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Things to consider
So, what exactly separates these motherboards? Firstly, It’s important to ask yourself exactly what you will need from the motherboard itself. Do you need PCIe 4.0? Does it support a quad-channel memory configuration?
Once you ask yourself these questions, you can start to consider the requirements of your motherboard. If you’re going to edit videos, you might need a motherboard with more USB slots for peripherals. If you’re a gamer, then you might want a board with more overclocking support.
We’ve made it a little easier for you to navigate these often murky waters, and give you an idea of exactly what you’ll need to look out for when shipping around for a new motherboard.
AMD motherboard chipset differences
There are more than a few chipsets available to choose from offered by AMD, and this diversity can cause quite a bit of confusion, if you don’t understand what each chipset means, or what it is capable of. All you really need to know is there’s a chipset hierarchy that categorizes each chipset by letter.
The AMD motherboard chipset hierarchy is as follows.
X – Best, aimed at enthusiast PC builders.
B – Average, aimed at mainstream PC builders.
A – Entry-level, aimed at budget PC builders.
Please note: When we say entry-level, we do not mean bad, it’s just a comparative term. These chipsets support fewer features than average.
The difference between chipsets is outlined by how many features they support, or how fast the buses are that support those features. The chipset contains a controller that manages all USB devices and the hardware in your PC, and the number of devices the chipset can support is limited by the type of chipset you have chosen..
For example, an X570 board might support 8 USB slots and 4 M.2 slots, while a B550 board might only support 4 USB slots and 2 M.2 slots. This is a very rudimentary example as the logistics are far more complex. So, be sure to do your research before purchasing a motherboard, as you don’t want to run into any issues that may mess around with your PCIe lanes, and could result in lower performance from your system.
Form factor
The form factor is something you need to consider when selecting a motherboard as ideally, you’d like the motherboard to fit inside your case.The form factor is just a fancy term for size. Below is a list of all the form factors and their sizes to help you determine whether the board you’re looking to buy is the right fit for you.
Motherboard form factors
- Mini – ITX | 6.7 x 6.7 Inches
- Mini – ATX | 5.9 x 5.9 Inches
- Micro – ATX | 9.6 x 9.6 Inches
- ATX | 12 x 9.6 Inches
- eATX | 12 x 13 Inches
Fun fact – Intel released the first-ever ATX board way back in 1995. Since then it has been considered the ‘Standard’ motherboard form factor since then. Some motherboards, such as an ITX board may have fewer features, but that’s a compromise that you will have to make if you are looking to build a small system.
Socket
“What is a socket!” We hear you cry. A socket refers to the CPU socket, the CPU socket is the component of the motherboard that the CPU sits in. For this guide, we’re only going to be concerning ourselves with AM4, which has been the standard for Ryzen CPUs since its introduction in 2016.
AM4 replaced its predecessor, the AM3+ socket. With the arrival of AM4 also came AMD Ryzen CPUs. These are the CPUs that support the AM4 socket. It’s worth mentioning that at the time of writing, Ryzen CPUs only support AM4.
If you think of it almost like a shape, the AM4 CPU will only fit into an AM4 size hole, all you need to do is match up the socket type between your CPU and motherboard. AM5 will be using a different solution when it launches, with an LGA 1718 solution.
Memory
Choosing a motherboard that supports your memory is imperative, as you don’t want incompatibility affecting performance or wasting your hard-earned money.
You need to take into account the motherboard’s supported memory speed and acquire memory within that supported speed bracket. If you obtain RAM outside of the motherboard’s supported upper-speed limit, then the RAM will be forced to default to a slower speed. This diminishes the RAMs value, as you’ll not be using it to its fullest potential. However, it’s not just speed you need to match, but also the number of DIMMS.
Smaller form factor motherboards tend to have less RAM slots to save on space. This means that should you buy a 32GB kit of RAM that ships divided into four sticks of eight gigabytes, you need to make sure that your motherboard of choice supports four or more DIMMs, and quad-channel memory profiles, too.
But RAM compatibility and chipsets aren’t all you need to consider when it comes to things that could potentially hamper your system’s performance.
PCIe / PCI slots
There are two types of PCI slots: PCI and PCI Express (PCIe). The PCIe slot is a larger, faster version of the PCI slot. All motherboards come with PCIe and PCI slots, and these serve a very important role, this is where you’ll seat your precious GPU. This isn’t the only purpose that PCIe slots serve, as there are a plethora of expansion cards that can accommodate a PCIe slot.
Some examples of additional expansion cards are:
- WiFi card
- Capture cards
- USB expansion cards
- High-end sound cards
- NVMe expansion cards
For average use case/gaming, two PCIe slots will suffice. It’s rare that you’ll ever need more than two PCIe slots, unless you’re looking to add storage, or more functionality to your system with an expansion card..
Most motherboards ship with integrated sound chips and for average use these integrated chips are excellent.However, you may want to grab a motherboard with more expansion slots to suit your industry/niche For content creators, you might want a high-end capture card, or a sound card for high-end audio mixes.
This also applies to USB cards, NVMe storage expansion cards, and WiFi cards. We’re not suggesting you head out and buy a WRX80-SE-SAGE with seven PCIe slots, just that you consider any future expansions you may wish to make to your system, and leave your options open. Certain form-facotrs might only have a single PCIe slot, so be sure to check whether you need more than just your GPU, or not.
But, it’s one thing to pack in a whole load of high end hardware into your system, but unless you have enough cooling, it’s going to bake. The motherboard also plays a hugely important part in ensuring that your system keeps cool.
Fan headers
Fan headers support the operation of fans and other cooling devices such as an AIO cooler. The more fan headers you have on your motherboard the better, as is the same with everything. However, smaller form factor boards may have fewer fan headers, so be sure to check you have enough cooling potential in the system before you buy.
If you are building a small nuclear power plant of a PC, like something that boasts an RTX 3090 and a 5950X, you may want to prioritize a motherboard with great VRM cooling, multiple power phases and more than a few fan headers to attach your cooling solutions to. The higher your PC’s TDP the more fan headers you may want to have to dissipate the heat that your system will be generating under load.
With overclocking gaming some popularity in recent years, it’s important to have enough PWM headers at your disposal, to keep everything operating within a safe temperature.
Take into consideration your intentions and whether or not you wish to overclock your CPU or GPU, as overclocking can produce much more heat and increase the overall TDP of your whole system. But if you wish to avoid overclocking entirely then fan headers can be lower on your list of priorities.
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