How important are motherboards

[jane]

Hello,

I've been wondering. How important is a motherboard to the overall performance of a computer? I've already educated myself on the role of every component inside a computer and how they improve the performance of a PC, but I never did find out how important a motherboard is and so I always got just "whatever" motherboard works for my build.

Can someone tell me the benefits of getting a higher class motherboard? Aside from the overclocking of non-k Intel CPUs that is.

 

[Oussebon]

The benefit mainly comes from features.

If you mean gaming performance specifically, then it really doesn't matter.

With the possible exception of very newly released platforms where there will be differences in BIOSes (the Asus Crosshair for Ryzen gave a couple more FPS out of the gate than some of the gigabyte boards iirc).

But in general:
e.g. https://www.kitguru.net/components/...strix-z370-e-gaming-motherboard-review/all/1/
https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/motherboards/asus-rog-strix-z370-e-gaming/6/
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/110339-asus-rog-strix-z370-f-gaming/?page=7

The boards might have different audio chips (which I usually bracket under "features" since if you really care you'll be buying an expensive USB DAC of some kind anyway). There might be different controllers for storage, as with my P8Z77-V where I think 2 of the Sata III connectors are Asmedia, which can have implications for storage performance.

But as you can see from the reviews above, NVMe, Sata, and USB 3.1 performance is basically identical to the next mobo along, so it won't often be a factor.

Can someone tell me the benefits of getting a higher class motherboard? Aside from the overclocking of non-k Intel CPUs that is.

More expensive motherboards might support more extreme overclocks on -k CPUs. Though for most people shopping here that's not even a remote consideration, since if you're doing that level of extreme overclocking you won't be buying prebuilt.

 

[jane]

Looking over the links and you're right, there's not much difference in between them. I'm not even considering overclock, since that also voids the CPU warranty as far as I remember.

I remember there were things like USB3 and such being promoted before, but it seems like most, if not all new mobos are being released with USB3. The only thing I am considering is the reinforced graphic card socket for the heavier GPUs. Anyway, I'm ranting again. Thanks for the information.

 

[Oussebon]

Pretty much every motherboard will have USB 3.0 (aka USB 3.1 Gen 1) now.

It's USB 3.1 Gen 2 (and especially USB 3.1 Gen 2 with Type C connectors) that distinguish the more expensive motherboards now. But that tech still seems very forward-looking as there's not much that takes advantage of it at the moment, for most users anyway.

I wouldn't pay any attention to the reinforced GPU slots personally. If concerned about GPU sag, look into brackets or even vertical mounting kits.

PCS do sell pre-overclocked systems where the OC is already applied and covered by their warranty. For systems where one is already purchasing expensive components like unlocked CPUs, high end mobos, higher end PSUs, powerful CPU coolers etc, I usually argue it makes no sense not to get a pre-OCed system. Depends on the budget and uses ofc.

 

[jane]

I see, this is extremely informative. How high do they overclock though? As high as it can go or just to a certain limit? I see a lot of overclocked GPUs, but never a CPU, and they don't seem to be extremely overclocked. My current motherboard actually has those reinforced slots, but it still bends. Still though, better than the slot completely breaking cause of the weight. It happened to a friend of mine.

I'll check out how much the OC'd CPUs are and see if it's still affordable to get them. Thanks!

 

[Oussebon]

Afaik the reinforced PCIe slot is mainly a gimmick. Some people say it helps if you move the PC around a lot for PAN parties...

The reason you see a lot of overclocked graphics cards is that they come out of the factory that way i.e. with a 'factory overclock'. This is an overclock applied by the manufacturer before it leaves them to go to retailers. It's one of the things that sets apart an EVGA GTX 1070 SC or FTW from an EVGA GTX 1070 Founders Edition, for example.

People may then choose to OC their GPU on to of that. My GTX 970 SSC seems happy enough with an extra 75MHz on the clock with any changes to voltage, which can make the difference between sticking to 60fps or not in some titles at higher settings.

Note that PCS's policy is apparently that overclocking your graphics card (not counting any factory OC it ships with) will void the warranty. This is a bizarre and outdated policy in my opinion, but it's not my opinion that matters

For their pre-overclocked systems PCS will generally overclock Intel CPUs to 4.8GHz on all cores, or as close to that as they can get it. This is a reasonably modest overclock, though in the context of an i7 8700k it can still give you upto 400-500MHz on each core for 6 cores.

If you build a system at stock speeds: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z370-pc/
And then one with an overclocked CPU: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z370-overclocked/
with the same components, the cost difference is usually about £10.

 

[jane]

I actually have friend who bought a higher end card with her older motherboard, just cause she was planning on upgrading later, but the PCIe slot just caved in from the weight. She ended up having to buy the entire PC earlier than she intended because of that.

I see it as having around £100 in between and not £10, am I looking at the wrong price? If it really is £100, then it feels like it's not worth it since that seems to be a "safe" zone overclock from what I can tell, at least.

 

[Oussebon]

I can't help but wonder whether other factors might have been involved. It's really not very common at all for a properly installed GPU to do that, such that googling 'reinforced PCIe slots' tends to just show forum after forum saying they're a gimmick.

Anyway, it seems to be quite common for manufacturers to slap that label onto their mobos with high end models so perhaps you won't need to spend much extra to get a reinforced PCIe slot if you're shopping in that ballpark.

I think you're looking at the wrong section. Are you looking at the Liquid Series perhaps? Because those will be hundreds of £ more.

For general overclocked ones, with matched components:

STOCK

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
--Get Destiny 2 with select GTX 10 Series GPUs! ** Limited Codes Available **
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,757.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/e9Z7bcpbsR/


Pre-Overclocked

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-8700K Six Core (3.7GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
--Get Destiny 2 with select GTX 10 Series GPUs! ** Limited Codes Available **
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,768.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-overclocked/vaVKpgWdwq/

 

[jane]

I saw it on the side of the two links that you provided earlier. It says "System summary" and has a price inclusive and exclusive of VAT underneath it. £10 seems like a good deal for having to remove the risk of overclocking it myself.

Thank you very much for the recommendation and knowledge.

 

[Oussebon]

I saw it on the side of the two links that you provided earlier. It says "System summary" and has a price inclusive and exclusive of VAT underneath it.

Ah, I see. This is because the overclocked builds have higher end components by default. With the stock clocked builds you can get cheaper PSUs, cheaper coolers, cheaper CPUs. For example, the stock clocked builds have a VS 350W PSU by default, while the overclocked systems have a TX650x as a minimum. But as above if you're buying some of the higher end things anyway, by the time you've configured two otherwise-identical builds the cost difference seems to shrink to about £11.

Keep us posted with your build