Decide what type of CPU to use
This may seem irrelevant to choosing a motherboard. In fact, this is the most important things you should do before choosing a motherboard. The reason is that the type of CPU will determine what type of motherboard you need. For example, if you choose an Intel CPU, then you need to get socket 775 motherboards otherwise the CPU will not fit into the motherboard. Resolution on the type of CPU will help you to make a better choice when choosing the best gaming motherboard.
Determine whether
the motherboard supports the type of CPU you have chosen
As mentioned before, if you use an Intel CPU, you have to get a Socket 775 motherboard while an AMD CPU requires a Socket AM2 motherboard. In addition, 775 motherboard some of the older socket does not support dual core processors (though they use the same connector) or even quad-core processors. Check the manufacturer's website to get confirmation before you buy the motherboard.
Overclocking feature
If you are overclocking your CPU, you have to get a motherboard that allows you to change the FSB speed and CPU voltage in small increments.
RAM support and no memory slot
The motherboard must be able to support DDR2 RAM, for a simple reason that DDR2 is currently the fastest RAM on the market. Extra things to note is the maximum speed of RAM that the motherboard supports. Some motherboards can only support up to DDR2 667MHz RAM while the latest it can support up to DDR2 1066MHz.
Additionally, you can upgrade your RAM in the future, therefore your current motherboard must have at least four memory slots and can support up to 8 GB of RAM, so you have the option to upgrade in the future.
SLI / Crossfire ready
SLI / Crossfire ready motherboard means that you can make use of two identical high-performance graphics card to make graphics and thus achieve a faster and more realistic video effects. Not all motherboards support this feature. As the video effects are becoming more sophisticated, it will be soon that SLI or Crossfire technology becomes the standard for video display. Therefore, even if you are not using this technology now, it is still advisable to get a gaming motherboard with SLI or CrossFire mode.
SATA 2 controller
SATA2 can transfer data at twice the speed of SATA 1st When it comes to gaming, each speed counts, and that the increase in speed may be the decisive factor in your game. A SATA 2 port is backward compatible with SATA 1 devices, but not the other way around. It is better for you to get a motherboard that supports SATA 2 devices. Moreover,. If you use RAID, then you need to get a motherboard that has four SATA 2 ports
Extra Features
You may want to consider additional features such as extra USB2.0 ports, firewire, integrated LAN and front panel LED when choosing a gaming motherboard. Some of the motherboard contains more features than the others, and you have to compare around to see the differences.
Features such as integrated audio and video is not so important in the best gaming motherboard, because they can not contribute well to a good gaming session. For a gaming computer, you have to have a separate graphics card and sound card, so playing the latest games on the market.
Conclusion
After getting the best gaming motherboard, it's worth doing some market research and compare with various boards. Since it is the most important part of the whole computer system, not ever scrimp money on it.
