The motherboard is the framework of the system. It consists of a socket for a CPU, sockets for RAM, slots for cards, various “chipsets” which control memory and logic flow, internal and external connectors, battery, power conditioning circuitry and other support chips.
There are two brands I recommend :
- ASUS Motherboards for AMD CPU’s
- ASUS Motherboards for INTEL CPUs and
- INTEL Motherboards for Intel CPU’s
You want to look at motherboards which will accept DDR3 RAM, SATA 6G and USB3
They should be discreet motherboards – i.e., they should be designed to run with a graphics card in the 16x PCI-E slot.
The main support chips (I’m not talking about the CPU) tend to run very hot, so cooling is required. There are 3 kinds of cooling:
- Passive cooling (using a large heatsink) – The best option
- Active cooling with a dedicated fan, – more efficient than passive, but the fan needs regular cleaning – and
- Water Cooling (Which works like a radiator) – Let’s leave these to the gaming overclockers.
Prices depend on features but will range from R800 to R4000
Please Note: All the above comments are to be taken with reference to High-End Graphics and 3D CAD Worksations. They may or may not be applicable to General-purpose or Gaming Machines.
