Computer Motherboards For Your Desktop

Gigabyte, Asus, Biostar, and MSI all offer very affordable motherboards that accept today’s fastest processors. Of course, before deciding on a motherboard, the first thing you’ll want to do is decide whether your next processor should be made by AMD or Intel. There are advantages to both, but typically an AMD processor and compatible motherboard will run slightly less expensive than an Intel combination. Intel also makes their own motherboards, and some users may have a business reason to stay in the Intel family of processors.

After deciding on your processor, your next step is to determine which components you do not plan on upgrading at the same time as your motherboard. For instance, if you are planning on keeping your AGP video card, you’ll need to buy a motherboard with this capability. Newer boards that have the PCI-Express slots do not have AGP slots, too. You’ll also want to determine your hard drive interface (ATA-133 or SATA) and your memory requirements.

If it hasn’t been too long since your last upgrade, you might be able to find a board that allows for newer memory while still allowing your existing memory to work. This can save you some money for the moment until you have time to upgrade your memory later.

While most modern motherboards offer an onboard Ethernet port for attaching to a network, some newer boards are also offering built-in wireless. This can save you money if you plan on using that feature, so be sure that the onboard wireless is fast enough for your purposes.

Many newer boards are already labeling themselves as “Windows Vista ready” in anticipation of Microsoft’s new operating system, but if you don’t need that much power, you can save money by buying a slightly older motherboard, or one that is not Vista ready.

You’ll also want to make sure the new motherboard has enough built-in USB ports so that you can save more money by not buying a secondary USB card later. Also, many newer boards are no longer offering parallel ports, so if you still have peripherals that require parallel ports, be sure and check for this – or else you may to have upgrade your other equipment to USB devices at the same time, which you may not have planned on.