Motherboards
The motherboard is the central part of your computer. If related to our bodies, it is our nervous system, relaying commands from one place to another and connecting all the components together. The type of motherboard also determines what types of components you are able to put in.
The number of components you can fit into your computer is limited by the amount of connections provided by the motherboard. This is why the main factor limiting PC upgradability is the motherboard. If you are planning on upgrading your computer in the future, you'll have to take some care in choosing one that fits your budget but provides the connections that allow expansion.
When you pick a motherboard, try to go with a brand name. Choosing a badly designed motherboard will cause you problems with your whole computer. You may get random crashes, data corruption or even electrical problems. One of the first things you need to decide before searching for a motherboard is what CPU you will be using with it. Depending on whether you choose AMD or Intel, you'll have to pick the appropriate motherboard. Also you'll have to match up the socket type of your CPU with the motherboard. This information is readily available in motherboard specs.
Other factors you'll have to consider when choosing a motherboard are:
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Will you be trying to overclock your CPU? If you are going to overclock, you'll need a motherboard that provides overclocking methods in the BIOS. This is usually through voltage modifiers and RAM timing settings. Abit motherboards are generally good overclocking performers.
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What special features will you need? This includes any onboard video/audio, AGP/PCI slots, or other connections you might need. If you plan on using onboard audio, video, or LAN you need to find a motherboard that gives you those features. Remember that you can disable onboard features, so you are not stuck with using onboard components if you have them.
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What kind of components are you going to use, and do you already own them, or will you be starting out from scratch? If you are on a budget you'll want to maximize the number of onboard components. Nvidia's nForce motherboards do a very good job of this.
Most of today's motherboards come with a built in sound that includes support for 5.1 speakers. The quality level of onboard sound is very good on today's motherboards, especially Nvidia's nForce models. This is an incredible value since you are getting a free sound card.
Since broadband internet is starting to overshadow dial-up connections you'll want to get a network card. Instead of taking up a PCI slot for a network card, look to get a motherboard with onboard LAN. They go up to Gigabit ethernet (fastest currently) and you will be set for network connections.
Below I have listed a few good motherboards that I would recommend:
My choice for a good and cheap AMD compatible motherboard would be:
Gigabyte GA-K8NS (nForce3 250)
This board is based on the Nvidia nForce chipset and provides AGP 8x, SATA,
RAID, LAN, Firewall, 8-channel audio, USB 2.0 and more. It also provides
support for the newer Athlon 64 CPUs. If you're into overclocking, this
board also provides a whole range of options to help you.
My choice for a good and cheap Intel compatible motherboard would be:
ASUS P5GPL (i915PL)
This Asus board provides support for the LGA775 chipset and also has connections for PCI-Express. You have to keep this in mind when choosing a video card, because the board does not have connections for an AGP video card. The board also features SATA, Gigabit LAN, 8-channel audio, USB 2.0, and more. It also features the same overclocking features as the Gigabyte board.
You can browse through this
selection and decide for your self if Socket 478 ( 
Learn
More ) is the right for you.
More information about selecting motherboards can be found in the motherboard selection guide .