WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.640 It used to be that picking a motherboard was a major decision that could have a 00:00:04.920 --> 00:00:12.760 real impact on your computer's performance with bus speeds and built-in 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:18.640 graphics varying significantly between models. But these days with more 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:23.520 and more things being standardized or integrated into CPUs, your choice of 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:28.200 motherboard will have virtually zero impact on raw performance. 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:31.720 So what's the point of this video then? Isn't the solution just to pick the 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:36.240 cheapest compatible motherboard and put more money into the rest of the build? 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:41.560 Well, not necessarily. Even though the days of fretting over a motherboard's 00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:44.600 speed are all but gone, motherboards 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:47.440 still vary wildly in their feature sets 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:51.560 and build quality. So what kinds of things should you look out for and are 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:55.160 they worth the premium? Well, since one of the main functions of 00:00:53.360 --> 00:00:59.560 a motherboard is to connect everything in your system together, we'll start by 00:00:57.080 --> 00:01:05.199 talking about connectivity. These days it's absurdly easy to find 00:01:01.880 --> 00:01:07.560 things like DDR4 and USB 3 support on 00:01:05.199 --> 00:01:13.000 even budget boards, but moving up to a higher tier can get you M.2 support for 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:19.160 much faster SSDs than what you could get with SATA, USB 3.1 10 gigabit, USB 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:25.280 Type-C, and even Thunderbolt for connecting monitors, ultra-fast external 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.480 storage, or even an external video card. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:32.600 It's also becoming more common to see Wi-Fi on mid to high-end boards to give 00:01:30.360 --> 00:01:37.480 you additional flexibility if there's no Ethernet port nearby. 00:01:35.160 --> 00:01:42.240 None of these bells and whistles are necessities, but they can be very 00:01:40.520 --> 00:01:48.280 useful, especially if you're working with large files that could benefit from 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:50.360 the higher speeds. But what is necessary 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:55.760 is the right chipset, assuming you're overclocking. On the Intel side, only Z 00:01:53.680 --> 00:02:00.080 and X series chipsets support overclocking natively, so you'll want to 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:04.440 pick up a board with one of these at the minimum. Higher-end boards also tend to 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:09.039 have better power delivery that can deliver more power to your CPU without 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:13.200 becoming unstable, which can be important for overclocking, but has 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:18.520 become less of a priority due to how efficient modern CPUs can be. And if you 00:02:16.160 --> 00:02:22.880 want to have an A+ power delivery, a quick and dirty way to check is to count 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:27.760 the number of power phases on the motherboard, with more premium boards 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:33.040 having eight or even more. And some models will go the extra mile to make 00:02:30.440 --> 00:02:37.440 the experience as enthusiast-friendly as possible when it comes to thermal 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:42.400 management. With extra water pump headers and even support for custom 00:02:39.880 --> 00:02:47.160 water loops thanks to hybrid heat sinks that also function as water blocks for 00:02:44.760 --> 00:02:52.680 hot components like the chipset and voltage regulator modules. Pretty cool, 00:02:50.600 --> 00:02:55.880 but not crucial unless you're really trying to push your system as far as it 00:02:54.640 --> 00:03:01.680 can go. Another nice thing is the vastly 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:04.400 improved sound on better motherboards. 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:11.120 Not too long ago, integrated audio was terrible pretty much across the board. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:16.520 But these days, you won't see too many enthusiasts recommending separate sound 00:03:13.440 --> 00:03:19.040 cards anymore. Many nicer motherboards, 00:03:16.520 --> 00:03:24.720 and even most mid-range ones, have superior onboard audio or even 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:27.280 electrical separation of sound chips and 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:31.520 traces from the rest of the board to cut down on interference. And then toward 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:36.000 the top end, you'll start seeing things like headphone amps for high impedance 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:40.680 headphones. And although many folks who are serious about audio just get an 00:03:37.880 --> 00:03:45.320 external DAC and amp, this can still be an interesting solution if you really 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:51.040 want to keep everything in one box. Of course, this is yet another nice to 00:03:47.920 --> 00:03:53.280 have, not a need to have, and at the end 00:03:51.040 --> 00:03:58.600 of the day, you need your motherboard to be reliable and last longer than your 00:03:55.560 --> 00:04:00.720 Pokémon Go obsession did. So beyond the 00:03:58.600 --> 00:04:05.440 usual advice of picking a reputable manufacturer and looking for a nice long 00:04:03.200 --> 00:04:09.840 warranty, keep an eye out for features like solid capacitors, which tend to 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:14.560 last much longer than cheaper electrolytic ones which can leak. 00:04:12.200 --> 00:04:18.959 Reinforced PCI Express slots might be a decent idea if you're using a heavy 00:04:16.400 --> 00:04:23.160 graphics card, and there are even boards with special backplates that reduce the 00:04:21.359 --> 00:04:28.200 amount of torque on them when you're installing them or mounting a cooler and 00:04:25.960 --> 00:04:33.400 protect the traces from incidental scratches. 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:36.120 Finally, I'd be remiss in 2017 if I 00:04:33.400 --> 00:04:42.640 didn't say anything about aesthetics. Gone are the days of plain green PCBs, 00:04:39.400 --> 00:04:46.160 and now arctic camouflage, dragon heat 00:04:42.640 --> 00:04:48.880 sinks, and RGB lighting are the norm. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:54.560 Some boards, notably ASUS models, even have an RGB sync header so that any LED 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:57.760 strips you put in your case will sync up with your motherboard's lighting 00:04:55.640 --> 00:05:01.120 effects. It's like, you just blew my mind, man. 00:04:59.400 --> 00:05:06.240 But coming back to the main point of the video, obviously, if you're not 00:05:03.440 --> 00:05:10.800 overclocking or water cooling or using bleeding-edge storage or you're 00:05:07.960 --> 00:05:14.280 colorblind or whatever, you can pretty much ignore everything that I just said. 00:05:12.440 --> 00:05:17.640 Buy a $40 motherboard that just has the basics and you won't really see a dip in 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.240 performance. Speaking of not seeing a dip in 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:27.000 performance, why shouldn't you be able to browse the internet quickly and 00:05:24.320 --> 00:05:30.400 securely at the same time? TunnelBear VPN lets you tunnel to 20 different 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:35.200 countries, allowing you to browse the internet and use online services as 00:05:32.840 --> 00:05:38.960 though you are in a different country. They have easy-to-use apps for iOS, 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:43.080 Android, PC, and Mac. They also have a Chrome extension, and all you got to do 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:47.400 is press one button and your bear tunnels to the other country and your 00:05:45.160 --> 00:05:53.080 connection gets encrypted with AES 256-bit encryption and your public IP 00:05:49.960 --> 00:05:55.280 address gets switched. It is so easy to 00:05:53.080 --> 00:06:00.840 use that my mom can do it, and they also have a top-rated privacy policy with no 00:05:58.200 --> 00:06:05.000 user activity logging. So try out TunnelBear VPN with 500 megs of free 00:06:02.960 --> 00:06:09.320 data and no credit card required at the link in the video description, and if 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:13.240 you choose to get an unlimited plan, you can save 10% by going to 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:16.080 tunnelbear.com/Linus. Thanks for watching, guys. Like or 00:06:14.520 --> 00:06:19.400 dislike, check out our other channels, leave a comment with a suggestion, and 00:06:17.560 --> 00:06:22.240 subscribe. Do it.