The Motherboard Buyers' Guide

Josh Collins shares his motherboard wisdom with all and sundry – find out what the pros look for in a mobo!

The motherboard is an integral part of the enthusiast computer. It’s no wonder then that the motherboard is often one of the most examined, anxiety-packed and generally confusing purchases for a new whiz-bang high end enthusiast masterpiece.

Throughout this article we’ll be exploring what features mark the difference between a good, bad and downright shocking motherboard. We’ll help you learn to guide yourself through the minefield of boards available to find the gem on the other side. Not only that, we’ll explain why certain features will help your choice be the strongest possible ‘central nervous system’ for your PC.

Component quality
Component quality is a very important aspect when considering a motherboard’s longevity and ability to withstand sustained stress in a pumped up, overclocked and over-volted enthusiast environment. This is also relevant for those looking for long term sustainability and functionality in a stock system.

When it comes down to component selection we’re talking the nitty-gritty. So we’re speaking about solid state capacitors and ferrite core chokes. For those that enjoy the pastime of choking on marketing and sales pitches, you’ll have noticed these are the two components pushed by GIGABYTE in its ‘Ultra Durable 2’ marketing campaign. GIGABYTE is not the only vendor pushing forward with the inclusion of solid state capacitors; it is however the only one (at the time of printing) to use solid state capacitors on all lines from the highest end enthusiast board to the lowest end entry board. This is compared to the majority of other brands either only using solid state capacitors on the high-end boards or purely around the CPU socket area, while relegating the rest of the board’s capacitors to electrolytic capacitors.

Motherboards notable for using solid state capacitors include:
GIGABYTE: whole DS range
ASUS: Deluxe, Premium and R.O.G. series boards
MSI: Platinum series boards
Foxconn: Quantum Force and Digital Life series

These boards are a starting selection of mobos featuring solid state capacitors and/or ferrite core chokes.

Power management
Power management is a very important aspect of a motherboard’s functionality. If the components, especially the CPU and memory, cannot be fed sufficient power while under sustained and/or burst load power draws the stability will fluctuate and fatal errors become all the more possible and common. In worst case scenarios, insufficient power management can cause system lock ups, blue screens of death and intermittent failures. The power management on a motherboard comes down to some key areas and the method in which that power management is implemented.

One such area is the CPU socket. In the evolution from electrolytic capacitors to solid state capacitors the CPU socket power management phases were the first to incorporate the use of solid state capacitors. Also adding to the consistency of the flow of power to the CPU is the number of power phases. The more phases incorporated results in a more finely managed and sustainable power supply to the socket and therefore the CPU itself.

The use of multi-phase power management has recently made the transition from not only being incorporated in the CPU power supply but also the memory power supply. Until recently, manufacturers would design the memory with a single phase power management system. Since the recent Bearlake-based R.O.G. motherboards, ASUS has been implementing a two phase power management system. As a result, overclockers have been able to obtain higher memory frequency overclocks and maintain tighter timings at higher frequencies, as well as utilise lower voltage requirements.

An issue with implementing traditional multi-phase count power management and using capacitors and chokes is the congestion caused around the socket area – a particularly annoying situation when focusing on sub-zero insulation. To remedy this situation some manufacturers have been known to implement the use of digital pulse width modulators (PWMs). This can have a positive or negative effect on the sustainability and fluctuation of the power supply. The reason being is that at a lower phase count the capacitor and choke implementation can more easily maintain a smoother fluctuation in power delivery. A low phase count digital PWM configuration can incur harsher fluctuations as the flow is modulated, and therefore fluctuations in the sustained supply of the power. This can be remedied by increasing the phase count on the circuit setup.

Motherboards notable for implementing quality power management:
GIGABYTE: DQ6 series range
ASUS: Deluxe, Premium and R.O.G. series

Motherboards notable for implementing digital PWMs:
ASUS: Select R.O.G. series boards - Blitz Formula/Extreme and Commando
Foxconn: Upcoming X48 based Quantum Force BlackOps board
DFI: LanParty UT P35-T2R, LanParty UT X38-T2R