Comparison Gigabyte GA-AB350M-D3H vs Gigabyte GA-AB350M-Gaming 3

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.

The design of the motherboard has a separate heatsink for VRM.

VRM is a voltage regulation module through which power from a computer power supply is supplied to the processor. This module steps down the standard power supply voltage (+5V or +12V) to a lower value required by the processor (usually just over 1V). At high loads, the voltage regulator can get very hot, and without a specialized cooling system, the matter can end with overheating and even burnout of parts. The VRM heatsink reduces the likelihood of such situations; it can be useful for any CPU, and highly desirable if the board is planned to be used with a powerful high-end processor (especially overclocked).

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.

Availability of DisplayPort output on the motherboard.

Primarily, this digital connector is used to transmit video from the built-in video card or processor with integrated graphics to external screens. Moreover, through one DisplayPort interface it is possible to connect several displays in series in a “chain” (“daisy chain” format). Specific output capabilities vary by version (see below), but even the most modest DisplayPort specification (among modern options) allows 4K at 60 fps, 5K at 30 fps, and 8K with some limitations.

The DisplayPort interface is a standard for Apple monitors and is found in screens from other manufacturers.

The number of connectors for powering coolers and fans provided in the motherboard. A processor cooler is usually connected to such a connector, and fans of other system components — video cards, cases, etc. can also be powered from the "motherboard"; sometimes it is more convenient than pulling power directly from the PSU (at least you can reduce the number of wires in the case). Many modern boards are equipped with 4 or more connectors of this type.