Comparison ASRock B365 Pro4 vs ASRock B365M 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 form factor of the motherboard determines, first of all, its physical dimensions, and, accordingly, a number of parameters directly related to them: type of computer case, installation method, type of power connector, number of slots for additional boards (expansion slots), etc. At the moment, there are such main form factors of motherboards:

— ATX. One of the most common form factors for PC motherboards. The standard size of such a board is 30.5x24.4 cm, it has up to 7 expansion slots and a 24-pin or (less often, in older models) 20-pin power connector.

— Micro-ATX. A slightly reduced version of the ATX form factor, with more compact dimensions (usually 24.4x24.4 cm) and, accordingly, fewer places for peripherals — there are usually only two slots for "RAM", expansion slots — from two to four. Nevertheless, despite the limited size, such boards can be intended for quite powerful systems.

— Mini-ITX. Motherboards of compact dimensions (17x17 cm). Designed for use primarily in small form factor computers (small form factor, SFF), in other words, compact PCs. According to the mounting specifications and the location of connectors and slots, they are compatible with ATX standard cases. They usually have one expansion slot.

— mini-STX. Another representative of compact form factors, assuming a boar...d size of 140x147 mm. Thus, the overall size is almost a third smaller than mini-ITX. At the same time, such motherboards often have seats for fairly powerful processors (for example, the LGA 1151 socket for Intel Core chips) and are made based on the corresponding TDP values. But expansion slots, usually, are absent.

— micro DTX. A relatively new compact form factor, which is not common, mainly among rather specific motherboards — in particular, models designed for cases in the PIO form factor. This form factor is characterized by a very small size and weight and allows you to mount the case directly behind the monitor, on a standard VESA mount. One of the features of "motherboards" for such systems is that the graphics card is installed along the board, and not perpendicularly — accordingly, the PCI-E 16x connector (see below) has a non-standard location. At the same time, micro-DTX boards are similar in terms of fasteners to microATX and can be used in cases of the corresponding form factor (except that additional equipment may be required for the correct installation of a graphics card). The standard size of such a board is 170 x 170 mm, similar to mini-ITX.

— mini DTX. An intermediate format between the microDTX described above and the original DTX; sometimes also described as an extended mini-ITX version. It has a standard size of 170 x 203 mm and can be equipped with two expansion slots (mini-ITX and mini-DTX have one such slot); it is completely similar in application — it is intended mainly for compact cases, in particular, HTPC computers.

— XL-ATX. Larger version of the ATX form factor. While not yet a common standard, size options include 32.5x24.4cm with 8 expansion slots and 34.3x26.2cm with up to 9 expansion slots.

— Thin mini-ITX. A “thin” version of the reduced mini-ITX form factor described above: according to the official specification, the total thickness of the thin mini-ITX board should not exceed 25 mm. Also designed for the most miniature computers — in particular, HTPC.

— E-ATX. The letter E in the name of this form factor stands for "Extended" — extended. True to its name, E-ATX is another enlarged version of ATX using 30.5x33cm boards.

— EEB. Full name SSI EEB. The form factor used in server systems (see “By direction”) provides a board size of 30.5x33 cm.

— CEB. The full name is SSI CEB. Another form factor of "server" motherboards. In fact, it is a narrower version of the EEB described above, with a width reduced to 25.9 cm (with the same height of 30.5 cm).

— flex-ATX. One of the compact variations of ATX, which provides board dimensions of less than 229x191 mm, as well as less than 3 expansion slots. At the same time, in terms of the location of the mounting holes, this standard is identical to microATX; in fact, it was developed as a potential replacement for the latter, but for a number of reasons it did not receive much distribution, although it continues to be produced.

— Non-standard (Custom). The name Proprietary is also used. Motherboards that do not conform to standard form factors and are designed for cases of special sizes (usually branded ones).

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.

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 USB 2.0 connectors installed on the back of the motherboard.

Recall that USB is the most popular modern connector for connecting various external peripherals — from keyboards and mice to specialized equipment. And USB 2.0 is the oldest version of this interface that is relevant today; it is noticeably inferior to the newer USB 3.2 both in terms of speed (up to 480 Mbps), and in terms of power supply and additional functionality. On the other hand, even such characteristics are often enough for undemanding peripherals (like the same keyboards / mice); and devices of newer versions can be connected to the connectors of this standard — there would be enough power supply. So this version of USB is still found in modern motherboards, although there are fewer and fewer new models with USB 2.0 connectors.

Note that in addition to the connectors on the rear panel, connectors on the board itself (more precisely, ports on the PC case connected to such connectors) can also provide a USB connection. See below for more on this.

The number of native USB 3.2 gen1 connectors provided on the back of the motherboard. In this case, traditional, full-size USB A ports are meant.

USB 3.2 gen1(formerly known as USB 3.1 gen1 and USB 3.0) is a direct successor and development of the USB 2.0 interface. The main differences are a 10-fold increase in the maximum data transfer rate — 4.8 Gbps — as well as higher power supply, which is important when connecting several devices to one port through a splitter (hub). At the same time, peripherals of other versions can be connected to this connector.

The more connectors provided in the design, the more peripheral devices can be connected to the motherboard without the use of additional equipment (USB splitters). There are boards on the market that have more than 4 USB 3.2 gen1 ports on the back panel. At the same time, we note that in addition to the connectors on the rear panel, connectors on the board itself (more precisely, ports on the case connected to such connectors) can also provide a USB connection. See below for more on this.