How to Choose a Motherboard
And Not Be Sorry Afterwards

Conclusions

So, we have reviewed the key points you should pay attention to when you choose a motherboard in author's opinion. Though someone may say that half of the article was devoted to explanations what criteria should not be taken into consideration instead of what should be :). That's also true! You should understand: it's not because they have no effect, it's because we want to learn how to choose a motherboard, not to design it. Of course, having graduated after a proper faculty in a technical university and having spent a couple of years on studying specifications, you would get much more knowledge on this subject. But don't you think that it's too high a price to learn how to choose motherboards well, especially if your main profession has nothing to do with them? There must be a reasonable balance. I think this article has it. If you feel the desire to go in for this issue (or just curiosity) in the process of assembling your current computer, believe me: even the motherboard you bought using this article has a lot of things to study. And by the time you examine all your hardware inside out and you want something new, you will most likely have to upgrade it anyway ;). And for now I wish you a good choice!

AntiSanta
or the Pessimistic Tragedy
(instead of the afterword)

When I was a child I once witnessed a symbolic event during a New Year Eve party. Several families celebrated it together (including my parents). A lot of couples came with children of different age. 5-year old Victoria and 8-year old Paul were among them. Paul, very proud of being a "grown-up" already, made fun of Vic, who waited for presents from Santa Claus. He explained that there was no Santa. Vic burst into tears and started crying: "Santa exists! I want Santa to exist! I want Santa to exist!!! I want Santa to exi-ist!!!!!! A-A-AH!!!!!" Of course parents comforted Vic and Paul got clipped on the back of the head. It served him right, because he shouldn't have asserted himself at the expense of youngsters explaining things that they shouldn't have known. Besides there was no Paul's achievement in his information about Santa Claus: he had been told this by grown-ups and just believed them. As you see, Victoria believed in Santa and Paul believed there was no Santa. Belief is a dangerous thing...

In this article I have said a lot about "Santa Clauses" of the motherboard industry: about the reality of their "presents" and the reality of their existence. Santa Claus is an expectation of miracles. A present in a sock out of the air, or a secret BIOS option to turn Celeron into Pentium 4, or a special motherboard to overclock the Celeron to 10 GHz. Or a miraculous method to easily find the Most Up-to-date, Fastest, and Most Reliable motherboard (in this case, in order to get a feature matching at least one real product, most likely you will have to sacrifice the other two). Alas, I have witnessed only one kind of miracles for the time I work with hardware. And it's named catharsis (purification). It's when the dust falls off your eyes.

But I never doubt that I might meet such Victoria occasionally. Still I categorically refuse to be whipped for the following reason: do you know the major difference between our present situation and the past event on the New Year Eve twenty years ago? The difference is that you are no Vic, and I'm no Paul. We are all GROWN-UPS. And grown-ups cannot afford such a luxury as believing in Santa Claus. That's why this article is based on the idea that there is no Santa Claus. That's not even asserted, it's just implied. Not to offend you or to assert myself, but it's just the objective reality. And when you criticize me or watch Victoria (aka lamer) do it, will you please remember the most important thing: there is no Santa. At least there is no Motherboard Santa for sure. It's not just a saying, it's my ten-year experience...