Does A Motherboard Affect Performance?

[lieudusty]

Does getting a higher end motherboard have a noticeably difference in performance? 

[Glenwing]

No.  Not beyond anything quantifiable like PCI Express lanes or something like that.  With PCIe 3.0 though even that won't really be a bottleneck if you're running x16/x8/x4.

[CobaltMK33]

Performance is more from the components themselves, but a motherboard could decrease performance if it bottlenecks the components. However, the motherboard can help you in overclocking a lot. For example, any ASUS ROG motherboard will overclock better than a basic ASRock motherboard. 

[Jupakazoid]

Performance is more from the components themselves, but a motherboard could decrease performance if it bottlenecks the components. However, the motherboard can help you in overclocking a lot. For example, any ASUS ROG motherboard will overclock better than a basic ASRock motherboard. 

This. I have an ASRock z77 Extreme4, and while everything works great and the performance is fine, I can't get the board to boot past 4.5GHz, whereas a top tier ROG board would have no problems running at 5.0+

 

Performance wise though, it's the other components that matter.

[MzCatieB]

yes and no, if your using lower end components then its not worth splashing more cash on the motherboard, unless u intent on upgrading.

 

it does effect performance but its not a primary bottleneck for hardware

[mumbojumbogumbo]

Super crappy VRMs will throttle once they reach a specific temperature and you will lose crap tons of performance. EVGA Stinger is an example. It will make an i7 perform like a 965.

[mvitkun]

Super crappy VRMs will throttle once they reach a specific temperature and you will lose crap tons of performance. EVGA Stinger is an example. It will make an i7 perform like a 965.

the phenom x4 965?

or the i7 965?

xD

[mumbojumbogumbo]

Phenom