Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
factors. Larger form factors such as ATX offer more slots and room for additional integrated
components and features. Smaller variations on ATX are also available, but in the end you need
to be sure that the motherboard is compatible with the case and power supply you have chosen.
I recommend mini-ITX or smaller versions for home theater or similar dedicated or embedded
system requirements.
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Bus slots
—Current systems offer one to five or more PCI and PCI Express slots (depending on
the form factor). Some boards have more than one PCIe x16 (video card) slot, which you may
want if you are running multiple video cards in an SLI or CrossfireX arrangement. Make sure
the board you choose has the number and types of slots you require. Keep in mind that PCI is
disappearing on some motherboards, so if you want to use existing PCI cards, make sure you
choose a motherboard that has enough PCI slots or has integrated ports that replace the
functionality of your PCI cards.
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Onboard ATA interfaces
—All motherboards on the market have included onboard Serial
ATA interfaces for some time now, but not all are equal. Look for boards that include at least
four to six SATA connectors, with support for 6Gbps operation, at least one eSATA port (if
you have eSATA drives or enclosures), as well as optional RAID functionality (if desired).
Note that most late model systems include only one Parallel ATA port (for up to two drives) or
frequently no Parallel ATA support at all. With the low cost of Serial ATA optical drives, it's
probably better to replace existing Parallel ATA with Serial ATA optical drives in your next
system build so you can select a motherboard that has the maximum number of Serial ATA
ports.
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Other built-in interfaces
—Ideally, a motherboard should contain as many built-in standard
controllers and interfaces as possible. Most boards feature integrated USB, sound, and LAN
(look for those offering gigabit Ethernet), whereas others also have integrated video, FireWire,
eSATA, dual LAN adapters, and more. Motherboards with the latest generation of USB (USB
3.0) and SATA (6Gbps) are likely to cost more than boards using USB 2.0 and SATA 3Gbps,
but by the time you add expansion cards to gain these features, the total cost of upgrading a
board lacking these features added to the original motherboard cost usually makes the board
with faster ports a better buy.
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BIOS features
—If you want to overclock your system, you need a BIOS that provides access
to CPU clock multiplier settings and voltages as well as memory timings and voltages. If you
want to use virtualization, make sure the BIOS supports Intel VT-x or AMD-V settings for
hardware-assisted virtualization. To use 3TB or larger hard disks, make sure you use UEFI
BIOS (these typically have a graphical UI that can be controlled with either a mouse or the
keyboard).
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Documentation
—Good technical documentation is important. Documents should be easy to
download from the manufacturer's site and should include information on any and all jumpers
and switches found on the board, connector pinouts for all connectors, specifications for other
plug-in components, and any other applicable technical information. Most vendors provide this
information in electronic form (using the Adobe Reader PDF format) on their websites, so you
can preview the information available for a given motherboard before you buy.
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Technical support
—Good online technical support goes beyond documentation. It includes
easily downloadable driver and BIOS updates, FAQs, updated tables of processor and memory
