Motherboard / Mainboard / M/B / Mobo / System Board
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Intel LGA1156 - for Core i7, Core i5 & Core i3

  Gigabyte - Compared

  ASUS
  Intel
  eVGA

 

Intel LGA1366 - for Core i7 (X58, Triple-channel)

  Gigabyte

  ASUS

 

Intel LGA775 - for Core 2 Duo & Pentium DC
  Gigabyte

  ASUS

 

Contact us for pricing on AMD motherboards:

AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3 - for AMD Phenom & Athlon DC

 

Intel Socket 478 - for older Pentium 4

 

AMD Socket A - for older Athlon XP

 

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Gigabyte LGA1156 Core i7/i5/i3 Motherboards Compared

What is a motherboard \ chipset?

What do the abbreviations mean?

 

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Intel LGA 1156 Motherboards

         

Compatible with LGA1156 Core i7, Core i5 & Core i3 CPUs

	LGA 1156, DDR3, PCI-E	$AU	Stock?
Gigabyte P55 Motherboards
ATX Motherboards designed for Core i5-7xx & Core i7-8xx with dedicated PCI-E graphics card/GPU  - Also compatible with Core i5-6xx & Core i3-3xx when also used with PCI-E graphics card/GPU
Micro-ATX
GA-P55M-UD2	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x4], 2xPCI 7xSATA(incl.2x RAID), 10xUSB2(UpTo14) eSATA, Firewire	199	Ask
GA-P55M-UD4	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x8], 1xPCI-E x4, 1xPCI 7xSATA(incl.2x RAID), 10xUSB2(UpTo14) eSATA, Firewire	266	Ask
ATX
GA-P55-UD3	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x4 ], 2xPCI-E x4, 3xPCI 8xSATA(incl.2x RAID), 10xUSB2(UpTo14)	209	Low
GA-P55-UD3R	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x4 ], 1xPCI-E x1, 4xPCI 8xSATA(incl.8x RAID), 10xUSB2(UpTo14) 2xeSATA(incl.2x RAID)	218	Low
ATX, 2x USB 3.0, 2x SATA3 6Gb/s
GA-P55A-UD3	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x4 ], 2xPCI-E x1, 3xPCI 8xSATA(incl.8x RAID), 8xUSB2(UpTo12) 2xUSB3	239	Low
GA-P55A-UD3P	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x4 ], 3xPCI-E x1, 2xPCI 8xSATA(incl.8x RAID), 8xUSB2(UpTo12) 2xUSB3, 2xeSATA	267	2-3 days
GA-P55A-UD4	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x8 ], 3xPCI-E x1, 2xPCI 8xSATA(incl.8x RAID), 8xUSB2(UpTo12) 2xUSB3, 2xeSATA, 2x Firewire	289	2-3 days
GA-P55A-UD4P	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16[x16, x8 ], 3xPCI-E x1, 2xPCI 8xSATA(incl.8x RAID), 8xUSB2(UpTo12) 2xUSB3, 2xeSATA, 2x Firewire, 2x LAN	327	2-3 days
GA-P55A-UD5	4xRAM, 3xPCI-Ex16[x16,x8,x4], 2xPCI-Ex1, 2xPCI 8xSATA(incl.8x RAID), 8xUSB2(UpTo12) 2xUSB3, 2xeSATA/USB Combo, 2x Firewire, 2x LAN	355	2-3 days
GA-P55A-UD6	6xRAM, 3xPCI-Ex16[x16,x8,x4], 2xPCI-Ex1, 2xPCI 8xSATA(8x RAID), 8xUSB2(UpTo12), Debug LED 2xUSB3, 2xeSATA/USB Combo, 2x Firewire, 2x LAN	424	Ask
GA-P55A-UD7	4xRAM, 4xPCI-Ex16[2x16,2x8], 1xPCI-Ex1, 2xPCI 10xSATA(10xRAID), 10xUSB2(UpTo14), Debug LED 2xUSB3, 2xeSATA/USB Combo, 2x Firewire, 2x LAN	535	Ask
Gigabyte H5x Motherboards
ATX Motherboards designed for Core i5-6xx & Core i3-3xx with integrated graphics/GPU on CPU  - H5x motherboards are required to activate onboard graphics/GPU for Core i5-6xx & Core i3-3xx  - Also compatible with Core i5-7xx & Core i7-8xx CPUs if used with PCI-E graphics card/GPU
Micro-ATX
GA-H55M-S2H	2xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16, 2xPCI 6x SATA, 8xUSB2(UpTo12) DVI-D, D-Sub	179	2-3 days
GA-H55M-UD2H	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16, 2xPCI 5xSATA, 6xUSB2(UpTo12) eSATA, Firewire DisplayPort, DVI-D, D-Sub	198	2-3 days
GA-H57M-USB3	4xRAM, 2xPCI-E x16, 2xPCI 7xSATA, 6xUSB2(UpTo14), 2xUSB3.0 eSATA, Firewire DisplayPort, DVI-D, D-Sub	233	2-3 days

 

Gigabyte Core i7/i5/i3 LGA1156 Motherboards Compared

..updating soon to P55A !...

Model	GA-P55-UD6-C	GA-P55-UD6	GA-P55-UD5
CPU Type	Socket 1156	Socket 1156	Socket 1156
Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset
Memory type	2 Channel DDR3 2600+ /2200/1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2600+ /2200 /1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2600+ /2200/1333/1066/800
Memory socket	6 DDR3	6 DDR3	4 DDR3
Max. Memory	16GB	16GB	16GB
Graphics interface	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16
PCI-Express X16 (X16)	3 (run at x16,x8,x4)	3 (run at x16,x8,x4)	3 (run at x16,x8,x4)
PCI-Express X1 (X2,X4)	2	2	2
PCI	2	2	2
VGA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Storage Interface	12 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	12 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	12 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA
eSATA II	2 eSATA/USB combo ports	2 eSATA/USB combo ports	2 eSATA/USB combo ports
RAID Function	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD
LAN	2 GbE LAN (Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller)	2 GbE LAN (Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller)	2 GbE LAN (Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller)
Audio	HD Audio (Realtek ALC889A)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC889A)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC889A)
Codec channel	8	8	8
SPDIF IN/OUT	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes
IEEE 1394	3	3	3
USB 2.0/1.1	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)
COM	1	1	1
Smart TPM	N/A	Yes	Yes
DualBIOS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Form Factor	ATX	ATX	ATX
PCB size	30.5*24.4 CM	30.5*24.4 CM	30.5*24.4 CM
Model	GA-P55-UD4P	GA-P55-UD4	GA-P55M-UD4
CPU Type	Socket 1156	Socket 1156	Socket 1156
Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset
Memory type	2 Channel DDR3 2200+ /1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2200+ /1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2200+ /1333/1066/800
Memory socket	4 DDR3	4 DDR3	4 DDR3
Max. Memory	16GB	16GB	16GB
Graphics interface	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16
PCI-Express X16 (X16)	2 (run at x16,x8)	2 (run at x16,x8)	2 (run at x16,x8)
PCI-Express X1 (X2,X4)	3	3	1 (x4)
PCI	2	2	1
VGA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Storage Interface	10 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	10 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	8 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA
eSATA II	2 eSATA ports	2 eSATA ports	1 eSATA/USB combo ports
RAID Function	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD
LAN	2 GbE LAN (Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller)	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller
Audio	HD Audio (Realtek ALC889A)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC888)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC889A)
Codec channel	8	8	8
SPDIF IN/OUT	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes
IEEE 1394	3	3	2
USB 2.0/1.1	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)
COM	1	1	0
Smart TPM	Yes	N/A	N/A
DualBIOS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Form Factor	ATX	ATX	Micro ATX
PCB size	30.5*24.4 CM	30.5*24.4 CM	24.4*24.4 CM
Model	GA-P55-UD3R	GA-P55-UD3P	GA-P55-UD3
CPU Type	Socket 1156	Socket 1156	Socket 1156
Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset
Memory type	2 Channel DDR3 2200+ /1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2200+/1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2200+/1333/1066/800
Memory socket	4 DDR3	4 DDR3	4 DDR3
Max. Memory	16GB	16GB	16GB
Graphics interface	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16
PCI-Express X16 (X16)	2 (run at x16,x8)	2 (run at x16,x4)	2 (run at x16,x4)
PCI-Express X1 (X2,X4)	1	1	2
PCI	4	4	3
VGA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Storage Interface	10 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	10 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	8 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA
eSATA II	2 eSATA ports	2 eSATA ports	N/A
RAID Function	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD
LAN	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller
Audio	HD Audio (Realtek ALC888)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC888)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC888)
Codec channel	8	8	8
SPDIF IN/OUT	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes
IEEE 1394	0	0	0
USB 2.0/1.1	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)
COM	1	1	1
Smart TPM	N/A	Yes	N/A
DualBIOS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Form Factor	ATX	ATX	ATX
PCB size	30.5*24.4 CM	30.5*19.0 CM	30.5*19.0 CM
Model	GA-P55M-UD2	GA-P55-UD3L	GA-P55-US3L
CPU Type	Socket 1156	Socket 1156	Socket 1156
Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset	Intel P55 Express Chipset
Memory type	2 Channel DDR3 2200+/1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2200+ /1333/1066/800	2 Channel DDR3 2200+ /1333/1066/800
Memory socket	4 DDR3	4 DDR3	4 DDR3
Max. Memory	16GB	16GB	16GB
Graphics interface	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16	PCI-Express (2.0) x16
PCI-Express X16 (X16)	2 (run at x16,x4)	2 (run at x16,x4)	2 (run at x16,x4)
PCI-Express X1 (X2,X4)	0	1	1
PCI	2	4	4
VGA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Storage Interface	8 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	8 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA	8 Serial ATA 3Gb/s / 1 PATA
eSATA II	1	N/A	N/A
RAID Function	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD	SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD
LAN	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller	1 GbE LAN Realtek 8111D Gigabit LAN Controller
Audio		HD Audio (Realtek ALC888)	HD Audio (Realtek ALC888)
Codec channel	8	8	8
SPDIF IN/OUT	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes	Yes/Yes
IEEE 1394	2	0	0
USB 2.0/11	14 (4 by cable)	14 (4 by cable)	14 (6 by cable)
COM	1	1	1
Smart TPM	N/A	N/A	N/A
DualBIOS	Yes	Yes	Yes
Form Factor	MicroATX	ATX	ATX
PCB size	24.4*24.4 CM	30.5*19.0 CM	30.5*19.0 CM

 

Intel LGA 1156 Motherboards
          

Compatible with LGA1156 Core i7, Core i5 & Core i3 CPUs

 

	LGA 1156, DDR3, PCI-E	$AU	Stock?
Asus Motherboards
P7P55-LX		209	2-3 days
P7P55D-LE		233	2-3 days
P7P55D		249	2-3 days
P7P55D-E		280	2-3 days
P7P55D-PRO		279	2-3 days
P7P55D-EVO		329	2-3 days
P7P55D-DELUXE		379	2-3 days
MAXIMUS-III-GENE		379	2-3 days
MAXIMUS-III-FORMULA		449	2-3 days
Sabertooth-55i		477	2-3 days
MAXIMUS-III-EXTREME		599	2-3 days

 

Intel LGA 1156 Motherboards
          

Compatible with LGA1156 Core i7, Core i5 & Core i3 CPUs

 

	LGA 1156, DDR3, PCI-E	$AU	Stock?
Intel Brand Motherboards
BOX DH55TC		222	2-3 days
BOX DP55WB		222	2-3 days
BOX DP55WG		299	2-3 days
BOX DP55SB		338	2-3 days

Intel LGA 1156 Motherboards
          

Compatible with LGA1156 Core i7, Core i5 & Core i3 CPUs

 

	LGA 1156, DDR3, PCI-E	$AU	Stock?
eVGA Motherboards
P55 LE		Ask	Ask
P55 Micro		Ask	Ask
P55		Ask	Ask
P55 FTW		Ask	Ask

 

 

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Intel LGA 1366 Motherboards

               

Compatible with LGA1366 Core i7-9xx Bloomfield CPUs

	LGA 1366	$AU	Stock?
Gigabyte Motherboards
ATX Motherboards for Core i7 - Triple Channel - LGA1366
GA-EX58-UD3R	6xDDR3, RAID, SLI	372	2-3 days
GA-EX58-UD4	6xDDR3, RAID, SLI	399	2-3 days
GA-EX58-UD4P	6xDDR3, RAID, SLI	446	2-3 days
GA-EX58-UD5	6xDDR3, RAID, 3xSLI	489	2-3 days
GA-EX58-EXTREME	6xDDR3, RAID, 3xSLI	577	2-3 days

		$AU	Stock?
Asus Motherboards
ATX Motherboards for Core i7
P6T-SE		339	2-3 days
P6T		417	2-3 days
P6T-DELUXE-V2		549	2-3 days
Rampage II Gene		599	2-3 days
P6T Deluxe OC Palm		668	2-3 days
Rampage II Extreme		797	2-3 days

 

 

Intel LGA 775 Motherboards

             

Compatible with Intel Core 2 Duo \ Core 2 Quad
and Pentium Dual Core \ Core 2 Extreme CPUs

	LGA 775, DDR2, PCI-E	$AU	Stock?
Gigabyte Motherboards
Micro-ATX Motherboards - with onboard graphics (no video card needed)
GA-G31M-ES2L	VGA, 2xDDR2	99	Yes
GA-73PVM-S2H	HDMI, DVI, VGA, 2xDDR2, RAID	157	Low
ATX Motherboards - PCI-E graphics/video card is required
GA-EP41-UD3L	4xDDR2	179	3 days

 

 

Intel LGA 775 Motherboards

           

Compatible with Core 2 Duo \ Core 2 Quad
and Pentium Dual Core \ Core 2 Extreme CPUs

 

	LGA 775, DDR2, PCI-E	$AU	Stock?
Asus Motherboards
Micro-ATX Motherboards - with onboard graphics (no video card needed)
P5KPL-AM	VGA, 2xDDR2	123	2-3 days
P5QPL-AM	VGA, 2xDDR2	149	Ask
P5G41-M	HDMI, VGA, 2xDDR2	179	2-3 days

 

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- All new motherboards include 1 year manufacturer warranty

- Not all Motherboards kept in stock, lead time usually 2-3 days

- Contact us for pricing on other models/brands e.g. Intel, DFI, XFX, eVGA, MSI, Foxconn, ...

 

 

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- Contact us for pricing on new AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3 motherboards

 

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Refurbished / Second Hand / Used Motherboards

Socket 478 and Socket A / 462 Motherboards

Compatible with older Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP CPUs

Used Motherboards	$AU	Stock?
S478, DDR1, AGP
Socket 478 for Intel P4 / Pentium 4 and Celeron CPUs up to max 533 MHz	From 77	Low
Socket 478 for Intel P4 / Pentium 4 and Celeron CPUs up to max 800 MHz	From 99	Yes
SocketA, DDR1, AGP
Socket A / 462 for AMD Athlon XP, Thunderbird, Duron, Sempron CPUs	From 89	Low

- 7 day warranty on used / refurbished motherboards
- All Socket 478 & Socket A motherboards are used and no longer manufactured new!

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What is a motherboard / socket / chipset?

The motherboard is the main printed circuit board in a computer. It contains sockets/slots that all other internal PC components are plugged into, either directly such as the CPU, graphics card and RAM, or with a cable such as the hard drive, power supply and power button on the front of your computer.

 

Sockets

The CPU/processor plugs into the socket of a motherboard. Current Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad and Pentium Dual Core CPU based motherboards use socket LGA775, officially known as Socket T, but the new Core i7/Nehalem CPUs use a different socket called LGA1366 or Socket B. Older Pentium 4 and Celeron PCs use Socket 478.

AMD, another CPU manufacturer and competitor to Intel, use Socket AM2 for their Phenom CPUs and newer Athlon 64 CPUs. Older Athlon 64s used sockets 939, 940 and 754. Socket AM2+ adds more features to AM2 but is compatible either way (you just lose any extra features). Socket AM3 has been delayed but should replace AM2 in 2009. Socket AM3 CPUs will work on AM2 motherboards but not the other way round, while DDR3 will also be supported along with DDR2 (not at the same time).

This website lists all the current and previously available sockets,

 

Chipsets

The computer chips on a motherboard which determine most of its capabilities and features is called the chipset. A motherboard will have 1-2 chipsets whose designs are given by the CPU manufacturer (e.g. Intel/AMD) to the motherboard manufacturer (e.g. Gigabyte/Asus) to make.

The motherboard manufacturer will then create different models based on these chipset reference designs. e.g. Gigabyte has the EP45 series of boards including GA-EP45-DS3, GA-EP45-DS4P, GA-EP45-UD3R, and many more, which are all similar in design but offer different features. These motherboards all based on the P45 (northbridge) and ICH10/R (southbridge) chipsets.

 

The motherboard's chipset mostly determines what other PC components/parts are compatible with a computer. The northbridge will accept only one type of CPU (in the socket), and determines the type of graphics/GPU and RAM that is usable. The southbridge connects the rest of the motherboard (to the northbridge) including ports for PCI expansion cards, hard drives, DVD/optical drives and USB, controlling most of the slower data I/O (in/out) functions on the motherboard.

 

Older PCs will have motherboards using chipsets which need DDR1 RAM, AGP graphics, IDE hard drives (no SATA), along with maybe an Intel Pentium 4 (Socker 478) or AMD Athlon XP (Socket A) CPU. Some PCs also have a mix of technology such as e.g. newer PCI-E graphics but use only older DDR1 RAM.

New PCs usually have motherboards using chipsets requiring DD2 RAM, PCI-E graphics and SATA hard drives (also most have at least one IDE port), along with a Dual Core CPU such as an Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon64.

Recently released is the X58 chipset which uses all new DDR3 RAM and the new Intel Core i7/Nehalem CPU using socket LGA1366. The X58 still uses PCI-E graphics and SATA.

Future chipsets from Intel, due near the end of 2009, will use Nehalem based CPUs but with socket type LGA1156. This will be when Core i7  drops in price and goes mainstream, with dual-channel DDR3 and Dual Core CPUs in addition to the Quad Core.

 

Current Intel chipsets

Current chipsets for Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad CPUs include P45, G45, P43, G43, G31, X48. While the new X58 chipset is for new Core i7/Nehalem CPUs. The G indicates integrated graphics (e.g. on the GA-G31M-S2L ) while X are performance motherboards for high-end use.

The most popular chipset today (end of 2009) are called P45, which replaced the P35 chipset motherboards. The EP45 series of motherboards is a newer version of the P45 from Gigabyte indicating better Energy savings. The P43 cuts a off just a few features from P45 but other lower number chipsets such as G31 are much more basic motherboards.

Older Intel LGA775 chipsets were based on 965 and 945, but there were also some 945 chipsets which used the Pentium 4 Socket 478. The oldPentium 4 CPUs had chipsets such as 955, 945, 865, 840, 810 and many others.

Current chipsets from Nvidia include nForce/GeForce 610i/7050, 630i/7100 and nForce 650i and 680i. Nvidia are most popular for their graphics/video card designs but have also designed motherboards for many years. Their graphics chipset is called GeForce and their motherboard chipsets are called nForce.

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Abbreviation Key

 

CPU - Bus rates

FSB = Front Side Bus, motherboard supports up to this speed CPU in MHz. Aussie PC Fix now only sell LGA775 motherboards which support at least 1333MHz CPUs, covering all mainstream CPUs (some of the pricey extreme CPUs run at 1600Mhz). If your motherboard only supports e.g. up to 800MHz then an E8400 running at 1333MHz will not work - you must upgrade to a 800MHz CPU only such as E5300 or replace the motherboard for one with better support.

Some motherboards say e.g. 1600 FSB (O.C.) which means compatible with overclock but the CPU may not actually run at this higher speed, check motherboard CPU and RAM compatibility before attempting to run a performance CPU at 1600 MHz.

QPI = New LGA1366 motherboards use 'Quick Path Interconnect' instead of a FSB. It runs at up to 25.6GB/sec which is theoretically up to twice as fast as vs. 1600 FSB.

 

RAM

DDR2-1333 = Supports e.g. DDR2 RAM up to the speed of 1333 MHz. All DDR2 mainboards listed support at least 800 Mhz which is the most common type of RAM in 2008-2009. All new computers use DDR2, expect the brand new Core i7 and some AMD based PCs which use DDR3 but these platforms are not mainstream yet due to their recent release and cost.

Most users do not need to be concerned with DDR2 speeds as long as the board supports a minimum of DDR2-667 or DDR2-800. Most Intel dual core CPUs run at quad-pumped 1333MHz which is equivalent to dual-pumped DDR2 RAM running at 667MHz, so you should use this speed RAM or faster.

DDR-800 is the most common type of RAM, so it is best if your motherboard supports at least this speed (most do). You only need any faster RAM if you want the fastest possible speeds in your computer - but at a high expense, or if you will overclock past this speed (overclocking voids your warranty!).

 

Integrated Graphics / Onboard Graphics

DVI-D = Video output connector from the onboard graphics to LCDs with DVI connector

VGA/D-SUB = As above but for older monitors (most CRT and some LCD)

HDMI = New LCD monitor or TV connector becoming popular especially with LCD TVs.

Display Port = A brand new LCD monitor or TV connector that is not yet widely used

- Having onboard graphics means you do not need a separate graphics card. This is fine in most cases for video, graphics and many games, but to play the latest 3D type games then a graphics card will give better performance or is required. Motheboards with onboard graphics also include a graphics card slot so you can upgrade in the future if needed.

 

Graphics Cards / Video Cards

AGP = Older type of Graphics Card Slot still in use by many PCs tooday. AGP cards are rare and cost more than newer PCI-E cards.

PCI-E = Graphics Card Slot that is most common since approx 2006-2007. Not compatible with AGP.

 

Hard Disk Drive \ Optical Drive ports

IDE = Older type of drive port, for hard disk drives and optical drives such as DVD. Two drives per IDE port.

SATA2 = Most common type of disk port. Nearly all SATA mobos have at least one IDE port too. One drive per SATA port.

SATA RAID = SATA2 but also has extra RAID function for hard disk redundancy (RAID1\5) or increased disk speed (RAID0)

eSATA = an external SATA hard drive port used in some new external hard drives. Faster than USB but not widely used yet.

 

Other Ports

LAN = RJ-45 Network connection. All new mothboards above have one or two gigabit (10/100/1000mbit) LAN ports
USB2.0 = Very common external port for USB devices/peripherals such as printers and external drives.

1394 = Firewire is a less used external port for firewire devices such as video camcorders

- Motherboards usually also include headers for addtional 1394 or USB ports - ask us if you need any more of these ports!

Legacy Ports

Serial = Older port mostly used for dial-up modems and other serial devices. Mostly replaced by USB

Parallel = Older port mostly used with older printers. Mostly replaced by USB

PS/2 = Older mouse and keyboard connector (round and green/purple!) but can still be more reliable and convenient than USB (especially when troubleshooting PCs and the BIOS!).


- All motherboards listed above have 1x PS/2 mouse and 1x PS/2 keyboard connector unless otherwise stated

- Most new motherboards do not include legacy serial or parallel connectors as standard, but offer a header to attach an external port at the back of the PC at extra cost. Ask if you would like these ports, or additional headers for extra USB ports.

 

Form Factor

ATX = Standard sized motherboard of size 30.5cm x 21.0cm to fit standard midi-tower case. Will usually have more PCI-E and/or PCI slots than a Mini-ATX motherboard.

Mini-ATX = Smaller sized motherboard of size 24.4cm x 19.3cm which only fits in smaller mini-tower cases. Usually cheaper and with less features than full ATX but commonly include integrated graphics for non-gaming computers.