Does Motherboard Affect Performance?

Whether you’re into CAD designing, video editing, gaming, or any other high-performance task, you require the computer to be at its best. The PC is a highly complex piece of equipment and attempting to comprehend what makes it tick can actually be a little intimidating. 

One of the several things you’ve almost certainly asked is, does motherboard affect performance? It’s a fair question since the computer motherboard is the backbone. It distributes the power and connects the hard drive, RAM, CPU, and other hardware parts.

There’s no doubt that you require a dependable motherboard for the computer to work well. Whether it can affect the performance or not is another matter. Before we settle that, let’s look at what computer performance is.   

What Does Computer Performance Actually Denote?

Performance, when applied to PCs, denotes the same thing under any other background. Simply put, it’s a sign of how well your equipment does the work. Still, there are a lot of things you require to glance at before you can say that a PC is functioning properly. The following are the significant metrics that can assist you in gauging computer performance.   

Hard Disk Latency:

It’s the disparity between the time you begin a request on your PC and the time you get the answer. It’s a general terminology that might denote somewhat different things, depending on where you make use of it.

When referred to hard drives, the disk latency is actually the delay between your request for particular information and the return of such information. The procedure sounds easy, but it has a major impact on computer performance. Three things determine the disk latency: transfer time, seek time, and rotational latency. 

Rotational Latency:

Information gets saved on your disk in circular tracks recognized as platters. The number of these platters in your hard drive isn’t actually set, but the majority of manufacturers today have two or more. Solid State Disks are an exception, as they come with none.

Information is transferred from or to your disk by the read/write head, managed by the actuator. Throughout the operation, the platter rolls, making it simpler for the read/write head to get to different sectors required. The rotational latency is actually the time it takes for a platter to turn the information under the read/write head.

Transfer Rate:

Throughput or transfer rate consists of the external and internal rates. The internal rate is the time it actually takes to get information between the drive controller and the surface of the disk. The external information is the time desired to move the information between the host system and the controller. However, the calculable data transfer rate frequently refers to the lower of the two.

Seek Time:

There are times when the head requires transferring the information on the inside of the platter. Other times, information is written or read on the outside. That denotes the head has to move back and forth, relying on where the information has to be transmitted.

The seek time is the time it actually takes for the read/write head to go from one track of the disk to the other. The max seek time shows how long it takes for the head to get from the inmost to the outermost track. The average seek time is 1/3 of the max seek time. The brand determines such characteristics.

Processing Speed:

When looking for a PC, one of the primary things individuals see on display windows is the processing speed of a CPU. It’s also mentioned as the clock speed and calculated in terms of hertz (Gigahertz or Megahertz).

What it really denotes is how many cycles can actually be completed per second. In simple words, it’s a gauge of how many times your CPU can actually switch between 0 and 1. The processing speed is frequently played up as the main factor in computer performance, and for a good reason.

It decides how fast the PC can get and interpret the directions you give it. The quicker it is, the more jobs it can complete. You do not need to wait long for interfacing with different programs or applications with a quick processor. That denotes you can get a more flawless video editing or gaming experience.  

High Clock Speed Vs. Various Cores:

There are two methods of making a CPU run faster. The initial is by increasing its processor’s clock speed. However, the conditions need to be correct for you to carry out so safely. The other choice is by utilizing a processor with numerous cores. 

If you make use of a processor with just two cores but a higher clock speed, you can rapidly load and interact with single programs. That said, you’ll have issues if you open numerous programs at the same time.

Alternatively, utilizing several cores with low clock speeds allows you to make use of several programs seamlessly. The issue is that every app would run slower, relying on how low its clock speed is.

RAM Speed And Size:

Random Access Memory (RAM) can be characterized as the short-term memory of your computer. It offers a storage space that your PC can access right away or within the next instant. This ability is required when it sets aside, or loads apps for later use.  

It’s similar to having all the significant things on the desk within your arms’ reach, prepared for being grabbed when required. The faster and bigger the computer’s RAM size, the more readily available information you can save. That denotes the PC will perform well despite the continuous data transfer between the virtual memory and the RAM.

Does A Motherboard Affect Performance?

As you already know that a motherboard is significant for a PC because it’s the part that basically puts the whole PC together and permits the diverse components to communicate with each other, does it also follow that it can affect the PC performance? 

Basically, when you’re talking about PC performance, glance at the overall specifications of the diverse components and parts that a PC actually requires for functioning. And while the motherboard is certainly significant, it is not a component that can affect how well a PC works. 

In that regard, a motherboard isn’t significant in terms of the overall PC performance, particularly when we ignore what’s called overclocking. Instead, the most significant things that contribute to the overall PC performance are the components such as the RAM, GPU, and CPU. 

However, a motherboard will also affect the components’ quality that you can utilize for the PC. In that regard, while your motherboard itself does not affect the PC performance, it does have an indirect effect on it because of how it can actually dictate what components you can utilize. 

But how does that really work? For example, if you own an older board, it’ll just support certain CPU types that might also be on the older side. That basically denotes that a motherboard is what states the limits of what components and parts you can utilize for the PC. 

So, for instance, if you own a Z370 chipset board, it’ll just support the eighth-generation Intel processors, albeit this motherboard is actually not bad. As such, if you desire to purchase an i9 processor or any other high-generation CPU, you would not be capable of utilizing the motherboard, and you’ll actually need to purchase a new motherboard. 

In simple words, the processors and different other similar components that you’re utilizing for the PC ought to be compatible with your motherboard; that’s why we say that a motherboard can indirectly affect the PC performance because you would not be capable of having a high-performance desire if a motherboard does not have the capability of supporting components and parts that permit your device to perform at its best.

How Much Does A Motherboard Affect Performance?

While we did say that a motherboard doesn’t affect the PC performance directly as it just has an indirect effect on the way a PC works, it does have other methods that it can affect or improve the overall performance of your device. However, the other ways we’re discussing also don’t affect your PC directly but just indirectly as well.

Overclocking:

A motherboard also has an indirect effect on how a PC works because of how it can affect the machine’s overclockability. The terminology overclocking is something that’s frequently utilized in the PC gaming industry, but not many users actually comprehend what it denotes to overclock the PC. In that regard, let’s try to discuss what overclocking actually is. 

When you construct or purchase a PC, the CPU that it actually comes with has a certain max speed that it can actually run at. As long as you’re actually doing the part in terms of keeping your system cool, like utilizing an efficient cooling system, you ought to be okay when you run the PC at the max speeds permitted by a processor.

But the thing that you have to know is that the max speed that comes with the processor is not necessarily the max speed. You can, in fact, still increase the speed of your CPU when you set a high multiplier or clock rate. 

It can be accomplished through the PC’s BIOS as you’re basically forcing the processor to work faster because of the increased multiplier. So basically, it is like forcing the car’s engine to function beyond the limits.

That’s what we call overclocking because you’re essentially setting a higher clock rate than what the PC’s processor is actually supposed to have—as such, doing that will increase the CPU’s speed, which leads to how the PC will also speed up beyond the standard limits of what the processor can actually do.

Still, there’s an issue when it comes to overclocking the CPU, particularly if you’re not utilizing the proper cooling system that the processor has to stop itself from overheating. So, if the processor ends up overheating, the BSOD may emerge. At the very least, your PC may end up rebooting as a preventive measure that would prevent your processor from overheating.

So, regarding overclockability and how it needs to do anything with the motherboard, you ought to know that your motherboard has an effect here indirectly. That is because the best motherboard types are able to regulate the voltage sufficiently well while also ensuring that the diverse PC parts aren’t fried when you overclock the processor.

In a sense, your motherboard isn’t the component that permits you to overclock the CPU but is involved in how the computer’s components are kept well-regulated and safe when you overclock the processor. 

That is why a great motherboard is required if you desire to push the PC past the usual performance limits, as you do not desire the PC to end up frying its components because of the overclocking.

The top motherboards usually come with stable clocks and a higher overclockability quality when you overclock the CPU. You may also try to search for a board with VRM or regulated voltage to make certain that all of the parts are safe.

However, when all’s said and done, not everybody is capable of overclocking their PCs accurately because of how your processors weren’t built to be overclocked. There are great Intel CPUs that, as powerful as they might be, come with locked multipliers that you can’t change. That denotes that, irrespective of how good the board may be, you still would not be capable of overclocking the processor if it was never actually meant to be overclocked in any way.

Chipset:

Now that we’ve discussed overclockability and how a motherboard can affect the PC indirectly when you desire to overclock the processor, let’s now get into how a motherboard’s chipset can affect the PC performance. Again, its effects will also be indirect.

A chipset of your motherboard is what can act as a regulator for the diverse parts in the PC. We’ve mentioned how one of the motherboard roles is to permit the diverse components to communicate with each other, and that’s what a chipset does because it can regulate the information that’s continuously being passed from the RAM, GPU, CPU, and all of the other components and parts in the PC.

Let’s find out more about the chipset in the basic sense. A chipset has two main parts, namely the south bridge and the north bridge. The north bridge is what’s accountable for regulating the communication between the diverse components of the PC. 

It comprises the peripherals like the GPU. Certainly, the GPU plays an important role in the overclocking capabilities and overall PC performance. Meanwhile, the south bridge isn’t as significant in terms of performance as the north bridge actually is. 

That is because the south bridge’s focus is on regulating the output and input of information from the BIOS and the USB, which do not necessarily comprise the peripherals and parts that improve the PC’s performance.

Nevertheless, both the south and north bridges are significant when it comes to how a motherboard can affect the overall abilities of the PC. The more competent a chipset is at regulating the data communication between all of the components, the better the performance will be. And that’s where having a great motherboard actually comes in.

Can Motherboard Affect GPU?

There’s no way for your board to affect the performance of your graphics card directly. As long as you connect it in the right PCI Express 3 x 16 slots, you should not need to be anxious about the motherboard affecting GPU performance.

There’s another part that does have the potential to affect the performance of your graphics card. The processor may bottleneck the GPU, but it can just happen if you pair a really low specification CPU with a really high specification GPU.

However, you ought to remember that a motherboard does not have the same effect on your GPU as it does on your CPU indirectly. While you still have the capability of overclocking the GPU so that it provides the max results in the performance, a motherboard just does not affect your GPU the same way as it actually does when you overclock the processor.

The only way the motherboard can degrade the performance of your GPU is if the motherboard has bad PCI Express x16 ports that permit a motherboard to read and transfer information from GPU to each other PC component.

Does A Motherboard Affect FPS?

If you’re into gaming, you’re almost certainly wondering if the computer’s motherboard has any effect on the FPS. To the amateurs, FPS is the short form of frames per second. The higher the rate is, the smoother your game will run since there’ll hardly be any lags between different moving frames.

To answer the question, we need to go back to overclocking. A great motherboard permits you to overclock the CPU, which can basically improve the overall performance of your computer, including FPS. The effect definitely is indirect, but it can exist nevertheless.

Conclusion:

To cut a long story short, it does not hurt to have a great motherboard for a PC. The motherboard is a crucial component of a good PC because of how it can act as the whole system’s heart. But, as to the PC performance, you do not have to put all of the eggs into your motherboard basket because it does not have a direct impact on how the PC performs.

Instead, you ought to choose to simply get a top motherboard instead of the most costly one. From there, concentrate more on the other gaming aspects like the RAM, GPU, and CPU because such components are the more significant ones when it comes to improving the PC performance directly.

Also Check:

• Does My Motherboard Support NVMe?
• Does Motherboard Matter For Gaming?