System Mainboards and Motherboards

Motherboards of today make it easier than ever to build your own system. If you know what you are doing, this is what I'd recommend. I'd recommend that you build your own system with the specs you want. Having a computer ordered from Dell or Gateway computer may be cheaper, but then you don't know what the heck is in there! It's like a black box, and you don't know what to do with it except be a dumb user. For most people, this is okay, but if there is something wrong with the computer or if you want to tweak it your way, then you're kind of at a loss. Having your own system custom built has many advantages. You know what you put in there, you know what each part does and you know how to take it apart and put it back together even better than before, if you so choose. Selecting the right motherboard is probably the most important step in this process. I would recommend against buying the most expensive motherboard or the cheapest motherboard. Both are a waste of money. Buy a good brand and get something simple. You don't have to get cutting edge technology, just buy something that's reliable and have passed the test of time. Motherboards, like most technology products, have a very short shelf life. So buy something that's been around for a while instead of something that is completely new. this ensures that the manufacturer has removed most of the bugs out of it,		and there are enough people who have strugged with it to resolve any and all compatibility issues associated with that mainboard. You don't want to be the first one calling the manufacturer or posting messages on a newsgroup, griping about an issue that nobody has heard of or experienced before. You want to be the one reading about it, and then reading about how they solved the problem. Every manufacturer claims to be the best, and they all claim to have the most problem-free motherboard model. Intel, because they are Intel can ask for the highest price on their boards, and most people feel that their motherboards are the most problem-free. This has not been my experience. I have had as much problems with Intel boards as I have with the low end cheap Taiwanese imports. How do you explain that? Sometimes they're even more complicated to setup and use! I myself prefer motherboards that are priced right, have good documentation, their manuals make sense, have a good history of reliability, have a good warranty policy and offer good end-user technical support. Most manufacturer's today won't even speak to the end-user. They'll refer you back to the reseller that sold you the board. And most of them don't know anything. They're just their to sell you motherboards at the cheapest price, not to hold your hand as you try to figure out why you're not getting anything on the screen to come up.