[SOLVED] Does Motherboard really makes a difference?

gat3keeper

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Way back in 90's... building a PC depends more solely on budget. I bought my first PC in 1998, I just told the store that I want Pentium II with 16mb of ram (If i still remember it right) but never asked for what kind of motherboard.

For 6-7 PC builds I had in the past, I just opt for "CHEAPEST" motherboard as long as it is ASUS or MSI and "INTEL" as cpu. To be honest, can't remember any problems except power supply needs to be replaced every year or 2. I can play famous games that time. (counterstrike, resident evil, diablo, starcraft, Generals, etc..)


After long hiatus for PC gaming, I build a gaming PC few months ago and was surprised how expensive it was to have "decent" specs. Of course I research as much as I can and noticed that there's a big deal with motherboards.


My question is, does motherboard really matter?

Assuming same parts over all, does $700 boards have a huge advantage vs $100 ones?


I often see VRM VRM VRM... what is the big deal of VRM ? Is it useful for non overclocking users like me?
 
Solution
In truth, yes, the power delivery is something that has become the focal point since the processors we're seeing now are pushing boundaries. When you want to build a gaming system, you don't need anything that has gaming on it, it doesn't make things go any faster, just gives some folks an ease of mind thinking it's meant for gaming. In reality you could build a gaming system using parts that were meant for an office environment.

Think A320 chipset board, GTX1050Ti and some watered down parts. Sure they don't catch anyone's eyes but if all you're going to do is run e-sports titles, then the parts I've mentioned will get the job done. If you're someone who wants all eye candy turned up and then an overclock on the processor just so that...

Lutfij

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In truth, yes, the power delivery is something that has become the focal point since the processors we're seeing now are pushing boundaries. When you want to build a gaming system, you don't need anything that has gaming on it, it doesn't make things go any faster, just gives some folks an ease of mind thinking it's meant for gaming. In reality you could build a gaming system using parts that were meant for an office environment.

Think A320 chipset board, GTX1050Ti and some watered down parts. Sure they don't catch anyone's eyes but if all you're going to do is run e-sports titles, then the parts I've mentioned will get the job done. If you're someone who wants all eye candy turned up and then an overclock on the processor just so that it appeals to your audience(if you're a YT'er) or a professional player, then the latter is something you will need for sure. For both arena's there's a budget and a build within said budget.

Everything in a build should go hand in hand with other parts and quality componentry on any part(GPU, ram or motherboard don't come cheap). Even if you don't overclock now, having that trump card in your build for the future when you do want to overclock is a nice feature to have when you change your mind on overclocking.
 
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Solution

nofanneeded

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Assuming same parts over all, does $700 boards have a huge advantage vs $100 ones?

$700 Motherboards are for very very extremes over clockers , the advantage is not Huge , it is just to have the best (like 2% more performance more )

and it is not just the $700 , it is even some $500 more for watercooling setup , people who get a $700 motherboard will water cool everything as well to get the best of the best

So it is not really worth it. I never go over $300 motherboards whatsoever , and never below $150
 
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Diptes

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Yeah brother ... It does .. But you won't find much of a difference if you switch from mid to high !!!

If you want to overclock get a good mid range board!! It will serve you well !!!
I personally have asus rog z490 e gaming + intel i7 10700k.
Whereas my friend has i7 10700k + a budget board from gigabyte...

Key diff:
My temps are super cool.
More fps.
More stable.
More reliable.
 
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...
was surprised how expensive it was to have "decent" specs.
...
Many "decent" spec's, such as PCIe gen 4 or large quantity of PCIe lanes, are only important if you actually have a purpose to put them to. The great number of buyers have no purpose for them.

VRM quality is very important for overclocking to extreme...and the more extreme, such as LN2, the more important. It's also important when fitting a high core count top of stack processor but even then if not overclocking (or just mildly) it's more often than not way over emphasized in the purchasing decision.

In the end it's like most things as people buy for prestige factor as much as anything rational.
 
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Yes... and No....
Once a motherboard has the essentials you need, price may make little difference.
Some things are preferences like RGB capability or motherboard aesthetics.
More expensive motherboards will have better sound chips.
Some may have integrated wifi or dual lan.

On a base level a motherboard will support all of the processors.
VRM capability comes in to play if you are looking at using a top end processor.
Good vrm will allow higher stable overclocks.
But, if you look at motherboard review comparisons, there is very little difference in maximum overclocks.
 
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gat3keeper

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Nice inputs... I'm learning a lot. That's why I still appreciate forum over youtube :)

Anyway, my next questions are:

  1. Does motherboard size affects or have impact with overall temperature ?
  2. Can I use 5900x on ITX board/case for heavy AAA games and occasional 4k video rendering without frying my investment?
  3. Does motherboard size affects performance as well ? Ex... R9 5900x on Asrock Steel Legend atx vs Asrock Steel Legend mATX
  4. What is/are your non-negotiable feature/s when looking for a motherboard?
 
  1. no. The caseand fans are what determines your cooling
  2. yes. Use only a top quality power supply.
  3. No. The main difference is how many slots the motherboard has.7/4/1 for ATX,MATX,ITX respectively.
  4. The motherboard must fit in the case. Itx will fit in a atx case, but a atx motherboard will not fit in a itx case The chipset must be appropriate to the processor to be installed.
 
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Nice inputs... I'm learning a lot. That's why I still appreciate forum over youtube :)

Anyway, my next questions are:

  1. What is/are your non-negotiable feature/s when looking for a motherboard?
Mine is got to have a decent audio chip and at least 3 case fan headers, oh and reasonable VRM with a heatsink. Also cannot have a little chipset fan or fan on the VRM heatsink
 
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Nov 14, 2020
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Durability!

If chipset is MB heart then VRM is MB lungs.
Just got my MSI MPG X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WiFi fried to death after one year of usage, because of extremely hight VRM temperature of around 95C! Ryzen 3700x, everything on stock speeds!

I gave MSI another chance and purchased MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WiFi, the difference is dramastic - VRM temp down from 95C on heavy load to just 60C resulting whole system run 20 degrees cooler.

Power of strong VRM desing!

VRM is alot of things - durability, stability, perfomance.