Your computer’s performance has been declining day by day, and you are probably wondering if the motherboard you installed recently is the issue.
Or perhaps you are in the market for a new motherboard and you are wondering whether you will be fine with a budget motherboard.
Can motherboard affect performance?
You don’t need to worry about this any longer because, as a tech enthusiast, I will tell you what your next step is for troubleshooting performance issues.
So, what are you waiting for? Grab your favorite cup of coffee and stay with me till the very last section so you don’t miss out on anything important.
Does a Motherboard Affect Performance?
A motherboard doesn’t affect the performance of any build. The performance of any system depends on the different parts connected to it and while the motherboard is definitely important, it doesn’t affect how well a computer works.
What I’m trying to say is that motherboard is not really important when you are talking about the overall performance of a system, especially if we disregard something known as overclocking.
Now, you must be wondering what contributes to the overall performance, then?
Well, the most important components that actually contribute to your computer’s performance are the CPU, GPU, and RAM. Check out our experts tested and reviewed the best RGB CPU coolers, best Aura Sync RGB GPU and best Aura Sync Compatible RAM for your PC.
However, it should be noted that the motherboard limits the quality of the parts that you will be able to use for your build. What this means is the motherboard will indirectly end up limiting the maximum performance you can get from your system.
So, how does this work? Well, let’s assume that you have an old motherboard and you want to use it with a very powerful and modern CPU. That just won’t work.
That motherboard will only support some older CPUs so you will have no choice but to get a weak CPU to go with your weak motherboard.
In other words, any component or part that you want to use in your build will have to be compatible with the motherboard you are using.
So, you must have understood by now that a motherboard does have the potential to indirectly affect the performance of a system. How exactly does that work?
Your motherboard will have an indirect effect on the performance following these 2 things:
1. Overclocking
Overclocking is a common term in the gaming world but if you don’t belong to that world, you probably need an explanation.
Every build has a CPU that comes with a certain maximum speed that it can run at. As long as you are using a good cooler, you should not face any issues when running your computer at that maximum speed.
Also, check our exclusive tutorial on Motherboard Drivers are Necessary.
What some gamers, especially beginners, don’t know is that the maximum speed of the CPU can actually be increased further if you set a higher clock rate or multiplier. One of the ways to do this is to enable the option in BIOS.
This will basically force your processor to perform faster, exceeding its limitations.
This process is known as overclocking and it’s used by a lot of gamers. However, one fact they ignore or don’t know about is that this will also double the amount of heat generated by the processor.
If the CPU cooler is unable to bring the internal temperatures down in time, your computer will run into performance issues, and you might even see the blue screen of death.
You should look for a motherboard with regulated voltage or VRM as these are capable of regulating the voltage properly without frying anything during overclocking.
2. Chipset
Your motherboard’s chipset is like a regulator for all the different components present in your system.
You already know that one of the major roles of the motherboard is to allow all the different parts of a computer to communicate with each other properly.
The chipset is what regulates the data that is repeatedly being passed from the CPU, GPU, RAMA, and all the other components in your computer.
So, you can understand from this that if the communication between all these different components is better, the performance will also be definitely better.
This is another reason why a good motherboard is necessary for better performance.
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Can Motherboard Affect GPU?
There is no way for a motherboard to directly affect the graphics card performance. As long as you connected it in the correct PCIe 3 x 16 slot, you shouldn’t have to worry about your motherboard affecting GPU performance.
There is another component that does have the potential to affect your graphics card performance. Your processor might bottleneck your GPU but this only happens if you pair a really high spec GPU with a really low spec CPU.
However, you should keep in mind that the motherboard doesn’t have the same effect on GPU as it indirectly does on the CPU.
While you still have the ability to overclock your GPU so that it produces the maximum results in its performance, the motherboard simply doesn’t affect the GPU the same way as it does when you overclock your processor.
The only way your motherboard can degrade your GPU’s performance is if your motherboard has bad PCIe x16 ports that allow the motherboard to read and transfer data from GPU to every other component of a computer.
FAQ
Does the motherboard affect FPS?
No, your motherboard doesn’t affect the fps directly but it affects the components. If your motherboard only supports PCIe 2.0, then a graphics card with PCIe 3.0 support will give a worse performance. This means newer GPU doesn’t work well with older motherboards.
What motherboard specs affect performance the most?
The socket, chipset, type of memory, design, and quality of the components on a motherboard. You should identify what processor you need and then select a good motherboard. It’s preferable to go for a motherboard that supports overclocking.
Does RAM affect performance?
Yes, absolutely. The first thing people look for in a specs sheet for performance nowadays is the RAM size. Generally, the faster and bigger the RAM, the faster the processing speed.
Does your motherboard affect internet speed?
Old motherboards with weaker Network Interface Cards or NIC might have a slower internet speed but basically, every modern motherboard has a similar NIC so, no, you won’t see much difference between the internet speeds of two motherboards.
Can SSD improve fps?
No, SSD won’t be able to fix poor fps. It will be able to improve performance in some situations, like faster loading times and more responsive games.
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Final Thoughts
The main point in this article is that a motherboard won’t affect the performance directly but since it’s the central component and manages communication between every other component in the computer, it does have some indirect effects on the overall performance.
I hope you found this article useful and remember, if you have any issues, you can always find a fix or more information on our website.
