Gaming PCs: Picking the Best Parts and What They Do

Here's what you need to know.
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Motherboard

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Motherboards are arguably the most important part of your computer, so when you’re doing your shopping and research you’ll want to make sure you get the correct board for all of your needs.

First off, the socket type for your motherboard needs to match up with the socket type for your processor. If you’ve got a specific processor in mind, make sure that you’ve narrowed down your motherboard search to those with that specific socket.

Next up is the size of your motherboard. These come in three sizes, Mini-ITX, Micro ATX and ATX. If you’re not after something incredibly fancy then a Micro-ITX board will do the job. However, the more advanced features that you need your motherboard to have, the bigger it will need to be. As long as the size of your build isn’t an issue, this is something that won’t largely determine which one you buy.

When we get to our section of RAM, we’ll talk about the number of sticks you can buy. But when looking for a motherboard, you’ll want to make sure it has enough slots to support the number of sticks of RAM you intend to purchase. The number of SATA ports is also important depending on how many internal hard drives and optical drives you intend to put in your build.

PCI Slots are what you’ll be plugging your GPU, Wi-Fi adapters and other expansion cards into. Take into account anything you plan to put into your build that will require a PCI slot and make sure your motherboard has enough of them to cater to your needs.

Finally, some advanced motherboards can perform a lot of fancy features. Overclocking your processor and Crossfiring your GPUs are just two examples of advanced features that are only possibly with specific, more advanced motherboards. If you’re wanting to do anything like this, make sure your purchase is capable of it.     


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Author
Chris Jecks
Chris Jecks has been covering the games industry for over eight years. He typically covers new releases, FIFA, Fortnite, any good shooters, and loves nothing more than a good Pro Clubs session with the lads. Chris has a History degree from the University of Central Lancashire. He spends his days eagerly awaiting the release of BioShock 4.