Why skimping on your PC gaming rig’s motherboard is a bad move

If you ask any PC repairer what PC components end up on their trash heaps most frequently, they will say the motherboard is right up there as one of the most common. In fact, some say it’s top of the list, even more than RAM sticks and graphics cards, which are some of the other biggest offenders.

So why are motherboards so technically irksome? It’s because as far as hardware goes there’s a lot riding on them. They have to accommodate all the varying components of the PC — the CPU, RAM, storage devices, and peripherals, as well as distribute the PC’s power and data. Motherboards also house the all-important BIOS.

Suffice it to say, if they are poorly designed or aren’t built well — like many cheap motherboards are — they can stop working suddenly or else damage your components.

Looking at some of the concerns about the quality of cheap motherboards mentioned online and it’s alarming the problems gamers have encountered. They’ve pointed out flaws such as attachment points designed so poorly that they bend the SSD, or designs that don’t accommodate double-sided SSDs, requiring them to be taped down on the back side.

Then there are motherboards with unusually placed front panel I/Os, such that the cables barely reach the header for connection, and those with such little headroom between the USB header and case that it’s impossible to use them.

Another common concern is just shoddy manufacturing. One PC builder pointed out coils that jutted out at different angles rather than coming straight off the board as they should.

If you plan on overclocking your CPU, you’re also ill advised to buy a cheap motherboard from a fringe manufacturer. That’s because they often have inadequate Voltage Regulator Modules (VRMs). High-quality VRMs are essential for achieving high, stable CPU overclocks, so if you opt for a cheap motherboard you may be unknowingly affecting the performance you can get.

Even if a cheap motherboard doesn’t have these problems, it may simply lack the kind of manufacturer documentation you need. It might have no physical instructions or else no explainer video in English. Some motherboards also have manufacturer websites that are so slow it can take several days to update the BIOS, which makes building a rig yourself a lot more difficult than it should be.

All that said my advice to gamers looking for a motherboard is to never scale down on quality by buying a cheap board to save money, but to buy a well-made motherboard from a reputable manufacturer and scale down on functionality instead (if you must save money).

Asus

What I mean by that is you should aim to purchase a motherboard that has all the things you need for functionality and performance — one that supports the kind of RAM and SSD you need, one that has the right CPU socket and all the connectors — as well as slots for upgrading — but nothing that you don’t need or won’t need in the future.

As an example, you might opt for the $178 MSI B650 Tomahawk WiFi over the $230 Gigabyte X870 Eagle WI-FI motherboard if you don’t need the Gigabyte’s quicker and more reliable Wi-Fi 7. In doing so you’ll save yourself $52.

But notice how both of these motherboards are from reputable manufacturers regardless of their functionality?

In summary, while it’s tempting to use the price filters on PC component websites to search and find a motherboard from a fringe manufacturer that’s a lot cheaper than what you’d get from reputable brand, you really shouldn’t. Always buy quality and you can’t go wrong.

Further reading: I’m a gaming mouse expert: Here’s why I carefully select my mouse mat