how to choose a good mobo

[Salmonela]

what do i need to look for when choosing a new mobo? what makes it good or excellent? what brand is most recommended?

help for newbies

 

[ksham]

1. Make sure the motherboard has everything you need. Examples: SLI/CrossFire compatible, USB 3.0, enough SATA ports, enough RAM slots, mSATA, etc. Those are just examples. I'm not suggesting that you get a motherboard with all of the above. Also keep in mind the size of the motherboard. If you want a small computer and tower, then you'll want a smaller motherboard. And depending on your CPU, you'll also have to choose the motherboard with the correct socket as the CPU.

2. Popularity, reviews, benchmarks, etc.

3. ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI

 

[Salmonela]

Thanks ksham.

How are the Intel mobos?

 

[ksham]

Some are terrible; some are okay; some are good; some are great.

Same as the AMD motherboards. It depends on which one you buy. There's no "Intel motherboards are all better than AMD's" or "AMD motherboards are all better than Intel's".

 

[Salmonela]

specifically I'm about to buy this one – Intel® Desktop Board DH77EB, to fit an Intel Core i5-3470.
is it good? tried to find benchmarks for mobos but didn't find, are there?

 

[ksham]

I have no experience with that board whatsoever. Judging by the price, I'd recommend a ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP.

 

[Salmonela]

thanks Ksham!

 

[ksham]

You're welcome.