Each fashionable motherboard can even have a minimum of one PCI-E x16 slot, so you possibly can set up a graphics card must you want one. Further slots imply you possibly can add additional controllers, corresponding to a Wi-Fi card in case your motherboard doesn’t have built-in wi-fi. The “x” score tells you how briskly every slot is; you possibly can plug an x1 card into an x4 or x16 slot, however not the opposite means spherical. Some high-end boards supply two and even three x16 slots, so you possibly can mix the ability of a number of graphics playing cards, however that’s overkill for all however essentially the most excessive lovers.
Search for an M.2 slot, too, as this lets you use a superfast NVMe SSD, reasonably than counting on a slower SATA connection. And examine the variety of reminiscence sockets: some smaller boards have solely two DIMM slots. A board with 4 offers you scope so as to add additional modules sooner or later must you need to improve.
What’s UEFI?
UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the motherboard’s personal graphical interface, which helps you to entry low-level settings corresponding to which drive in addition from. When you’re excited about overclocking your CPU, and adjusting the core voltages and fan speeds, you desire a versatile, user-friendly UEFI. When you simply need to run Phrase and browse the net, any UEFI will probably be high quality. Certainly, with the rise of software program overclocking instruments, you possibly can typically tweak your core settings from inside Home windows, so that you don’t have to discover the UEFI in any respect.
A UEFI isn’t technically the identical factor as a BIOS (Fundamental Enter/Output System), however since they serve extraordinarily comparable features (certainly, UEFI was devised as a extra versatile successor to BIOS), the 2 phrases are sometimes used interchangeably.
Is the shape issue essential?
Motherboards are available in three frequent codecs: ATX is the most important, measuring both 305 × 244mm or 305 x 226mm. Then there’s micro-ATXat 244mm sq., and the smallest is mini-ITX at simply 170mm sq.. All of them do the identical job, however larger boards are inclined to have extra slots and built-in options, whereas smaller ones slot in neat, compact instances.
Ensure you have a case that’s designed for the shape issue of your motherboard. It’s potential to put in a micro-ATX board in a daily ATX chassis, however you’ll be left with empty area contained in the case, so it’s not a chic resolution.
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The very best motherboards to purchase in 2020
1. ASRock Z490 Pro4: The very best-value Intel LGA1200 motherboard
Worth: £153 | Purchase now from Amazon
A Z490 motherboard is important for absolutely realising the potential of a Tenth-gen Intel CPU, significantly if it’s an overclockable Okay-series mannequin. The issue is that so many are costly in comparison with Z390 boards with comparable options.
Fortunately, the Z490 Pro4 packs in a great deal of premium options at a way more accessible worth. They vary from USB-C connectivity on the rear panel to a full three M.2 slots, considered one of which even has an built-in warmth spreader to assist defend your SSD from thermal throttling. The entire of 4 SATA ports isn’t nice however having so many M.2 slots helps right here, as you need to use them for storage as an alternative of hooking up bulkier SATA drives.
Being a full-size ATX board means it’s additionally obtained room for loads of PCI-E slots, and the entire thing has an attention grabbing white and silver aesthetic that brightens up the system’s innards. Addressable RGB headers are dotted about too, in case you need to jazz up your PC much more with lighting kits or different RGB elements.
Key specs – Chipset: Intel Z490; CPU socket: Intel LGA1200; Reminiscence help: 4 RAM slots, max 128GB DDR4 (as much as 4,400MHz); Enlargement slots: 2 x PCI-E x16, 3 x PCI-E x1; Sound: Realtek ALC1200 audio; Networking: Gigabit Ethernet; Overclocking: Customized CPU core ratio and base clock adjustment, customized DRAM frequency; Ports: 4 x SATA 6Gbps (Z490), 3 x M.2, 3x USB 3.1, 1x USB-C, 1 x LAN, 3 x line out, line in, mic, 1x HDMI, 1x VGA, 1x PS/2; Dimensions: 305 x 224mm
