Motherboards are one of the most important components when it comes to PCs. It is the glue that facilitates your other components and makes them work properly.
Many users wonder if their PC’s performance gets affected by the quality of their motherboard, and that’s a completely fair question to ask. Can a bad motherboard cause performance issues?
Yes, the quality of your motherboard can indirectly affect the performance of your PC. The motherboard determines what type of GPU, CPU, and RAM you can use. If you have an old or very cheap motherboard, that can mean that you do not have access to good parts to go with that motherboard. Furthermore, a bad motherboard can have various issues that can cause bottlenecks, delays, and more.
As you can see, the topic isn’t completely cut and dried. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about motherboards as related to PC performance.
Can a Bad Motherboard Cause Performance Issues?
Motherboards can indirectly affect performance, as I mentioned. With a cheap or old motherboard, new technology might be unavailable. For example, M.2 SSD hard drives are new, very fast hard drives that require little physical space on your computer, and that’s awesome!
However, M.2s also require that your motherboard support them, and old motherboards don’t. In other words, you could have had a better hard drive, and therefore better performance, with another motherboard.
It’s also worth mentioning that a lot of people like overclocking components and to do that in an optimal manner, you’re going to need a motherboard designed for this purpose.
Of course, you can still overclock components with an old motherboard if the capabilities are there, but it might be riskier (and not worth your time).
All of the things I’ve discussed so far have been motherboards indirectly affecting the performance of your PC. However, bad motherboards can also affect your PC’s performance in a more direct manner.
For example, if your motherboard’s power delivery system is bad, then it might not be able to supply a sufficient amount of power to various components, and as a result, processes or the entire system may slow down or crash.
Can a Better Motherboard Increase Performance?
So, let’s discuss how a good motherboard may increase the performance of your PC. If you’re switching out a faulty motherboard, just about any new motherboard will upgrade your PC performance, of course.
However, a new motherboard can allow you to upgrade everything from GPU to CPU. Motherboards have different CPU sockets, and if you upgrade your motherboard to a new one, you have the possibility to upgrade your CPU.
This goes for your GPU as well: the GPU is connected to something called a PCIe slot, and if you have an old motherboard, a lot of new GPUs aren’t going to be compatible. By investing in a new motherboard, you can upgrade your GPU.
Furthermore, the motherboard also determines what sort of RAM is available for your computer. A new motherboard can allow you to upgrade your RAM. RAM is really cheap these days as well, so this can be an easy recipe for a performance boost.
What Are the Symptoms of a Bad Motherboard?
Bad motherboards can cause your entire system to be unstable and unusable. Let’s go through some of the ways that you can identify a bad motherboard.
The first thing you should look for, which shouldn’t be very difficult to spot, is when the computer fails to boot or doesn’t power on at all. Mind you, this could be a sign of other faulty parts as well, but the prime suspect here is the motherboard.
When this happens and the motherboard is bad, your might hear beeping sounds. Usually, when the motherboard is at fault, you should hear one beep, a pause, then a series of beeps. The amount of beeps in the series depends on what motherboard you have, so you might have to Google that.
If your computer randomly gets the infamous blue screen of death, freezes, or powers down, then your motherboard might be faulty as well.
Another common symptom of a faulty motherboard is when connected peripherals and other devices don’t respond when they’re supposed to, and if your computer has started to overheat recently.
Remember that these symptoms aren’t exclusive to motherboard failure, and it’s important to remember this. Other components and software bugs can also cause many of the issues presented above.
If you’re not tech-savvy, you shouldn’t try to repair your motherboard by yourself. Instead, take it to a repair shop to properly troubleshoot it.
How Long Do Motherboards Last?
Motherboards last for a fairly long time as computer components go, provided that they are cared for properly. For example, make sure that you clean your computer from dust and dirt, and have proper cooling installed in the computer.
How long a motherboard lasts also depends on what types of activities you usually do on your computer. A computer used in an office can easily last 20 years with the same motherboard, but an overclocked gaming computer’s motherboard won’t last as long.
That being said, gaming computer motherboards can still last for a really long time. I’ve had my budget gaming motherboard for 8 years now, and it’s still going strong, but I’ve taken good care of it.
A common reason for motherboard failure is humidity, so if you live in a place where it’s humid most of the time, you have to take more precautions than if you live in a place that’s drier.
Is it Better to Upgrade the Motherboard or GPU?
What PC part you need to upgrade on your computer depends greatly on what you’re looking to improve. For example, I discussed earlier how old motherboards don’t support a lot of new components.
Therefore, If you want to upgrade your PC and you have an old motherboard, you’re most likely going to need to upgrade your motherboard before anything else.
However, most new GPUs are compatible with a very large range of motherboards, so if your motherboard isn’t ancient and working fine, upgrading your GPU is a fine option, especially if you’re looking to play games on your PC.
It’s somewhat different if you want to upgrade the CPU to your computer because CPUs are a bit pickier when it comes to motherboards.
Is it Better to Upgrade the Motherboard or CPU?
If you have an old motherboard and want to buy a new CPU, be careful. As I mentioned earlier, new CPUs aren’t necessarily compatible with old motherboards in the same way that GPUs are.
That’s why you might have to upgrade your motherboard before upgrading your CPU. So, when considering whether you should upgrade your CPU or motherboard, remember that you might have to upgrade both.
Motherboards have different types of sockets for CPUs. If your old and new CPU uses the same socket, then you’re fine, but if the new CPU you’re looking to buy is much newer than your old one, then chances are that you need to upgrade your motherboard before buying that CPU.