Can anyone give me any suggestions in choosing a motherboard brand and product? For example, companies and specifications to watch out for?

Thanks a lot Massassians

Abit, Asus, Gigabyte, DFI, Albatron, MSI and Soyo are all good companies. What kind of motherboard are you looking at (intel or amd)?

DO NOT GET MSI.

Other than that, what kind of motherboard are you looking for, what features, do you want PCI-E? Do you want dual PCI-E? Are you going to be gaming? Etc, etc.

Gaming is my prime focus, but I also don't care to spend a whole lot on a motherboard.

As for PCI-E, I am not sure what that is. It's related to the PCI slots, right?

As for Intel or AMD, I am debating between the two. AMD supposedly has better cooling capabilities, but I have never dealt with any AMD product, thus I am clueless in comparisons to corresponding Intel qualities.

Do not get Gigabyte. MSI isn't anywhere near as bad as Gigabyte is.

But personally, I would look at chipsets more than the people who make the boards those chipsets go on. Like Nforce, which is helluva better than VIA.

I've never had a problem with Gigabyte. Currently using a GA-7N400-L with no problems at all.

I've had problems with gigabyte and MSI both. I recomment Abit, Asus, or my current favorite: Intel.

Rule #1--don't listen to matty.

Okay, here's the breakdown. I'm going to tell you not to go with Gigabyte but NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT MATTY SAID. Gigabyte is a fine producer of motherboards, they just are not for overclocking in any way shape or form. You, going to game, should look for something that will be overclocking friendly. I suggest Asus, ABit, or Chaintech. These three brands are the ones you're going for.

Chipset--well this largely depends. If you're going for Athlon XP (at this point we're going to say you're going AMD since it is by far the best gaming chip with the best bang for buck) then you'll want nForce2, a great chipset. If you're going AMD 64, however, you'll want VIA, as nForce3's have been having problems. This is also considering you're going AGP and not PCI-Express, which is PCI-E, the successor to AGP.

I suggest, however, you go PCI-E, dual PCI-E in fact, with two slots for nVidia SLI (Though ATi's new cards with the dual core may stack up well against SLI) and in that case, you should go nForce4, the newest of chipsets.

Chips. AMD of course, but which? If you're going Athlon XP, I suggest a chip anywhere from 2500+, 3000+, but make sure it is a barton core. Also, for everything here, shop [url=www.newegg.com]newegg[/url]. Best prices, fast shipping, awesome customer service. If you're going AMD 64, I suggest the 3200+ simply because of the change in cache and core--it gives it a bigger advantage over the 3000+ than is usual. Also, I forgot to mention this in the motherboards section, if you're going AMD64 MAKE SURE YOU GET A SOCKET 939 BOARD. If you go dual PCI-E slots, and go with the nForce4 chipset, no worries, that's already Socket 939.

Alright, that's about it. For the best performance, I suggest an Asus, Abit, or Chaintech board from newegg.com, Socket 939, nForce4 if you can find it. Chips I suggest the 3200+ socket 939 version.

WHATEVER YOU DO STAY AWAY FROM MSI LIKE THE PLAGUE. They are a HORRIBLE board manufacturer, with shoddy parts, and horrible customer service. Once you get all this stuff, post again, and we'll talk about overclocking

Rule #2 - Listen to Yoshi.

I've had Asus and Abit both, and both served me well, and overclocked well (both with Intel chipsets). My current is a Biostar, which runs well, but can't overclock at all (nForce 2 chipset).

Biostar's nForce2 chipsets are crap, but I got a decent one. Could be better, but I'm happy with it as is.

*cough* I should say the same for you.

MSI has GOOD support, my friend had an MSI board. He popped a capacitor off the board on accident, and they gave him an RMA and exchanged his board with a new one. He had a new board a week after they received his. My grandmother's computer company also uses MSI almost exclusively for their PCs, and has only had one bad board (out of maybe 100.)

Gigabyte, however, is just cheap crap. I've had two of their boards, and my grandmother's company used to use Gigabyte. They stopped when they received 3 bad boards in a row. I have had nothing but crashing on those boards, and one board has a faulty CPU thermometer, of which Gigabyte (to this day, still) refuses to exchange for a new one.

Maybe back up your criticisms, Yoshi.

But I will agree on what you said otherwise. Asus is an awesome manufacturer. I have the Asus A7N8X and I wouldn't trade it for the world (Well, maybe for another Asus Nforce3 board with AMD FX-53 :D)

MSI is known for their boards bursting, literally bursting into flames. Gigabyte has nothing on that.

Uhh, what? Proof!

I'll try finding the link--this guy's motherboard caught fire because a capacitor burst (on some forums, overclockers.co.uk I think) and it would've burned his house down if people didn't make cases out of metal. Ruined his motherboard, a PCI card, a few other things. Sucked. Can't find the thread for the life of me though.

I always buy Asus.

You know... twice.

What?

Whenever I buy motherboards, I get Asus. I've purchased two motherboards.

Makes more sense now.

The two mainboard manufacturers that I have had the most experience, good experience at that, are ASUS and DFI. Currently running a DFI NFII 400-AL. Anyway, Gigabyte is OK however they have had problems in the past. I do not suggest any of the modern MSI boards. MSI has been cherry picking the capacitors and chips for review sites while sending out the crappiest boards to actual consumers. DFI is a good product. ASUS is also a good product.

As far as the Intel vs. AMD battle goes on the gaming front, AMD wipes the floor with Intel. Also, AMD platforms will cost you less. At the moment PCI-e will not give you much of a performance gain unless you are running two cards in SLI. As far as a rig goes, e-mail me and I can send you a rig I put together for my friend that will run most games well and cost less than most.

Putting together a new rig for the first time is fun stuff just make sure that you have a backup computer and someone who is more experienced than you. Those two resources help tremendously. If you have any more questions feel free to ask me via e-mail or IM me at unojavaaddict on AIM.

Good luck.