Motherboards- Main board of the computer

Motherboards/RAM- Heart that beats loud

The performance of our system depends greatly on the quality of motherboard that we choose to buy and put inside it. The motherboard affects the systems performance a great deal as all the other components will connect to it and work off it. Like brain, it is what sends the messages around the system telling components what to do and when to do it. Apart from this, there are several manufacturers of motherboards. These are Asus, Gigabyte, Abit, MSI and Nvidia, of which Gigabyte and Asus are the biggest motherboard brands. And with so many things to be considered before buying, choosing a motherboard becomes a fairly complicated task as all these choices will have a huge effect on the end price.

CPU
The CPU, commonly referred to as the brains of a PC, is one of the key of a modern system. we have several mainstream options for our CPU. Intel currently has the highest-performing processor lineup, with the Core 2 Duo and the Core 2 Quad (which use the LGA775 socket). As the names imply, the Core 2 Duo is a dual-core CPU, while the Core 2 Quad is a four-core processor. AMD uses the AM2 and AM2+ socket and offers the Phenom (quad- or triple-core) and Athlon 64 (dual-core) CPUs. AMD's products are solid, but they generally provide lower performance. 

Chip Set
The chip set is the single most important component of a motherboard and is responsible for tying together all of the different devices in the computer, and moving data among them. The chip set determines which CPUs, memory, and other devices can be used, and it can strongly influence performance. Since motherboards using the same chip set will usually have identical performance, they're differentiated by other features, such as the expansion slots, storage options, and other discrete chips that may be included. The major options for chip sets consist of Intel, AMD, and nVidia, though SiS and Via have alternatives.

Memory
Selecting memory for your PC is usually a simple decision. Most chip sets use DDR2 memory at up to 800 MHz (PC2 6400), but newer chip sets from Intel may also use DDR3. DDR3 offers more bandwidth (1066 to 1600 MHz), consumes less power, and will be main stream in a year, but for the moment it is more expensive. The fastest DDR3 RAM is only compatible with the newer, more expensive boards; therefore, it is necessary to read all the specifications of the motherboard to ensure compatibility.

Graphics Hardware
Right after the CPU and chip set, the graphics hardware (the graphics processing unit, or the GPU) is another most-important component of a system. The main considerations for graphics are cost, performance, and upgradability. The lowest-cost option is a chip set with integrated graphics. Integrated graphics processors (IGP) is a fine choice for users interested in a little multimedia, office work, and other lighter workloads. For users who want to play on their PC, the next best option is a motherboard with a single PCI Express x16 slot, which accommodates a discrete graphics card from ATI/AMD or nVidia. 

Graphic Interface
Another concern is the graphics interface. You have three major alternatives: VGA, DVI, and HDMI. VGA is the traditional 15-pin analog monitor connector, designed for CRT displays. DVI is a digital connector specifically intended for use with LCD monitors, and HDMI is a variant of DVI with the DRM (digital rights management) technology required to play Blu-ray and other high-definition media.

Storage
In the past few years, storage experienced a transition from Parallel ATA to Serial ATA (SATA) and then to 3-gbps SATA. Most hard drives use SATA, while some older DVD+/-RW drives uses Parallel ATA. Most motherboards support four or more SATA ports (even as many as ten), which is sufficient for most users. eSATA is a relatively new standard for connecting external drives via SATA instead of FireWire or USB, offering higher performance than the other two, and also supports reliability and manageability features such as SMART (Self Monitoring And Reporting Technology). The other real storage issue concerns RAID, which is standard with many modern motherboards. We can use RAID 0, which increases read and write performance or RAID 1 which increases reliability and read performance, each with two hard drives. RAID 5 requires at least three drives, and RAID 6 (which is really for businesses only) needs at least four; both are oriented around increased reliability and read performance, with acceptable write performance and less overhead than RAID 1. Most systems simply don't need that many drives, so in many ways 6 is a better option but hardly a requirement. For video editing and other multimedia-rich tasks, basic RAID 0, 1, or 5 will suffice. 

Networking
Wired networking is dead simple, as any worthwhile chip set will have at least one integrated gigabit Ethernet port. For the most part, Wi-Fi is not necessary for desktops, and most motherboards tend to avoid it simply to cut down costs; it's an optional feature. Assorted peripherals- On a motherboard, the peripherals can include USB 2.0, FireWire, PS/2, serial and parallel ports, and a floppy drive. Motherboards will have internal connectors for USB, FireWire and Audio. Some will support HD Audio, others will not support FireWire. We should check that the number and type of connectors match our requirements as of those options, USB 2.0 is an absolute necessity and FireWire can be nice, but the rest are pretty much obsolete unless we need a specific peripheral device. 

Processors
Our choice of CPU will also affect what motherboard we buy. We need to check the socket the motherboards uses and what front side bus it supports (FSB). A processor like the Intel E6600 2.4GHz requires an 800Mhz FSB. This means that a motherboard which supports a maximum of 667MHz FSB will not be compatible with the E6600 processor. In the end, the key to building the right system is to understand how you will use your PC. As we mentioned before, the needs of an office worker are totally different than those of a video editing wizard or a gaming fanatic.