Comparison Asus Maximus VIII Ranger vs Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7

The general specialization of the motherboard is the type of tasks for which it is optimized. It should be noted that the division according to this indicator is often rather conditional, models similar in characteristics may belong to different categories. However, the data on specialization greatly simplifies the choice.

In addition to the traditional "motherboards" for home and office, nowadays you can find solutions for high-end PCs (High-End Desktop) and for servers, as well as gaming boards and models for overclocking(the last two options are sometimes combined into one category , however, these are still different types of motherboards). There are also specialized models for cryptocurrency mining, but very few of them are produced — especially since many boards that originally had a different purpose are suitable for mining (see "Suitable for mining").

Here is a more detailed description of each variety:

— For home and office. Motherboards that do not belong to any of the more specific types. In general, this kind of "motherboards" is very diverse, it includes options from low-cost motherboards for modest office PCs to advanced models that come close to gaming and HEDT solutions. However, for the most part, solutions from this category...are designed for simple everyday tasks: working with documents, web surfing, 2D design and layout, games in low and medium quality, etc.

— Gamer's. Boards originally designed for use in advanced gaming PCs. In addition to high performance and compatibility with powerful components, primarily video cards (often several at once, in SLI and/or Crossfire format — see below), such models usually also have specific features of a gaming nature. The most noticeable of these features is the characteristic design, sometimes with backlighting and even backlight synchronization (see below), which allows you to organically fit the board into the original design of the gaming station. The functionality of gaming boards may include an advanced audio chip, a high-end network controller to reduce lags in online games, built-in software tools for tuning and optimizing performance, etc. Also, such models may provide advanced overclocking capabilities, sometimes not inferior to the capabilities of specialized boards for overclocking (see below). And sometimes the border between gaming and overclocking solutions is generally erased: for example, individual boards positioned by the manufacturer as gaming ones, in terms of functionality, can more likely be related to overclocking models.

— For overclocking. High-performance boards with an extended set of overclocking tools — improving system performance by fine-tuning individual components (mainly by increasing the clock frequencies used by these components). On most conventional motherboards, this setup involves considerable complexity and risk, it is usually an undocumented feature and is not covered by the warranty. However, in this case, the situation is the opposite: boards "for overclocking" are called so because the possibility of overclocking was originally incorporated in them by the manufacturer. One of the most noticeable features of such models is the presence in the firmware (BIOS) of special software tools for overclocking management, which makes overclocking as safe as possible and affordable even for inexperienced users. Another feature is improved compatibility with built-in overclocking tools provided in advanced processors, RAM modules, etc. Anyway, this particular type of board will be the best choice for those who want to build a fairly powerful PC with the ability to experiment in terms of performance.

— HEDT (High End Desktop). Motherboards designed for high-performance workstations and other PCs of a similar level. In many ways, they are similar to gaming ones and are sometimes even positioned as gaming ones, but they are designed more for general performance (including in professional tasks) than for confident work with games. One of the key features of such "motherboards" is the extensive functionality for working with RAM: they provide at least 4 slots for "RAM", and more often 6 or more, the maximum RAM frequency is at least 2500 MHz (and more often 4000 MHz and higher ), and the maximum volume is at least 128 GB. The rest of the characteristics are usually at a similar level. Also, the firmware may provide tools for overclocking, although in terms of this functionality, such boards are most often still inferior to overclockers. Note that such solutions can initially be positioned as gaming; the basis for categorization in the HEDT category in such cases is the fulfillment of the above criteria.

— For the server. Motherboards specially designed for servers. Such systems are noticeably different from conventional desktop PCs — in particular, they work with large volumes of drives and have increased requirements for the speed and reliability of data transfer; accordingly, to build servers, it is best to use specialized components, including motherboards. Among the main features of such motherboards are an abundance of slots for RAM (often more than 4), the ability to connect numerous drives (necessarily more than 4 SATA 3 slots, often 8 or more), as well as support for special technologies (like ECC — see below) . In addition, such boards can be made in specific form factors such as EEB or CEB (see "Form Factor"), although more traditional options are also found.

— Designed for mining. Motherboards specially designed for cryptocurrency mining (BitCoin, Ethereum, etc.). We emphasize that we are not just talking about the possibility of such an application (see “Suitable for mining”), but that the motherboard is initially positioned as a solution for creating a cryptocurrency “farm”. Recall that mining is the extraction of cryptocurrency by performing special calculations; such calculations are most conveniently carried out using several high-performance video cards at once. Accordingly, one of the distinguishing features of mining boards is the presence of several (usually at least 4) PCI-E 16x slots for connecting such video cards. However, this category of “motherboards” has not received much distribution: similar characteristics are also found among more general-purpose boards, it is quite possible to achieve performance sufficient for efficient mining on them.

The number of processor power phases provided on the motherboard.

Very simplistically, phases can be described as electronic blocks of a special design, through which power is supplied to the processor. The task of such blocks is to optimize this power, in particular, to minimize power surges when the load on the processor changes. In general, the more phases, the lower the load on each of them, the more stable the power supply and the more durable the electronics of the board. And the more powerful the CPU and the more cores it has, the more phases it needs; this number increases even more if the processor is planned to be overclocked. For example, for a conventional quad-core chip, only four phases are often enough, and for an overclocked one, at least eight may be needed. It is because of this that powerful processors can have problems when used on inexpensive low-phase motherboards.

Detailed recommendations on choosing the number of phases for specific CPU series and models can be found in special sources (including the documentation for CPU itself). Here we note that with numerous phases on the motherboard (more than 8), some of them can be virtual. To do this, real electronic blocks are supplemented with doublers or even triplers, which, formally, increases the number of phases: for example, 12 claimed phases can represent 6 physical blocks with doublers. However, virtual phases are much inferior to real ones in terms of capabilities — in fact, t...hey are just additions that slightly improve the characteristics of real phases. So, let's say, in our example, it is more correct to speak not about twelve, but only about six (though improved) phases. These nuances must be specified when choosing a motherboard.

The design of the motherboard has a separate heatsink for VRM.

VRM is a voltage regulation module through which power from a computer power supply is supplied to the processor. This module steps down the standard power supply voltage (+5V or +12V) to a lower value required by the processor (usually just over 1V). At high loads, the voltage regulator can get very hot, and without a specialized cooling system, the matter can end with overheating and even burnout of parts. The VRM heatsink reduces the likelihood of such situations; it can be useful for any CPU, and highly desirable if the board is planned to be used with a powerful high-end processor (especially overclocked).

Motherboard support for DualBIOS technology.

Crashes and errors in the BIOS (see BIOS) are one of the most serious problems that can occur with a modern PC — they not only make the computer unusable, but also very difficult to fix. DualBIOS technology is designed to make it easier to deal with such problems. Motherboards made using this technology have two chips for writing the BIOS: the first chip contains the main BIOS version, which is used to boot the system in normal mode, the second one contains a backup copy of the BIOS in the original (factory) configuration. The backup chip comes into operation if an error is detected in the main BIOS: if an error is detected in the programme code, it is restored to the original factory version, but if there was a hardware failure, the backup chip takes control of the system, replacing the main one. This allows you to keep your system up and running even in the event of serious BIOS problems without resorting to complex recovery procedures.

The maximum RAM clock speed supported by the motherboard. The actual clock frequency of the installed RAM modules should not exceed this indicator — otherwise, malfunctions are possible, and the capabilities of the “RAM” cannot be used to the fullest.

For modern PCs, a RAM frequency of 1500 – 2000 MHz or less is considered very low, 2000 – 2500 MHz is modest, 2500 – 3000 MHz is average, 3000 – 3500 MHz is above average, and the most advanced boards can support frequencies of 3500 – 4000 MHz and even more than 4000 MHz.

Number of SATA 3 ports on the motherboard.

SATA is now the standard interface for connecting internal drives (mainly HDDs) and optical drives. One device is connected to one such connector, so the number of SATA ports corresponds to the number of internal drives / drives that can be connected to the motherboard through such an interface. A large number ( 6 SATA ports and more) is necessary in case of active use of several hard drives and other peripherals. For domestic use, 4 is enough. SATA 3, as the name suggests, is the third version of this interface, operating at a total speed of about 6 Gbps; the useful speed, taking into account the redundancy of the transmitted data, is about 4.8 Mbps (600 MB / s) — that is, twice as much as in SATA 2.

Note that different SATA standards are quite compatible with each other in both directions: older drives can be connected to newer ports, and vice versa. The only thing is that the data transfer rate will be limited by the capabilities of the slower version, and in some cases it may be necessary to reconfigure the drives with hardware (switches, jumpers) or software. It is also worth saying that SATA 3 is the newest and most advanced variation of SATA today, but the capabilities of this standard are not enough to unlock the full potential of high-speed SSDs. Therefore, SATA 3 is mainly used for hard drives and low-cost SSDs, faster drives are conn...ected to specially designed connectors like M.2 or U.2 (see below).

The number of M.2 connectors provided in the design of the motherboard. There are motherboards for 1 M.2 connector, for 2 connectors, for 3 connectors or more.

The M.2 connector is designed to connect advanced internal devices in a miniature form factor — in particular, high-speed SSD drives, as well as expansion cards like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules. However, connectors designed to connect only peripherals (Key E) are not included in this number. Nowadays, this is one of the most modern and advanced ways to connect components. But note that different interfaces can be implemented through this connector — SATA or PCI-E, and not necessarily both at once. See "M.2 interface" for details; here we note that SATA has a low speed and is used mainly for low-cost drives, while PCI-E is used for advanced solid-state modules and is also suitable for other types of internal peripherals.

Accordingly, the number of M.2 is the number of components of this format that can be simultaneously connected to the motherboard. At the same time, many modern boards, especially mid-range and top-end ones, are equipped with two or more M.2 connectors, and moreover, with PCI-E support.

The model of the audio chip (a module for processing and outputting sound) installed on the motherboard. Data on the exact name of the sound chip will be useful when looking for detailed information about it.

Modern "motherboards" can be equipped with fairly advanced audio modules, with high sound quality and extensive features, which makes them suitable even for gaming and multimedia PCs (although professional audio work will still most likely require a separate sound card). Here are the most popular modern audio chips: Realtek ALC887, Realtek ALC892, Realtek ALC1150, Realtek ALC1200, Realtek ALC1220, Realtek ALC4050, Realtek ALC4080, Supreme FX.

The most advanced audio format that the motherboard audio chip is capable of outputting to an external audio system. At the moment, almost all motherboards with audio chips support standard 2.0 stereo sound, and the most advanced format can be as follows:

— 4. The specific sound layout for the four channels may be different, but anyway, this option is two classic stereo channels, supplemented by two more — for example, centre and rear, or a pair of rear (left and right). This allows you to expand the sound stage and achieve greater volume than in classic stereo, while maintaining the low cost of the sound cards themselves. However, this option is rare, mainly in mini-STX boards (see "Form factor").

— 5.1. Six-channel sound: two front, centre and two rear channels, plus a subwoofer for bass and extra bass. Allows you to reproduce a fully surround sound, which is perceived by the listener not only in front, but also behind him. One of the most popular multi-channel audio formats today.

— 7.1. The development of the idea of surround sound, laid down by the 5.1 format. In addition to the standard six-channel configuration (centre, front pair, rear pair and subwoofer), it provides two more speakers. The place of their installation may be different, depending on the specific eight-channel sound scheme used: above the front or rear pair, in the form of a centre-rear pair, on the sides of the listener, etc. Anyway, eight-channel circuits allow more...accurate sound direction reproduction.

— 9.1. The most advanced version of acoustics found in motherboards today. Similar to 7.1, this standard includes 6 channels according to the 5.1 scheme plus additional speakers — only in this case there are four of them, which gives even more opportunities to expand the surround sound.