Noob question: what does the motherboard exactly do?

[Myxtro]

I'm still somewhat new to the 'in depth computer world' or the 'behind the scenes of computers' and there's still a lot I should learn. I already know what graphics cards and ram do. So my next step is learning about motherboards. As I want to upgrade my computer, I need to know what motherboard would be the most suitable for me.

 

Now here's the thing. I know that a motherboard connects all the componends of the computer, but that's about all I know. Does a motherboard have more 'tasks'? And what makes one better than another? How do I decide which motherboard I should go for?

 

Don't be shy. Give me as much information as you know.

[PRTI]

 

[yannick12]

A Motherboard is the spine of your PC, it is the link between all the different components inside your computer. One of the major functions of a motherboard is to act as the “hub” to which other computer devices connect. A board can come in many formations to fit different needs and budgets.  

[Zangashtu]

The as fast as possible series is great, quickly gives all the information and you can google what you don't completely understand

[tlink]

it does a load of stuff, it contains the usb and (wireless) ethernet controllers that convert the raw data into something the cpu can interpret.  it also manages the speed and voltages of every component you slot into the motherboard, as well as some mission critical protection for overheating. it also does the bootstrapping(powering on every component and doing a pre flight check, then loading the OS to ram) for the OS(operating system) after the power button is hit, as well as detecting components on boot. it signals the psu (power suply) to come out of sleep mode so the cpu and every other component gets power (this is the first thing that happens after you hit the power button). thats about what i know.

[Myxtro]

So how do I pick the right motherboard? 

[zMeul]

when you make a sandwich: you take you meat, your cheese, your salad and your onion on put them between? bread

that's what a mobo is 

[tlink]

6 minutes ago, Myxtro said:

So how do I pick the right motherboard? 

you have to look at the cpu socket, different cpu brands use different socket types, and between generations they use different socket types so there is a load of them out there. then there is the motherboard's chipset, this is what gives the cpu the needed connectivity with the motherboard (something along those lines). heres a video about that
 

 

then there is the different motherboard formfactors, here's a video about that.
 

 

then you have the pci slots. most common is pci-express nowdays. we have different generations of those, pci-express 4 was just announced but most people dont need the higher speed. pci-e 3 is the standard nowdays. here's a vid about pci-e.
 

 

then there are the serial ata ports to which you connect your storage and m.2 here's some videos about those

 

 

then there is the bios and the uefi which basically is the firmware of the motherboard, its settings and stuff like that. its the operating system of your motherboard. heres a video about that

 

 

then there are different version ram slots. the most common one today is DDR3, but its being replaced by DDR4 fast. your motherboard will only support 1 type of ram, and certain clockspeeds of said ram. 

 

thats all i can come up with at the top of my head.

[asand1]

27 minutes ago, Myxtro said:

So how do I pick the right motherboard? 

Choose your CPU first, then choose what form factor (case size) you want.  Then choose a motherboard that fits those two. There are other considerations such as M.2, USB 3.0, etc. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

2 hours ago, Myxtro said:

 

Now here's the thing. I know that a motherboard connects all the componends of the computer, but that's about all I know. 

 

That's about all it does. 

 

1 hour ago, Myxtro said:

So how do I pick the right motherboard? 

Make sure you can connect all your components. 

[typographie]

This is a platform block diagram (this one is for Intel's Skylake platform). The CPU is in the upper center, and the chipset or PCH is in the lower center (both in lighter blue). The dark blue boxes are the features provided by those two components, such as it's PCIe, SATA, and USB, but those are just electrical connections. The motherboard gives you the physical metal and plastic interfaces needed to use those connections.

 

[Mira Yurizaki]

4 hours ago, Myxtro said:

So how do I pick the right motherboard? 

1. Pick your processor first, that determines what socket your motherboard should have.
2. Determine what I/O ports, like SATA ports, PCI Express slots, USB ports, etc.,  you need
3. Figure out what size you want, like mini ITX, micro ATX, or ATX. You might want to pick out a case first before figuring this out. Just remember: a smaller motherboard can fit in a larger case.
4. Figure out if you care about certain features, like overclocking, more VRMs for better overclocking, status LEDs, push button things for reseting, clearing UEFI settings, etc.
5. Pick the least expensive thing that meets those requirements.

[Myxtro]

Thanks for all the tips guys! You are really helpfull. I'll look into all of those things and then decide what I need.