If you’re looking to buy a gaming PC or upgrade your existing one, you will inevitably run into the question of whether or not motherboards matter for gaming. And then, you start looking for answers.
In this post, we will attempt to explain the importance of a motherboard for gaming, and how it impacts your gaming experience. Also, we will tell you how to choose a motherboard for gaming.
After all, finding out whether or not your motherboard matters can help you decide if you should upgrade it or go for an expensive model. Let’s look into this in more detail.
Do Motherboards Matter For Gaming?
The truth is that motherboards do not matter much for gaming. You will not generally see an effect on your gaming performance until you upgrade your motherboard to a high-end model.
The motherboard is the part that connects all the components together. It is mainly responsible for allowing your CPU to communicate with the rest of your computer. In reality, it is your graphics card, RAM, and processor that make the biggest impact on gaming performance.
The only reason you should even consider an upgrade is if you are going to be upgrading your processor or RAM. Because your motherboard dictates the generation of the CPU and RAM you can use. For example, motherboards designed to support DDR4 RAM will not support DDR3 or DDR5 RAM.
In this case, upgrading the motherboard will improve your gaming performance. But it's not actually the motherboard that will improve your gaming performance. It's the new DDR5 RAM that will. In summary, motherboards are not as important as CPUs, GPUs, or RAM for gaming.
- Check Price: ASUS ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming Motherboard at Amazon
Does The Motherboard Affect FPS?
Motherboards do not directly affect the FPS. GPU and CPU are two of the main factors affecting a game's frame rate. What your motherboard does is allow all the components of a computer to work together so that the computer will function the way it should.
While the motherboard itself does not affect the performance of your computer, it does indirectly affect it by dictating what parts you can use. So, for example, if your motherboard supports only PCIe 2.0 and your graphics card is PCIe 3.0, the graphics card will only run at PCIe 2.0 speeds. As a result, you won't get the full performance of the graphics card.
Similar to the graphics card, the motherboard also dictates what type of processor (CPU) you can use. This is why we say that the motherboard indirectly affects the performance of a computer since you won't be able to have a high-performance machine if it can't support the parts and components needed to make the machine perform at its best.
- Read More: Is A Gaming Motherboard Worth It?
What Makes A Motherboard Good For Gaming?
In brief, the features and technology the motherboard support make it a good rig for gaming. For example, a motherboard that supports PCIe 5.0, SATA III, USB 3.0, Intel's Alder Lake chips and DDR5 RAM is the most powerful you will ever find.
The higher the specs of the components it supports, the better the gaming experience. That is a given. However, we like to reiterate that the motherboard itself will not directly affect your gaming experience. It is the power of the components inside that will make or break your gaming experience.
How To Choose Motherboard For Gaming
Choosing a motherboard that is appropriate for your gaming needs means you need to consider the features and capabilities of the motherboard. Most importantly, you need to make sure the motherboard can accommodate the amount of RAM you plan to install. Equally, you need to consider the number of PCI slots available on the motherboard, and their capabilities.
For gamers, it is recommended to choose a motherboard that can accommodate at least 16 GB, as gaming requires a good amount of RAM for a smooth experience. Regarding the PCI slots, you will want to have at least one full-speed PCI Express x16 slot and you’ll need multiple of those if you want to connect multiple cards.
Needless to say, you also need to take the form factor of the motherboard (ATX, micro ATX) as well as the type of the processor socket (LGA, PGA and BGA) into consideration when shopping for a motherboard.
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