What You Need To Know About The Best Gaming Motherboards

If you are going to conquer the world of PC gaming, and you want to utilize the best possible components, you will need to do more than just drop thousands of dollars. You need to know what is inside the guts of your computer. Whether you want a laptop or you want a tower, you will need to know what makes the best gaming motherboards today. Not all motherboards are made the same, and if you have ever tried to upgrade an old EMachines release, you know exactly what this sentiment is about. Whether you want to build yourself a custom monster or you want to buy an existing tower, you will want to look at 3 major aspects.

Open Slots

No matter what chipset you get, you want to have enough spacing to have several different open slots. These slots will allow you to expand your video card, wireless card, audio card, and more. If you want to support 3 monitors, for instance, and you want frame rate that has no lag, you will need spacing between the slots. Not only that, you need proper spacing for liquid cooling or a fan. Do not under any circumstances get a “compact” design, because you will run out of space and your gameplay will suffer. Open slots matter, as much as the number of options you have. Keep in mind the space between them as well.

Onboard Audio

Let’s say that you don’t want to waste a slot for an audio card, then you want to look for onboard audio. This will take up a little room, but it will deliver speed and allow for more room on the video side of things. Swappable OP-Amps may be nice, but you don’t need that. Just look for high power onboard audio solutions, unless you’re going to be using your laptop or computer to work on protools, in which case you will need a whole different solution overall.

Network Interface

Dual band wireless is the key. If you’€™re going to go with wired, then make sure that you have a set up that is split. You want to get away from the Windows on board operations, and take the speed to a whole new level. Yes, software can help, but if you’€™re already set up with the motherboard, why take up space on the hard drive?

USB Paneling

You can never have enough USB ports, and having one on your motherboard is a nice touch. Look for this solution on higher end, professional models. It will allow for faster mouse speed and recognition of your keyboard in game. Accuracy is everything in gameplay. A mouse port is also nice to have.

The above elements are all part of what to look for, however, you will also want to look for an HDMI hookup, speed of streaming, and perhaps even a subscription to streaming software that lets you render faster and easier would also help. If you’€™re on a budget, you can get away with solutions that cost around $200, but if you want to get the best in the business, go for something on the higher end and get large tower with plenty of cooling and a nice surge protector, you’€™re going to need it.