How to pick a motherboard?

[aidso]

I'm sure the same questions get asked all the time and to save me and the rest of us some face, how does one go about picking a decent motherboard?
So say you wanted to buy an Intel Q8300 CPU, how do I know what mobo this fits into?
Secondly, how do I know what PSU to buy to fit that board?

Thanks

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would look at reviews of the processor and the test system specs will tell you what socket it uses. Even checking wikipedia is useful. Also I would check the chipset specs carefully and any reviews to see which motherboard fits your needs.

When buying a PSU you need to estimate the number of watts the system may need plus around 25% on top as PSU output drops as ambient temperature increases and the age of the PSU increases. The number of amps the 12V line(s) of the PSU can supply is also important if you are buying a gaming graphics card. I would also only go for PSUs which have been tested by proper review websites as they can do all the measurements which are needed to check if the PSU is up to the job.

[aidso]

Cheers Cat, you are a wealth of knowledge and its much appreciated.

I see you recommend the Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 770 motherboard quite a bit and have considered this with the AMD Phenom II X4 940 3GHz Socket AM2+ processor. Thats coming in for me ~£160. Would you be able to recommend the rest? I'm aiming for the £400 mark and have set aside ~£80 for a Seagate 1.5TB drive leaving me potentially £160 for RAM, Case, PSU. I have a small GeForce card im going to chuck in (free).

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This is what I would look at getting:

AMD Phenom II X4 925 ~ £108

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/177044

MSI 770-C45~ £53

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...s/770-C45.html

4GB 1600MHZ DDR3~ £82

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/s...tml?GSK-4G16C9

Run this RAM at 1333MHZ using lower latencies.

500W Silverstone Strider ST50F-23~ £51

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/500W-...lar-cable-V-10

Casecom 6788 ~ £26

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172779

You can get cashback from Quidco and TopCashBack for using Novatech:

http://www.quidco.com/novatech

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/retailerdetailNovatech.htm

If you don't intend to game at all I would suggest getting a motherboard which has integrated graphics and also a lower wattage PSU.

I would have liked to fit in a Phenom II X4 945 or 955BE into the build but the budget would need to be increased. The Phenom II X4 940 does not have a DDR3 memory controller though. However with DDR3 and the increased HT speed of the Phenom II X4 925 the perfomance difference should not be much IMHO.

[aidso]

Well (I had another thread going yesterday) and the only thing the machine is going to be used for is The Sims and crap like that. It wont be used for games like Crysis or Modern Warfare 2. So while I would like games to play, im not looking for a killer refresh rate.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The build I suggested should be fine for those sort of games for yonks IMHO!! Do you intend to overclock at all?? If not I would look at subsituting a 785G motherboard instead. BTW,what is the graphics card you have to hand??

If you don't intend to plonk in a graphics cards like an HD4870 then the following PSU should do the trick if you use a graphics card with a similar power consumption to an 8800GT:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/p...400SXS-UK.html

OTH,the 500W Silverstone modular means that you could even run a HD5850 if the need arises at some point!

[aidso]

The card I have is an XFX Geforce 8400GS 512MB card

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would stick with the existing build I listed and use the 8400GS for the time being. The Silverstone PSU is not only modular but it will give some scope for upgrades too.

[aidso]

Thank you

[Pob255]

I'd pritty much agree with cat here, a couple of points to add.

I'd stick with the 8400gs, it's not a very good card but should be better than onboard graphics, if you did want to upgrade then a 4870 would probably be massive overkill, a 9800gt or 4770 would be a better option.

A Phenon II x4 might also be over kill for what you need an Athlon II x4 would be fine and a chunk cheaper if you need to reduce the budget a bit.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/173368