Comparison MSI B350 PC MATE vs ASRock AB350 Pro4

The general specialization of the motherboard is the type of tasks for which it is optimized. It should be noted that the division according to this indicator is often rather conditional, models similar in characteristics may belong to different categories. However, the data on specialization greatly simplifies the choice.

In addition to the traditional "motherboards" for home and office, nowadays you can find solutions for high-end PCs (High-End Desktop) and for servers, as well as gaming boards and models for overclocking(the last two options are sometimes combined into one category , however, these are still different types of motherboards). There are also specialized models for cryptocurrency mining, but very few of them are produced — especially since many boards that originally had a different purpose are suitable for mining (see "Suitable for mining").

Here is a more detailed description of each variety:

— For home and office. Motherboards that do not belong to any of the more specific types. In general, this kind of "motherboards" is very diverse, it includes options from low-cost motherboards for modest office PCs to advanced models that come close to gaming and HEDT solutions. However, for the most part, solutions from this category...are designed for simple everyday tasks: working with documents, web surfing, 2D design and layout, games in low and medium quality, etc.

— Gamer's. Boards originally designed for use in advanced gaming PCs. In addition to high performance and compatibility with powerful components, primarily video cards (often several at once, in SLI and/or Crossfire format — see below), such models usually also have specific features of a gaming nature. The most noticeable of these features is the characteristic design, sometimes with backlighting and even backlight synchronization (see below), which allows you to organically fit the board into the original design of the gaming station. The functionality of gaming boards may include an advanced audio chip, a high-end network controller to reduce lags in online games, built-in software tools for tuning and optimizing performance, etc. Also, such models may provide advanced overclocking capabilities, sometimes not inferior to the capabilities of specialized boards for overclocking (see below). And sometimes the border between gaming and overclocking solutions is generally erased: for example, individual boards positioned by the manufacturer as gaming ones, in terms of functionality, can more likely be related to overclocking models.

— For overclocking. High-performance boards with an extended set of overclocking tools — improving system performance by fine-tuning individual components (mainly by increasing the clock frequencies used by these components). On most conventional motherboards, this setup involves considerable complexity and risk, it is usually an undocumented feature and is not covered by the warranty. However, in this case, the situation is the opposite: boards "for overclocking" are called so because the possibility of overclocking was originally incorporated in them by the manufacturer. One of the most noticeable features of such models is the presence in the firmware (BIOS) of special software tools for overclocking management, which makes overclocking as safe as possible and affordable even for inexperienced users. Another feature is improved compatibility with built-in overclocking tools provided in advanced processors, RAM modules, etc. Anyway, this particular type of board will be the best choice for those who want to build a fairly powerful PC with the ability to experiment in terms of performance.

— HEDT (High End Desktop). Motherboards designed for high-performance workstations and other PCs of a similar level. In many ways, they are similar to gaming ones and are sometimes even positioned as gaming ones, but they are designed more for general performance (including in professional tasks) than for confident work with games. One of the key features of such "motherboards" is the extensive functionality for working with RAM: they provide at least 4 slots for "RAM", and more often 6 or more, the maximum RAM frequency is at least 2500 MHz (and more often 4000 MHz and higher ), and the maximum volume is at least 128 GB. The rest of the characteristics are usually at a similar level. Also, the firmware may provide tools for overclocking, although in terms of this functionality, such boards are most often still inferior to overclockers. Note that such solutions can initially be positioned as gaming; the basis for categorization in the HEDT category in such cases is the fulfillment of the above criteria.

— For the server. Motherboards specially designed for servers. Such systems are noticeably different from conventional desktop PCs — in particular, they work with large volumes of drives and have increased requirements for the speed and reliability of data transfer; accordingly, to build servers, it is best to use specialized components, including motherboards. Among the main features of such motherboards are an abundance of slots for RAM (often more than 4), the ability to connect numerous drives (necessarily more than 4 SATA 3 slots, often 8 or more), as well as support for special technologies (like ECC — see below) . In addition, such boards can be made in specific form factors such as EEB or CEB (see "Form Factor"), although more traditional options are also found.

— Designed for mining. Motherboards specially designed for cryptocurrency mining (BitCoin, Ethereum, etc.). We emphasize that we are not just talking about the possibility of such an application (see “Suitable for mining”), but that the motherboard is initially positioned as a solution for creating a cryptocurrency “farm”. Recall that mining is the extraction of cryptocurrency by performing special calculations; such calculations are most conveniently carried out using several high-performance video cards at once. Accordingly, one of the distinguishing features of mining boards is the presence of several (usually at least 4) PCI-E 16x slots for connecting such video cards. However, this category of “motherboards” has not received much distribution: similar characteristics are also found among more general-purpose boards, it is quite possible to achieve performance sufficient for efficient mining on them.

The number of processor power phases provided on the motherboard.

Very simplistically, phases can be described as electronic blocks of a special design, through which power is supplied to the processor. The task of such blocks is to optimize this power, in particular, to minimize power surges when the load on the processor changes. In general, the more phases, the lower the load on each of them, the more stable the power supply and the more durable the electronics of the board. And the more powerful the CPU and the more cores it has, the more phases it needs; this number increases even more if the processor is planned to be overclocked. For example, for a conventional quad-core chip, only four phases are often enough, and for an overclocked one, at least eight may be needed. It is because of this that powerful processors can have problems when used on inexpensive low-phase motherboards.

Detailed recommendations on choosing the number of phases for specific CPU series and models can be found in special sources (including the documentation for CPU itself). Here we note that with numerous phases on the motherboard (more than 8), some of them can be virtual. To do this, real electronic blocks are supplemented with doublers or even triplers, which, formally, increases the number of phases: for example, 12 claimed phases can represent 6 physical blocks with doublers. However, virtual phases are much inferior to real ones in terms of capabilities — in fact, t...hey are just additions that slightly improve the characteristics of real phases. So, let's say, in our example, it is more correct to speak not about twelve, but only about six (though improved) phases. These nuances must be specified when choosing a motherboard.

Motherboard dimensions in height and width. It is assumed that the traditional placement of motherboards is vertical, so in this case one of the dimensions is called not the length, but the height.

Motherboard sizes are largely determined by their form factors (see above), however, the size of a particular motherboard may differ slightly from the standard adopted for this form factor. In addition, it is usually easier to clarify the dimensions according to the characteristics of a particular motherboard than to look for or remember general information on the form factor. Therefore, size data can be given even for models that fully comply with the standard.

The third dimension — thickness — is considered less important for a number of reasons, so it is often omitted.

The ability of the motherboard to work with RAM modules that support XMP (Extreme Memory Profiles) technology. This technology was developed by Intel; it is used in motherboards and RAM blocks and only works if both of these system components are XMP compliant. A similar technology from AMD is called AMP.

The main function of XMP is to facilitate system overclocking (“overclocking”): special overclocking profiles are “sewn” into the memory with this technology, and if desired, the user can only select one of these profiles without resorting to complex configuration procedures. This is not only easier, but also safer: every profile added to the bar is tested for stability.

Number of SATA 3 ports on the motherboard.

SATA is now the standard interface for connecting internal drives (mainly HDDs) and optical drives. One device is connected to one such connector, so the number of SATA ports corresponds to the number of internal drives / drives that can be connected to the motherboard through such an interface. A large number ( 6 SATA ports and more) is necessary in case of active use of several hard drives and other peripherals. For domestic use, 4 is enough. SATA 3, as the name suggests, is the third version of this interface, operating at a total speed of about 6 Gbps; the useful speed, taking into account the redundancy of the transmitted data, is about 4.8 Mbps (600 MB / s) — that is, twice as much as in SATA 2.

Note that different SATA standards are quite compatible with each other in both directions: older drives can be connected to newer ports, and vice versa. The only thing is that the data transfer rate will be limited by the capabilities of the slower version, and in some cases it may be necessary to reconfigure the drives with hardware (switches, jumpers) or software. It is also worth saying that SATA 3 is the newest and most advanced variation of SATA today, but the capabilities of this standard are not enough to unlock the full potential of high-speed SSDs. Therefore, SATA 3 is mainly used for hard drives and low-cost SSDs, faster drives are conn...ected to specially designed connectors like M.2 or U.2 (see below).

The number of M.2 connectors provided in the design of the motherboard. There are motherboards for 1 M.2 connector, for 2 connectors, for 3 connectors or more.

The M.2 connector is designed to connect advanced internal devices in a miniature form factor — in particular, high-speed SSD drives, as well as expansion cards like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules. However, connectors designed to connect only peripherals (Key E) are not included in this number. Nowadays, this is one of the most modern and advanced ways to connect components. But note that different interfaces can be implemented through this connector — SATA or PCI-E, and not necessarily both at once. See "M.2 interface" for details; here we note that SATA has a low speed and is used mainly for low-cost drives, while PCI-E is used for advanced solid-state modules and is also suitable for other types of internal peripherals.

Accordingly, the number of M.2 is the number of components of this format that can be simultaneously connected to the motherboard. At the same time, many modern boards, especially mid-range and top-end ones, are equipped with two or more M.2 connectors, and moreover, with PCI-E support.

Electrical (logical) interfaces implemented through physical M.2 connectors on the motherboard.

See above for more details on such connectors. Here we note that they can work with two types of interfaces:

• SATA is a standard originally created for hard drives. M.2 usually supports the newest version, SATA 3; however, even it is noticeably inferior to PCI-E in terms of speed (600 MB / s) and functionality (only drives);
• PCI-E is the most common modern interface for connecting internal peripherals (otherwise NVMe). Suitable for both expansion cards (such as wireless adapters) and drives, while PCI-E speeds allow you to fully realize the potential of modern SSDs. The maximum communication speed depends on the version of this interface and on the number of lines. In modern M.2 connectors, you can find PCI-E versions 3.0 and 4.0, with speeds of about 1 GB / s and 2 GB / s per lane, respectively; and the number of lanes can be 1, 2 or 4 (PCI-E 1x, 2x and 4x respectively)

Specifically, the M.2 interface in the characteristics of motherboards is indicated by the number of connectors themselves and by the type of interfaces provided for in each of them. For example, the entry "3xSATA / PCI-E 4x" means three connectors that can work both in SATA format and in PCI-E 4x format; and the designation "1xSATA / PCI-E 4x, 1xPCI-E 2x" means two connectors, one of which works as SATA or PCI-E 4x, and the second — only as PCI-E 2x.

Number of PCI-E (PCI-Express) 1x slots installed on the motherboard. There are motherboards for 1 PCI-E 1x slot, 2 PCI-E 1x slots, 3 PCI-E 1x ports and even more.

The PCI Express bus is used to connect various expansion cards — network and sound cards, video adapters, TV tuners and even SSD drives. The number in the name indicates the number of PCI-E lines (data transfer channels) supported by this slot; the more lines, the higher the throughput. Accordingly, PCI-E 1x is the basic, slowest version of this interface. The data transfer rate for such slots depends on the PCI-E version (see "PCI Express Support"): in particular, it is slightly less than 1 GB / s for version 3.0 and slightly less than 2 GB / s for 4.0.

Separately, we note that the general rule for PCI-E is as follows: the board must be connected to a slot with the same or more lines. Thus, only single-lane boards will be guaranteed to be compatible with PCI-E 1x.

The number of PCI slots provided in the design of the motherboard.

These slots are used for expansion cards. At the same time, technically, this interface is considered obsolete — in particular, it is noticeably inferior to the newer PCI-E in terms of data transfer speed (up to 533 MB / s). Nevertheless, for some types of components (for example, sound cards), such features are quite enough; and the use of PCI allows you to leave free PCI-E slots that may be needed for more demanding peripherals. So even nowadays, both motherboards with PCI slots and components with such a connection can still be found on the market.