aztekk
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Nov 4, 2014
- Messages
- 166
I always go for the cheapest ATX motherboard that has the amount of expansion slots I require. That's it, the only functionality of the motherboard for me is to house the CPU and RAM and provide expansion slots. I don't care or have need for any extra gimmicks, like M.2 drives (which I don't use anyway). If I need some other functionality down the road I will buy an expansion card, because if I need it in this computer then there is a chance I will need that functionality in a different board/new computer as well. If I had got that functionality (say sound card for example) integrated into the motherboard, I'd be spending even more money later when I upgrade that board and still wanna use it.
What I do tend to consider when buying a motherboard though are manufacturer brands, nowadays I mainly buy these: Foxconn, Biostar, MSI, Gigabyte, Asrock (used to buy other brands but they're now out of business). Although I only really avoid Asus, other manufacturers I can give a chance.
I don't really care for the look of a motherboard unless it is for my retro rigs... I buy new components for performance not looks. However I guess I subconsciously have certain preferences in PCB color, so if there's 2 boards for roughly the same price then I will choose the one that doesn't have stupid logos or excessive heatsinks all over the place and is a nice PCB color (like blue). That said, my main rig's motherboard is a plain green Foxconn board which most people would find hideous... I prefer that to something like a Sabertooth Z87 though any day of the week. No stupid "extreme gaming" theatrics always gets a plus from me.
In my opinion if you need a WiFi card in your desktop PC then you are doing your home networking wrong. I have one and I never use it. Ethernet is the only way to go. Unless the purpose is to steal WiFi of course.
What I do tend to consider when buying a motherboard though are manufacturer brands, nowadays I mainly buy these: Foxconn, Biostar, MSI, Gigabyte, Asrock (used to buy other brands but they're now out of business). Although I only really avoid Asus, other manufacturers I can give a chance.
I don't really care for the look of a motherboard unless it is for my retro rigs... I buy new components for performance not looks. However I guess I subconsciously have certain preferences in PCB color, so if there's 2 boards for roughly the same price then I will choose the one that doesn't have stupid logos or excessive heatsinks all over the place and is a nice PCB color (like blue). That said, my main rig's motherboard is a plain green Foxconn board which most people would find hideous... I prefer that to something like a Sabertooth Z87 though any day of the week. No stupid "extreme gaming" theatrics always gets a plus from me.
In my opinion if you need a WiFi card in your desktop PC then you are doing your home networking wrong. I have one and I never use it. Ethernet is the only way to go. Unless the purpose is to steal WiFi of course.