How important is the motherboard for performance?

[Sam QS]

So recently I just learned how to put a computer together a little and got a little excited so started to take my old computer apart. The one thing that I dared not touch was the motherboard because it's what I figured the main component and didn't want to mess with it if it didn't need any messing with. But now I realized that I'll have to learn that part eventually be it now or later down the road, so whether or not to do it now is knowing how much the motherboard will affect performance. I currently have a Dell XPS 8100 or what use to be that anyways and the motherboard is the one that came with it. Should I be considering on replacing it with a new motherboard or will this one suffice for mid/high end gaming? The motherboard I'm considering on buying is this one - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131851&cm_re=ASUS_M5A99FX_PRO_R2.0_AM3-_-13-131-851-_-Product

Will probably wait until thanksgiving and see if there's going to be a sale on it but until then, hope you guys can help me figure this all out, thanks for reading!

 

[Dunlop0078]

That is a great mobo i have the same one i would get the M5A99X NOT THE M5A99FX to save a few bucks. The motherboard is not very important for performance just get a good quality board like that one and you will be okay.

 

[rgd1101]

so you are getting a new cpu too? Look like XPS 8100 use Intel CPU. but the link you provided is for an AMD CPU.

 

[Dunlop0078]

so you are getting a new cpu too? Look like XPS 8100 use Intel CPU. but the link you provided is for an AMD CPU.

Yah i hope your building a whole new pc and not just swapping the parts form your old mobo to this one that will not work.

 

[menetlaus]

Motherboards are both extremely important and un-important at the same time.

They are important because they provide the interconnectivity between the CPU/GPU/Ram/Storage/network - so without one nothing can be done. The chipset on the motherboard is the part that gets updated often and will (typically) only support one type of CPU socket.

Alternatively they are not important for performance because it doesn't matter which brand/build of a motherboard (with any given chipset) you get as they will all perform within 1-2% of every other motherboard with the same chipset.

Maybe the better way to put it is that the chipset matters, while the rest of motherboard doesn't (for perfomance).

Yes, some motherboards will support more graphic cards, hard drives, and such - but these are more a feature of the chipset than the board (IMHO).

 

[Sam QS]

Oh wow lucky I came to ask you guys first haha, learned a lot from it already!

Well actually I was planning on getting an i7 4770k when Thanksgiving sales hits(hoping it'll have a sale otherwise I'll pick up one that does). I plan on using Intel Processors, any recommendations for a motherboard that will work well with that? Since the processor is taking up most of my budget, the motherboard can't be a "top of the line" model. Something good enough for mid/high end gaming is more than good enough.

 

[rgd1101]

total budget? So, cpu, motherboard, ram, gpu, psu, hdd(or ssd), case?, os, keyboard and mouse?, monitor?, dvd burner?

 

[menetlaus]

Oh wow lucky I came to ask you guys first haha, learned a lot from it already!

Well actually I was planning on getting an i7 4770k when Thanksgiving sales hits(hoping it'll have a sale otherwise I'll pick up one that does). I plan on using Intel Processors, any recommendations for a motherboard that will work well with that? Since the processor is taking up most of my budget, the motherboard can't be a "top of the line" model. Something good enough for mid/high end gaming is more than good enough.

With the info in your post - do not buy the i7 - unless you do lots of photoshop/video editing/other heavy CPU usage tasks. You would be better off to save $100 and get an unlocked i5 and put the saved money into other parts, or save ~$150 and get a locked i5 if you do not plan on overclocking it.

Any LGA1150 motherboard will work fine with that CPU (at stock speeds). You might be better off with one of the Z97 chipset ones if you plan to overclock though.

 

[boosted1g]

You are not going to be able to just swap out parts like you are thinking.

Dell cases uses specific cooling that generally does not support aftermarket motherboards and parts.
Then you run inot things like power buttons using dell specific cables instead of the standardized cables that all other cases/motherbaords use.

Then you run into the issue that the license key on the dell tower is tied to that motherboard and you likely wont be able to activate it with a non-dell motherboard. Swapping from amd to intel or vice versa is an automatic have to reintall windows and all your programs. Even if it was the same platform it would likely not boot and is a violation of microsoft license agreement.

In short, you can upgrade memory, gpu, and hard drive. Any other upgrades will require you to just build a completley new tower.

 

[Sam QS]

Yep, definitely glad I came to you guys first, so many things I did not know!

I might just end up building a new thing since the only original pieces in my computer is the motherboard, cpu, and fan atm. The budget between the two parts I'm aiming to be $400 or less since I already spent enough on the graphics/ram/psu.

Oh yeah, I should probably consider getting a new case since this one is so small.