Let’s Find Out When To Upgrade Motherboard!

As the motherboard or PC ages, it becomes more difficult to install a new operating system and apps updates on your PC. Existing apps take longer to launch and might even have limited storage space.

The question is when to upgrade motherboard? It provides you with more storage space and speed for a fraction of the price of a new PC, but you do not desire to insert new parts into an old machine if it does not offer a speed boost.

The top motherboard for Ryzen 9 5950x and motherboard for i7 9700k are extremely simple to upgrade. The simplest method of updating the PC motherboard is to update storage and memory. Other updates are a bit more complex and come with more dependencies.

However, you can frequently upgrade the PC’s processor (CPU), fan, graphics card, and even motherboard. I will explain numerous reasons you should upgrade the motherboard and a few considerations to remember when doing that.

How Long Should A Motherboard Actually Last?

Relying on the brand, a motherboard ought to last on average anywhere between ten to twenty years. Nevertheless, quality motherboards can last for up to 40 years without coming across any problems. 

On the other hand, the motherboards with low quality will not last you long and might break even earlier than the average stated above. More significantly, however, how long the motherboard lasts relies a lot on how well you make use of your PC and its surrounding atmosphere.

Instead of taking care of the age of your motherboard, contemplate taking care of how you make use of it. Also, bad habits like flashing wrong BIOS flashes on your motherboard will make the motherboard fail fast.

Conversely, upgrading the parts of your motherboard like the GPU, HDD, and RAM, among others, can really add to the motherboard’s lifespan beyond the expected years of service. Lastly, make sure that you clean the PC’s motherboard frequently while at the same time warding it off from humidity. Although you can change it if you see any indications of slowing down, taking care of your motherboard guarantees that it will last long.

What Causes Motherboards To Fail?

Here’re a few things that can send the PC haywire with motherboard failure.

Overheating

PCs produce a lot of heat that can spell disaster to your motherboard without adequate heat loss. As such, don’t expect the motherboard to actually last longer if you make use of it in cramped spaces that have no aeration. Also, failure to uphold the fans, which is a major source for cooling, is a crucial threat to the lifespan of your motherboard.

Old Age

PCs, just like humans, are far from being everlasting. As a consequence, expect the majority of the components to age and wear down with time. It happens even though PC components are not heavy on the mechanical side. It can mainly affect its fan motors, which triggers overheating and then leads to failure of your motherboard.

Power Surges

PCs do not really go well with inconsistent power. Since the power rush could fry a PC, particularly a motherboard, immediately, make sure that you utilize surge protectors to prevent that. If your power socket does not supply a constant electricity source, don’t expect the motherboard to last long.

Poor Handling

Each time you smack or bang the PC, you threaten serious damage to its internal parts. Thus, dropping a PC is a major hazard that could threaten the motherboard’s lifespan. No matter the source of the crash, evade applying any physical shock to the PC.

Dust

Similar to overheating, dust can source untold destruction and damage your motherboard in no time. Since the electrical charge on your PC’s electronics draws dust, make sure to blow through frequently to avoid damaging the parts. Since it’s a natural insulator, it can lead to overheating and disturbs the electrical currents on your board.

When To Upgrade The Motherboard?

If upgrading your hardware denotes having more power at the fingertips or getting rid of complex parts from the machine completely, the investment in effort, time, and money would be well worth it. 

Performance of the particular system like faster response time when opening files, or choosing an app, etc. ranging from decreasing the lag between you pressing a button from the keyboard and the PC responding with the resultant action to the high computing speeds, which are both highly enviable for software engineers and the people who work with high-demanding programs.

Do Not Rush It

First off, do not rush to upgrade the motherboard. The truth is, the lifespan of a motherboard is between seven to ten years. However, if you are not good at taking care of the computer motherboard, it may take less time before you will require an upgrade. But if you are not a serious user and do not put pressure on the motherboard, it can serve you much longer. A few motherboards are over twenty years old and are still functioning.

A few reasons you’d desire to upgrade the motherboard can be:

Newer Graphics Card

The single most convincing case to replace the motherboard is because a new motherboard/CPU combo and a higher-performance GPU will make the computer seem like a diverse PC, particularly if you are a video editor or gamer. 

Games will run faster and with less latency, and you’ll be capable of raising the in-game settings for running at more graphic intensive levels than with the previous card. If you are not a gamer and are more of an everyday internet user, an SSD or RAM upgrade will provide you with the greatest bang for the buck, and you can overlook GPU improvements completely.

Overclocking

If you’re an enthusiast searching for a motherboard able to overclock the CPU to the max capability, you might have to change the motherboard. Two things influence how efficiently a board can overclock the CPU. It’s the chipset and the size of the Phase Power Design and Voltage Regulator Modules. 

The chipset decides whether or not your motherboard can overclock. Voltage Regulator Modules are small electrical parts that make sure the CPU gets a consistent and clean power source. Figures like 6+1 are utilized for representing Phase Power Design. 

The first number shows how many Voltage Regulator Modules your CPU has. The second one means the number of RAM Voltage Regulator Modules; the greater the value of Voltage Regulator Modules on the motherboard, the better the CPU performance, particularly when overclocked.

Faster RAM

The problem with RAM is that it’s physically impossible to put in any other type of RAM than the one permitted by your motherboard. For instance, if you are running DDR3 at the moment, you cannot upgrade to DDR4 or the latest DDR5 without replacing your CPU and motherboard first. Upgrading to the latest RAM versions demands a board containing the new RAM modules. 

The performance enhancement between RAM gens, conversely, is not all that imposing, and if the only reason for the upgrade is to boost speed, re-evaluate the plan and spend money on some other part. So, if you keep on utilizing older RAM for RAM-intensive jobs like simulation, video editing, and gaming, the computer performance will drop greatly.

New Processor

The CPU and motherboard are two separate parts, but their compatibility determines if they’ll work with each other. They have to be compatible with each other, so you can’t go and buy any CPU and put it on any board. You have to make sure that your motherboard comes with the right socket for your CPU. If the socket on the new CPU doesn’t match the motherboard, you’ll have to update your motherboard.

Dead Motherboard

It’s the worst situation and the most obvious that you require for a new motherboard. When the entire motherboard has been irreparably damaged, it has to be replaced. At this time, you might desire to contemplate upgrading rather than buying a motherboard that’s the same level as your older motherboard since it’ll offer you updated features that comprise higher performance and expandability potential.

Quicker Data Transmission

Things to contemplate when talking about faster data transmission comprise the fact that the SATA 3 is faster than USB 3.0 because of the drive options like native queuing and USB 3.0’s problem of being the shared bus. 

However, while both are fast enough for what you will require them to attain, none will get to the max speeds. For making use of them, you will most likely have to upgrade the motherboard on an older computer.

Incompatibility Issues With Upgrading Your Motherboard

With the new board, particularly when upgrading to a different generation or form factor, you might discover that a few of the older modules are no longer compatible with your new motherboard. It can be the case with the RAM and processor in particular. Here’re a few of the things that might warrant a change with the motherboard:

• Power Supply Unit: If the newer parts need more power.
• Chassis/Case: if a motherboard’s form factor is not supported by the case.
• RAM: if of a diverse type
• CPU: if of a diverse socket

Newer Motherboards Bring Newer Technology

A few computer users might desire to contemplate technological improvements. It is likely that what you’ve got is now out-of-date or that it does not fulfill the needs of modern technologies. Motherboards come with different capabilities. 

So, even if you upgrade your BIOS firmware and append new capabilities to your motherboard, it’ll still lack new features. The issue is that motherboards will just support some new gens of a particular CPU line. 

With the newer motherboard, you may append a better PCI card that offers the features you want to utilize. Like, if you want to append extra SATA ports, a faster Ethernet port, or a USB 3.0 port, you can buy a motherboard that supports better PCI cards. 

Consequently, you can update the CPU to a rather newer model. It’s also right for RAM. It does, however, come with a limit. Before deciding anything, it is important to determine what such constraints are from the brand. It might be done by checking the technical details on the company’s website.

How Much Does A Motherboard Actually Cost?

Lately, motherboard brands have made it simpler than ever to buy a new board. A motherboard charges anywhere from 100 dollars to 1000 dollars; check the specifications, and most of them within that range ought to offer everything you might require. 

It comprises onboard Wi-Fi, adequate PCI Express ports, a lot of storage, and a type-C USB 3.0 port. Spending lots of money, say 600 dollars, on a motherboard is not worth the cause since it does not provide much of a difference compared to different other motherboards. 

The high-end boards are mainly for professional gamers and those who want to overclock the CPU at tremendous levels. But for everybody else, buying a motherboard ought to be simple, even for companies like MSI, Gigabyte, and Asus.

Contemplate Other Choices Before Replacing Your Motherboard

After you have looked at all other options, only then contemplate upgrading the motherboard. The fact is that some motherboards are pricier than a few low-end computers. As a result, it isn’t always a less costly choice than buying a new computer. 

It’s less costly to upgrade the graphics card and install faster RAM than to change your entire CPU or motherboard. Furthermore, the video card and RAM upgrades might add to the computer’s performance more than a new CPU or motherboard. So, before upgrading, contemplate updating the RAM and graphics card. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that installing the CPU or motherboard is a demanding task. You’ll need to take out every adapter card, and then you will have to unplug all of the cables and maybe even take out portions of the casing, and, after you’re done with that, you’ll need to put it back together.

The power supplies have to be contemplated because you might have to upgrade to a new power supply and replace the existing memory modules with newer ones. It’d be great to do so since a new board upgrade might need you to replace almost every other part you’re utilizing with the older gen motherboard.

Conclusion

When to upgrade motherboard? Overhauling or upgrading the PC’s motherboard should be an exciting thing. Aside from the likelihood of expanded execution, you might also be capable of utilizing more current parts compatible with your new motherboard. 

You will get extra slots and ports as well for the peripherals with the update. You can certainly keep up some of the older parts as long as they can be connected to your new motherboard without any compatibility problems. 

However, overhauling the motherboard should be accomplished for a good reason. You’ve been using the motherboard for more than five years, so it may have come down to age and began indicating replacement. It is basic to assure that there is no bottleneck within your framework. 

No matter how fast the motherboard and CPU combo really is, it’s still secondary to present connector cards to oversee capacity, video, handling performance. If any of the parts are contradictory, the whole PC might slow down, even with or without the contemporary motherboard and CPU combo. 

Keep such things in mind, unless you are arranging on supplanting major computer parts or looking for genuine execution overhauls, you should not update to a more recent motherboard, as old parts on an unutilized motherboard will just give you slight execution changes and compatibility problems.

Also Check:

• How To Update Motherboard Drivers?
• Does Motherboard Affect Performance?