How to Choose a Motherboard for Gaming

E-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX?

The very first decision when choosing a motherboard for gaming is to decide on its size or format that fits your circumstances. Motherboards come in several different sizes of which the most common are the E-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX formats:  

Common motherboard size formats

Different format motherboards have their advantages and disadvantages and will fit the needs of different users. For instance, if you need your computer to have a smaller overall size, you will be looking for a smaller computer case that will likely only fit Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX motherboards. Alternatively, if you are looking to build a High-End DeskTop (HEDT) that can support massive amounts of RAM and peripheral components, you may need a larger format motherboard like the E-ATX just to have available the connection hardware to accommodate the higher specification. Finally, cost also plays a role in deciding which size is right for you since, in general, bigger motherboards will cost more than smaller ones.

However, the overwhelmingly dominant motherboard size that is most opted for by the majority of PC gamers is the ATX format, so this will be the motherboard format I will be concentrating on in this article.

Intel or AMD

The next decision when choosing a motherboard for gaming is to decide on the company you want to declare your allegiance to. Fortunately, there are really only two companies to choose from: Intel and AMD. The decision on which to go for really depends on whether you want an Intel CPU or an AMD CPU driving your computer. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, however, helping you make your CPU-buying decision is beyond the scope of this article. For my personal needs and in order not to make this article too long, Intel is going to be the focus here. 

Intel has several CPUs to choose from, which vary in generation (i.e. when they were launched), the number of cores, and processor speed. Once again, choosing the right Intel chip for your set-up is beyond the scope of this article, but in general, for gaming, one wants to prioritise the later generations of CPU and the speed at which they run, over the number of cores, as most of today's games do not make use of more than a few cores. Ultimately, the best way to choose a gaming CPU is to compare benchmark results of CPUs against each other.

CPU Socket and Chipset

The question of which CPU to buy will determine the CPU socket and chipset you need to have on your motherboard. Currently, Intel's latest (10th and 11th) generations of CPUs use the LGA 1200 socket, so that will be my focus here.

The LGA 1200 socket is present on a range of motherboards with different chipsets. Each Intel chipset has its own characteristics, but one type, in particular, is most relevant to gamers, especially competitive gamers. Any Intel chipset beginning with the letter 'Z' (eg. Z590 or Z490) means that it is compatible with overclocking. So why would you want to overclock your computer?

Due to manufacturing differences, no single computer component, CPU included, is identical to another, even between individual units of the same component made at the same time. Manufacturers configure components (CPUs, GPUs, Memory, etc) to run at speeds where the risk of failure across a batch of a particular model is minimal. That means that the default running speeds of components are set lower than what individual units may be able to achieve. As a result, by following a careful overclocking procedure, you can usually optimise the individual components of your computer to get more performance out of them, which may, in turn, give you more of that gaming edge.

Now overclocking may not seem necessary when you are first starting out on your gaming career, and that may be true. However, further down the line, it will probably be something you will want to try, especially if it has the potential to increase your gaming potential! As a result of this potential advantage overclocking can provide to gamers, this article will be centred around the Intel 'Z'-model chipsets.

CPU sockets & compatible chipsets for today's CPUs

* HEDT = High-End DeskTop

Since the Z590 chipset motherboard represents the top end of affordable Intel motherboards in today's market, this is most likely going to be the chipset you are going to choose as a gamer, and so it will be my focus here. Of course, there are better motherboards for the extreme end (High-End DeskTop or HEDT) of computer building but putting together an HEDT is usually unnecessary for gaming and also tends to be out of the price range of most.  

And so at last we get to the actual motherboards!  Below you will find a table of the Intel motherboards with Z590 chipsets that are available today. To better understand their individual capabilities, scroll down below the table to get more detailed explanations of each specification and what to look for.

Intel Z590 Motherboards

External Peripheral Connections

USB & Thunderbolt

Being able to connect peripheral devices to a computer from the outside of the case is an important consideration when building your new computer. External peripheral ports have come in many flavours over the years, but today USB has become the dominant player in this space, along with a couple of other port types that make an appearance occasionally.  

It is important here to differentiate between the actual physical port used and the peripheral connection standard that uses that physical port. Some physical ports can support different connection technologies eg. a USB Type-C physical port can support different versions of USB 3.2 and can also sometimes support Thunderbolt 3 or 4. In addition, some connection technologies can opt to use different types of physical ports eg. USB 3.2 can use either USB Type-A or USB Type-C physical ports.

How many USB ports do you need and which types? 'A few' is probably the best answer as we all have some peripheral hardware (external hard drives, printers, scanners, computer mice, keyboard, trackpad, etc) that we will need to connect to our finished build. As for which versions of USB connections will depend on what data speeds you need the USB ports to perform at. All USB versions are backwards and forwards-compatible, which means that any USB device will work with any USB connection. However, the older the USB version is, the slower it is at moving data through it. For some low data-consuming applications, a slower connection is fine, for instance, for a keyboard or mouse, any USB connection will do. However, for heavier data-transferring applications, such as accessing an external hard drive, you will want the fastest USB connection available.

Common external peripheral connections & ports found on today's motherboards

Internal headers for front-facing USB ports

Traditionally, physical ports are soldered onto the motherboard in a rear-facing orientation, designed to protrude from the back of a finished computer build. However, the majority of modern motherboards now also come with the ability to connect to front-facing USB ports. The way this is accomplished is by providing the header pins on the motherboard that accept the cables needed to link them to physical USB ports embedded in the front of most computer cases.

PS/2

Another port one sometimes sees on motherboards is the PS/2 port. This is a legacy port that was developed many years ago but still gets included on some hardware for various reasons. Its function is exclusively to connect computer mice and keyboards that operate via a PS/2 connector rather than USB.

Memory (RAM)

Motherboards come with several slots that accept memory (RAM) modules which are critical for holding applications or games so that they are readily accessible to the CPU. The more memory a motherboard has, the greater the number of programs it can load simultaneously. For most gaming needs, 16 GB is currently sufficient while 32 GB is usually more than enough. There will be an upper limit to the total amount of memory a motherboard can support but this is usually way in excess of what normal users or gamers will ever need, for example, most Z590 chipset ATX motherboards will support up to 128 GB of RAM.

Different motherboards can also vary in the number of RAM slots. For small mini-ITX boards, these usually have 2 slots, while larger ATX boards will normally have 4 slots for RAM. As for High-End DeskTop (HEDT) motherboards, they will usually have 8 slots to accommodate the larger memory requirements more demanding applications may require.

Ultimately, when it comes to RAM slots, more is always better. RAM modules are more expensive the more memory each module holds. This means that a certain amount of memory spread over fewer modules will be more expensive than the same total amount of memory spread over more modules. So for instance, 2 x 8 GB of memory will cost more than 4 x 4 GB of RAM, even though their total capacity (16 GB) is identical. As a result, the more memory slots a motherboard has, the better it is from an economic standpoint as well.

In addition to the amount and the size of memory that can be added to a motherboard, another important criterion to consider is the maximum memory speed the motherboard will support. Naturally, the faster the memory, the snappier the computer will operate, so choosing a motherboard that can handle as high a memory speed as possible should be aimed for here. Z590 chipset motherboards can usually support RAM speeds up to 3200 MHz without overclocking, while Z490 chipset motherboards are specified to support up to 2933 MHz memory speeds.

Networking

One of the primary functions of a computer is to connect to networks. On a motherboard, this is implemented through three different technologies: Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In today's technologically-driven world, most of us already understand the role each of these technologies plays in our digital lives. However, each exists in several different versions and, when picking a motherboard, understanding the capabilities of each version of a networking technology will help determine what is necessary for your particular build.  

Ethernet

Today most ethernet comes in three different data transfer speeds that are measured in Megabits per second (Mbps) or Gigabits per second (Gbps). These are:

What speed do you need on your motherboard? Today, any of the above will do. That is because most home broadband speeds are at or less than 1 Gigabit, meaning that the limiting factor on data transfer speeds when connecting to the internet will be the connection to your internet service provider and not the ethernet connection on your motherboard. For example, at the time of writing, the fastest home broadband available to the UK public is Virgin Media's Gig1 service which is at the level of 1 Gigabit Ethernet, however, this is only available to certain households where the infrastructure is in place.

With home broadband speeds just starting to hit the 1 Gigabit level, one should be fine with any of the available ethernet connection speeds on their motherboard. However, to future-proof your new computer for future increases in home broadband speeds, it is probably more prudent to opt for the 2.5 Gigabit ethernet option.

For the overwhelming majority of users, the 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection will probably never be used to its fullest capacity before the other hardware on your motherboard becomes outdated and it is time to upgrade the whole computer anyway. There is, however, one exception and that is if you need fast intranet speeds for data transfer between computers/devices within your home. If you need to transfer data between your new computer build and other devices connected to the router in your home either through ethernet cables or via Wi-Fi, then having the 10 Gigabit Ethernet connection could be useful. However, you will also need to ensure that your router and other devices also have 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports to make use of the high-speed connection. Currently, most (if not all) routers included with home broadband packages do not have 10 Gigabit Ethernet, for instance, Virgin Broadband's latest Hub 4 router has only 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports. In addition, if any of your devices you are moving data between are connected via Wi-Fi rather than ethernet, then the router and the Wi-Fi-connected device will also have to support at least Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) in order to make use of the higher data speeds (more on Wi-Fi below).

Wi-Fi

Another important networking technology to consider including on your motherboard is wireless internet or Wi-Fi. Again this has evolved over the years and currently exists in several versions with increasing capabilities. Like ethernet, however, the versions of Wi-Fi that are common in today's motherboards (Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E) can transfer data at speeds far in excess of the fastest home broadband connection (currently at 1 Gbps in the UK) and so will unlikely be a limiting factor on internet speeds now or in the near future. However, wireless signals are a bit more complicated than ethernet in that they are more easily subject to interference and congestion. Wireless signals are impeded by physical structures such as walls and are limited in the distance they can travel, which affects data transfer speeds. And if too many devices are using the same bandwidth, this too can slow down internet connection speeds due to congestion. With each new version of Wi-Fi, these problems have been incrementally addressed.

Wi-Fi versions found on today's motherboards

Today, Wi-Fi 5 should be the minimum standard on a new motherboard. However, Wi-Fi 6 and 6E come with some new technologies that help address some of the interference and congestion issues of earlier versions:

Wi-Fi 6

Wi-Fi 6 is better than Wi-Fi 5 in three main ways:

Wi-Fi 6E

Wi-Fi 6E has everything that Wi-Fi 6 possesses but it has been extended (hence the 'E' at the end) to include the 6 GHz frequency band in addition to the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ranges that are used by Wi-Fi 6. This means there is much more space on the airways to send wireless signals so congestion will be reduced further still.

Wi-Fi on your router

Importantly, routers also have to support the version of Wi-Fi that you intend to use. Although Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E-compatible routers are available for purchase from retail outlets, most (if not all) Wi-Fi routers currently included with home broadband packages only support up to Wi-Fi 5. Therefore, including Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E capability on your motherboard is more about future-proofing your computer rather than making immediate use of the improved Wi-Fi standards.

Bluetooth

Like Ethernet and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth too improves with each version and, like the other networking technologies, moving between Bluetooth versions requires new hardware. At the time of writing, Bluetooth version 5 is the default standard with motherboards of today coming mostly with Bluetooth version 5.1 or 5.2.  

Bluetooth Version 5.1

The main improvements over version 5.0 are:

Bluetooth Version 5.2

The main improvements over version 5.1 are:

Video-Out Ports

A lot of motherboards today come with one or two video-out ports. These are capable of connecting the motherboard to display screens without the need for a dedicated graphics card (although your CPU is then usually required to have an integrated GPU). However, since one of the major reasons for building a gaming computer in the first place is for the enhanced visuals that a high-end graphics card can produce, these motherboard video-out ports are often superfluous. 

There are, however, some special circumstances when you might want to use the integrated graphics capability of the motherboard rather than a dedicated graphics card. These predominantly include the initial configuration of a system or BIOS before the graphics card has been installed or configured, or when diagnosing a computer problem that might involve the dedicated graphics card.

Most of today's motherboards will include one or more of the following video-out ports:

Thunderbolt (passthrough)

HDMI and DisplayPort are straightforward connections that are easy to understand and most people have experienced connecting a monitor via one or both standards. However, a Thunderbolt 'passthrough' connection is a little bit more complicated. It allows for the connection of Thunderbolt displays - think Apple displays - to your computer. However, although you connect the Thunderbolt display to the USB-C port in the usual way, another connection is needed between a Mini DisplayPort IN port on the motherboard, and either a DisplayPort also located on the motherboard (which uses the integrated graphics previously described) or a DisplayPort on a dedicated graphics card.

(excerpt from the GIGABYTE Z590 Vision D motherboard manual)

Conclusion

When building a gaming computer, the motherboard is probably one of the most complicated components to choose, as it connects all of the other hardware together. This makes it necessary to understand how the computer will function as a whole before deciding on which motherboard is a good fit. 

Once you have decided on the size format of the motherboard as well as whether it should run an Intel or AMD CPU, you then have to determine what its hardware characteristics should be.

The hardware choices to make include computer expandability through the PCIe bus, how much internal long-term storage you may want on your computer, and the number and type of external connection ports to have for peripheral devices. In addition, you will also need to decide on the amount of RAM the motherboard should be capable of supporting, its networking capabilities, and finally, which type (if any) of video-out connections you may need to make with the motherboard itself.

Hopefully, this article has covered most of these issues in sufficient detail for you to make your motherboard-buying decision just that little bit easier!