The motherboard is a fairly complicated circuit board to which all the other components of your PC connect to in some way or another. For example, the video card, sound card and hard drive all plug into the motherboard's various slots and connectors. The processor (CPU) also plugs into the motherboard, generally via a socket. The main suppliers of processors (CPU's) are Intel and AMD and each brand of processor needs a different motherboard configuration so that the CPU can be successfully fitted into the appropriate socket.
Motherboards, cases and power supplies all come in different sizes called form factors. All three must be compatible to work properly together. So before you buy a new motherboard carefully work out what form factor you want to work with. Today, the most common form factors are ATX and Micro ATX.
Motherboards vary greatly in respect to the types of components they support. For example, some older video cards, hard drives and other peripherals may not be compatible with your brand new motherboard. It's best to check the motherboard manufacturers who should provide clear guidance on component compatibility. In addition to the manufacturers website's, the Technical Specifications panel we provide in our motherboard reviews will help you to make the right choices.
Its often said that Motherboards are the unsung heroes of a well rounded PC so here are a few reviews of our favourite Motherboard brands suitable for both the Intel and AMD processor platforms in Micro ATX and ATX form factors.
This page is divided between two of the key Motherboard manufacturers - Gigabyte and Asus. Click any of the links to go to your favourite brand straight away or just scroll down to see all the reviews.
Our Detailed ReviewA well-specified board with plenty of room to grow.
Dropping the graphics hardware frees up space on the back plate of the board, which Gigabyte puts to good use. You get a generous eight USB connectors, plus two PS/2 connectors (a convenience that’s all too rare these days), and FireWire in both 6-pin and 4-pin variants. Storage and expansion are well catered for, too: the Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P has eight internal SATA ports, plus three PCI-E x1 slots which we’re sure will be useful to someone, somewhere. And even with the ATI Radeon HD 4550 card the board has an admirably low power draw. With no onboard buttons and no IGP, the Gigabyte is perhaps not the obvious basis for a cheap and cheerful DIY system. But with support for up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM - at speeds up to 1.66GHz - and an 8-pin CPU connector, it’s a solid board that promises a long life. Technical SpecificationsForm Factor: ATX Processor platform: AMD Processor socket: AM3 Memory type: DDR3 Motherboard chipset: AMD 790X Audio chipset: Realtek ALC889A Memory sockets: 4 PCI slots: 2 PCI-E x 16 slots: 1 PCI-E x 8 slots: 1 PCI-E x 1 slots: 3 SATA connectors: 8 USB ports: 8 FireWire ports: 2 eSATA ports: 0 Ethernet adapters: 1 Overall Rating: |
Sapphire HD5750 1GB VAPOR-X Graphics Card
The Vapor-X cooler runs cooler and more quietly than other solutions, increasing reliability and allowing enthusiast users significantly greater headroom for performance tuning. Fits PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot
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Our Detailed Review
It is designed to offer a stable, high-speed platform for delivering amazingly fast data transfer via the Gigabyte 333 onboard acceleration technologies. It even features the world's first USB 3.0 logo certified host controller from NEC Electronics. The AMD 800A allow users to take advantage of super fast USB transfer rates of up to 5Gbps, delivering 10x faster data transfer compared to USB 2.0. Utilizing the industry's first Serial ATA Revision 3.0 solution via an AMD SB850 chipset, it offers native 6 ports of next generation high speed data storage devices support with data transfer speeds of up to 6 Gbps. Coupled with RAID 0 (Stripe) mode, SATA Revision 3.0 enables a data transfer boost of up to 4x the speed of SATA Revision 2.0. This great, but expensive, motherboard introduces a unique hardware design with lower resistance fuses for ensuring lower voltage drops and provides more stable and plentiful power delivery. All USB ports also benefit from a 3x power boost for better power delivery to power hungry USB devices. A high end board like this anticipates extreme punishment, so the Gigabyte GA-890FXA is even equipped with a chipset cooling pipe system to which a water -block can be attached. Although this is a superb motherboard, full of features, its hard to imagine that anyone would need all the capabilities of this Gigabyte board. Technical SpecificationsForm Factor: ATX Processor platform: AMD Processor socket: AM3 Memory type: DDR3 Motherboard chipset: AMD 890FX Audio chipset: Realtek ALC889A Memory sockets: 4 PCI slots: 1 PCI-E x 16 slots: 6 SATA 600 connectors: 6 SATA 300 connectors: 2 USB 3 ports: 2 USB 2 ports: 6 eSATA ports: 2 Ethernet adapters: 2 Overall Rating: |
Colors-IT 650w Gold 12CM Silent Power Supply (PSU)
You should verify that this Power Supply Unit meets the requirements of your motherboard and processor.
The full specs are: Form Factor ATX Power Output Connectors Details 1 x power 24 pin ATX with detachable 4 pin section, 1 x power 4 pin ATX12V connector, 1 x 15 pin Serial ATA power, 1 x 6 pin PCI Express power, 6 x 4 PIN mini-power connector, 4 PIN internal power. |
Our Detailed Review
The two SATA/600 sockets and two USB 3 ports are joined by eight SATA/300 connectors and four USB 2 ports. The back plate also features two dual-USB/eSATA sockets, pairs of PS/2 and S/PDIF outputs, FireWire, two Gigabit Ethernet ports and a CMOS reset button. Four PCI Express x16 slots - two running at x16 and two running at x8 - are ready to handle triple-SLI, and two PCI Express x1 and a single PCI slot are also available. The blue PCB comes with a bevy of tweak-friendly features. A two-digit display shows POST results, and there’s an on-board power button alongside LED's to indicate processor and memory voltages, plus temperature levels. Gigabyte has also been generous with the extras in the box: alongside the usual SATA and SLI cables, you get a small bracket that can be fitted to the PCI back plate to provide two additional eSATA ports and a molex power output. A large heat sink surrounds Intel’s X58 chipset and is topped off with a water-cooling block but, if you’re not confident with liquid cooling, it can be replaced by the supplied passive cooler instead. This is a very well specified motherboard but the price may put you off unless your really need all these features. Technical SpecificationsForm Factor: ATX Processor platform: Intel Processor socket: LGA 1366 Memory type: DDR3 Motherboard chipset: Intel X58 Audio chipset: Realtek ALC889 Memory sockets: 6 PCI slots: 1 PCI-E x 16 slots: 4 PCI-E x 1 slots: 2 SATA connectors: 10 USB ports: 6 FireWire ports: 2 eSATA ports: 2 Ethernet adapters: 2 Overall Rating: |
Intel i5-750 Quad Core Processor - 2.66 GHz, 8MB Cache, 2.5 GT/sec, Socket 1156, 45 nm, 3 Year Warranty, Retail Boxed
Whether you're creating HD video, composing digital music, editing photos, or playing the coolest PC games - with the Intel Core i5 processor you can multitask with ease and be more productive than ever. Needs LGA1156 Socket |
Our Detailed Review
With the new AMD 880G chipset, the Asus AM3 M4A88TD-V VO/USB3 includes an integrated ATI Radeon HD 4250 graphics core capable of decoding 1080p video but will only handle basic games. There's not much in the way overclocking niceties either, but at this price this is no great loss. The integrated graphics, USB 3 and SATA /600 ports make this motherboard a versatile and attractive choice. Technical SpecificationsForm Factor: ATX Processor platform: AMD Processor socket: AM3 Memory type: DDR3 Motherboard chipset: AMD 880G Graphics chipset: ATI Radeon HD 4250 Memory sockets: 4 PCI slots: 3 PCI-E x 16 slots: 2 PCI-E x 1 slots: 1 SATA 600 connectors: 5 USB3 ports: 2 USB2 ports: 4 Overall Rating: |
AMD Phenom II X4 Quad 955 Core 3.2GHz Processor 4 x 512 KB Boxed - Black Edition
Combined with ATI Radeon HD graphics cards, they deliver extreme visual performance and the ability to control and monitor system functions. Build a total system tuned for performance, beginning with an all-AMD solution including AMD Phenom II processors, AMD chipsets, and ATI Radeon HD graphics with CrossFireX technology for multi-GPU support and finally experience the power of gaming beyond high definition.
Western Digital Caviar 2TB SATA II 64MB Cache 3.5-inch Green Internal Hard Drive OEM
This WD Caviar Green drive make it possible for energy-conscious customers to build systems with higher capacities and the right balance of system performance, ensured reliability, and energy conservation. |
Page last updated: 5th May 2011
The Sapphire HD 5750 Vapor-X with the configuration of 720 stream processors and GDDR5 memory offering users access to the same new generation technology, and full DirectX 11 support at a lower price point.
