good price.

ABIT NF7-S2

The ABIT NF7-S2 is designed with the overclocker in mind. Standard stuff is all there: AGP 8x, dual-channel DDR, Serial ATA, 6 channel audio with Dolby Digital 5.1, USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394. Do take note that you buy a board that is version 1.2 or higher. Overclocking was touted to be problem in earlier versions.

Gigabyte GA-K8U

The Gigabyte GA-K8U represents great value for money. Run an AMD Athlon 64 processor with DDR400 memory, SATA hard drive, AGP 8X video, built-in audio sound and high speed USB 2.0 support. This Socket 754 board is best suited for those on a budget but who still want great performance.

Conclusion

So which motherboard do you choose out of the five? Well, if you want extreme performance and screamingly fast speed, then you’ll certainly want to get the ASUS A8N-SLI. For those looking for a better price, I’d say the MSI K7N2G-ILSR and Chaintech SK8T800 are good choices. However, its always best to do your homework. Check out the motherboard manufacturer’s website and make sure you do sufficient research before buying.

Here’s some information regarding motherboards that you may want to know about. Though motherboard maintenance is not done by most people on a regular basis, here are some tips that you may find useful if at all ever you need to do it yourself. Note: Exercise constraint while handling motherboard circuit board components as it’s fragile and can be affected by even a small electrostatic discharge (ESD) passed on from your hands to the circuit parts you come in contact with! Make sure you are using protective anti-static devices/apparel before handling the motherboard. Also make sure that the power supply cable is removed from the socket before opening up your PC for inspection.

Motherboard maintenance tips -

* Assuming that the power cord is disconnected and you are using proper anti-static equipment, start by blowing compressed air over the motherboard to get rid of dust and grime. Make sure you hold the air compressor nozzle at an angle so as to blow dust out of the cabinet.
* After blowing air, use a small hand held battery operated vacuum cleaner to suck out any dirt left over inside the cabinet. DO NOT use a regular electric powered cleaner as it has the potential to produce electric discharges.
* For both procedures mentioned above, make sure the blower/vacuum cleaner nozzles are not coming in contact with the motherboard. Also make sure not to blow away or pull out small motherboard components like jumpers.
* Clean the heat sink of the motherboard using an anti-static cloth and make sure it is seated properly on the processor.
* Remove any expansion cards like RAM, video cards and wipe the gold contacts gently using an anti-static cloth. Once cleaning is done, put them back into their respective slots and make sure they are seated properly.
* Check connection cables and other contacts. Make sure there are no lose connections.
* Check all motherboard mounting screws and make sure they are fastened properly.
* Keep an eye out for the CMOS battery. Replace discharged batteries immediately.

The above mentioned motherboard maintenance tips can be performed for desktop pc, at least once a year. This ensures longevity of its components.

Some common motherboard related issues:

When I turn off my computer and switch it back on again it has lost the time and date settings and has also lost its BIOS settings,so what could it be?

All motherboards have a battery called the CMOS battery installed on them and power from the battery is used to hold small bits of information when the computer is turned off. Make sure you have Anti-static equipment in place before touching any of the components. Replace the old CMOS battery with a new one of the same rating and your problem should be solved.

My system automatically powers back on after a power failure!

This could be because of a CMOS setup configuration rather than a hardware fault. One of the BIOS setup utility menu controls the ON/OFF state of your PC in case of a power failure or shutdown. Options include Stay-OFF, Last power state or Power-ON. If you inspect the configuration in CMOS, you’ll probably find that it’s set to Power-ON or Last power state. Set this to Stay-OFF and your problem should be solved.

System won’t turn off when I press the power button.

This has to do with your board’s power management system settings. In most cases, you machine will shutdown if you hold the power button pressed for at least 5 seconds. The setting can be altered by configuring the power button to “instant OFF” in the CMOS setup.

Am upgrading my motherboard. System won’t boot when I use the older CPU again, but it boots fine with the new CPU?

The issue could be with bus speeds. If your processor is of 66-MHz bus speed and motherboard uses 100 or 133 MHz bus speed then the configuration will fail.

I see a yellow exclamation mark over the USB port in the device manager.

It simply means that the proper driver for the USB on your system has not been installed and the OS isn’t able to recognize any USB hardware. Try and update your BIOS to a newer version that supports the USB hardware better. Or right click on the USB port in device manager and update the driver through the net to find the latest version of the driver.

Motherboard is installed, but the system won’t boot.

Could simply be installation problems! Perform all the steps mentioned in the Inspecting the basics section above. Check to see if any pins are broken or inserted in the wrong socket.

PC starts, but it won’t boot from the HDD or even recognize the RAM on my system.

Did you see a message – “CMOS Error; press F1 to run SETUP”. This usually appears if the board is working but CMOS contains incorrect information. Run the CMOS setup again and check each drive and memory settings and reboot the PC.

My system won’t power on!

Do you have to unplug and replug the power each time? Then just clear the CMOS jumper settings and reset BIOS to default settings. Turn off the system, then move the CMOS jumper from it’s default location to the clear position for 5 seconds before moving it back. Turn the system ON and press DEL to enter CMOS setup screen. Set the correct CPU speed and then save and exit the screen.

In a large market of motherboard, you may be wrong to pick the best thing for you to build a computer. Motherboard is a very important and eventually connects all the components in the system. If you buy a motherboard, you have to play a great brand, quality and specifications. A good brand is one of the highest quality products and best service. Currently, there are many well-known brands like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI in the market, each of which is the first choice when buying, so that some unexpected problems and affect the normal life.

If you decide that you buy, you can read and learn about a number of factors to consider. One of them is the chipset of the Committee that the main technical specifications of the motherboard. For example, often use high chip motherboard as the 975X, 975P Intel Corp., chipset, or C51G offered nForce4 SLI / SLI X16 NVIDIA Corp. is two, choosing the right type for your motherboard support the CPU. There are two types in particular motherboard, a series of other Intel and AMD series.

If you only have a few files and surf the Internet every day and often leave your computer with high speed, you can select your motherboard is compatible with AMD and a good price, AMD CPU, or you can visit the Intel motherboard with Intel. Three, the number and type of expansion slots and ports on the motherboard, if you choose this motherboard is design for DDR2 memory and supports dual channel memory, which also must be at least 4 slots.

Four, the USB port on the motherboard; ATA/100 and two S-ATA connectors, so you can choose one of their comfortable and expansion your hard drive, sound card and network card built into your motherboard. If you are not so important, better sound quality than the motherboard with sound card and integrated network you choose to install the computer more easily. Six, RAID, RAID used primarily in servers, the reliability of data to improve data security if you have a motherboard that this position should be select.

Finally, your research when buying a motherboard, Go to the motherboard manufacturers website and read about their products. Download the motherboard manual and see if it really documented. Think about what features are important to you and go to your motherboard.

Motherboard is an important element in the smooth processing of data carried on the computer. There was little damage to the motherboard will cause the entire system, because the motherboard is the place for all the hardware installed. From the video card, RAM, hard drive, optical drive that combines everything into one device, a port on the motherboard. The following is a list of common motherboard components:

1. CPU Socket: This is use in a place with lots of processors and even a small hole for the pin of the processor.
2. RAM slots: Used to install memory modules (RAM). For a modern motherboard, usually there are 4 slots DDR2 PC 6400 with a capacity of 8 GB and dual-channel configuration.
3. Power Port: Old-type using a 20 +4 pin, while the new species will have a 24 pin +4. Through this relationship all the powers necessary for the proposed rule on food.
4. ATA-Port: a new type of motherboard with this port. Usually there are 4-8 this is use for SATA hard drive interface. Cables that are used are generally smaller than the IDE cable. SATA technology is growing rapidly now for the next generation of SATA-2 for data rates up to 3 Gbit / s achieved
5. IDE connector: Only in the former type of motherboard. To the hard drive and optical drive installed, this has a big wide cable.
6. Chip set: a chip that regulates traffic on the system. There are 2 types of chipsets with different functions from each other. North bridge chip set is between the processor and memory slots. This is the chip set and processor memory modules can work together (the data traffic between the CPU and RAM). South Bridge-chip set is located at the bottom. When the bottom of the transformer or in the slot for graphics cards. Chip-Set for the management of traffic flow on the graphics card, hard drives and other devices using the motherboard.
7. AGP / PCI Express: Used to install the video card. AGP slot is found only rarely in new ways, because the resulting bandwidth is not sufficient for the needs of graphics today. However, almost all motherboards use the PCI Express, with a larger bandwidth. In fact, some motherboards up to 4 PCI Express slots.
8. PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect): Is that space for additional maps, defined as sound cards, network cards, TV tuners and more. Working at a frequency of 33 MHz.
9. BIOS (Basic Input Output System): a form of software, which is available on the motherboard, where the energy supplied by the battery installed on the motherboard. Initial configuration of the installed equipment can be accessed and modified by the BIOS.

Many motherboard manufacturers complete with additional features that improve hardware compatibility.