- After unboxing, we check the VRM structure, socket, heatsinks, PCIe connectivity, DIMM slots, network and audio, and overall USB ports of the motherboard.
- Once we have a thorough overview of the motherboard, we use it on our test bench and start running some tests.
- We benchmark CPU, memory, storage, gaming, and overall system performance. We also monitor the clocks behavior and VRM thermals using dedicated machinery.
how we test motherboards
All of our unbiased motherboards recommendations undergo extensive research, after which we take into consideration our proficient analytics, combined with in-house reviewing and testing. We also compare real-world performance benchmarks under idle, typical, and heavy gaming/overclocking workflows.
On this page, we’ve outlined a few of the crucial points we always look for and test thoroughly whenever we are reviewing and recommending motherboards.
Key Takeaways
Voltage Regulator Module
A VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) is one of the essential components of a motherboard, as it is solely responsible for controlling the voltage delivered to all the electrical components of your gaming PC, adjusting the voltage accordingly to make sure no part of your PC is operating at a dangerously high voltage, which would put the particular components at risk of damage, shortening their lifespan.
A good VRM is essential for CPU and GPU overclocking scenarios and general optimal performance. This is why it’s necessary to keep a keen eye out since an inefficient VRM would result in your CPU and GPU bottlenecking, i.e., your PC would experience thermal throttling, being unable to deliver the potential power it is capable of, thanks to an incapable VRM.
Moreover, a faulty VRM will also provide unstable power, putting your entire motherboard, along with the CPU, GPU, and RAM, to name a few essential electrical components, at risk.
It is also worth noting that some of the best motherboards also offer active fans paired with spacious passive heatsinks to cool down the VRMs on your motherboard, which is something you’ll want to keep in mind if you’re looking for the best gaming or overclocking motherboards. Resultantly, an effective heat transfer is conducted consistently, reducing thermal throttling and allowing for beefier CPU and GPU performance.
Expansion Slots/Connectivity
Each motherboard varies in terms of the expansion slots and connectivity it offers. Some motherboards may offer multiple PCI-e 4.0×16 slots and even a PCIe 5.0 slot, while some would only provide a solitary PCI-e 4th Gen slot. Motherboards on a budget would probably forgo 5th Gen PCI-e slots altogether, only offering you PCI-e 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 slots, resulting in reduced speeds.
If you’re in the mood to connect more than one M.2 SSD, you would need to select a motherboard that has at least two or more M.2 SSD slots for utilization.
Worth noting is the fact that the latest Intel and AMD Chipsets support PCIe Generation 5.0, even though the benefits are negligible at the time of writing due to limited support. Even though PCIe 5.0 support ensues, you’ll need to watch for higher-end motherboards since these pricier features will be reserved for premium motherboard offerings.
As far as connectivity is concerned, we’re glad to assure you that even the cheapest motherboards present vast options for connectivity without breaking the bank. That being said, you should have an approximate idea of how many and which type of USB ports you’d like to utilize, such as USB 2.0, USB 3.2 Gen 1×1, USB 3.2 Gen 2×1, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2, since a few of the Best Budget Motherboards do not possess any USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 ports at all, an omission to be wary of if you want the fastest data transfers and USB speeds possible.
Also, every motherboard contains a different assortment of USB ports, so it is crucial to crossmatch the number of ports available with your needs. That being said, keep an eye out for the type and number of audio ports you’d like to use as well.
Heatsink/PCB Layers
Heatsinks are one of the most important aspects of a motherboard since they can reduce or boost your CPU, GPU, and overall performance depending on how well they conduct a perfect heat transfer. They will also determine whether your PC would undergo a case of thermal throttling to keep temperatures down or perform consistently.
The general rule of thumb is to choose a motherboard that features advanced heat dissipation while ideally incorporating multiple heatsinks for optimal heat dissipation, away from your motherboard’s components.
Adding on, the thicker your motherboard’s PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards), the lower your temps. Your motherboard comprises multiple PCBs sandwiched together, which generally produces excessive heat, so unless your PCBs are sizeably thick with several layers, your PC will struggle with heat conductance, eventually leading to thermal throttling and bottlenecked performance.
In our testing, we note the thermals of the VRMs at idle and under load to see how the heatsinks perform.
BIOS
The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) on a gaming motherboard is firmware that connects your hardware to the operating system. When you turn on your gaming PC, the BIOS checks and starts up hardware like the CPU, RAM, storage, and graphics card.
Beyond basic setup, the BIOS lets you tweak hardware settings, such as overclocking the CPU and memory, adjusting fan speeds, and setting boot priorities. Many modern gaming motherboards use UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) instead of traditional BIOS, providing a more user-friendly interface and extra features like support for larger storage devices.
We also explore and test the BIOS of the motherboard we are reviewing. This includes going over its overall interface, checking where all the features are, and assessing the usability and ease of access.
We also check how difficult (or easy) manufacturer has made the access to key BIOS features, including XMP/EXPO settings, basic overclocking, and other BIOS configuration.
Final Testing: Performance
Lastly, once our overview and initial impressions have settled, we use the motherboards in a test build and start running different benchmarks.
From the basics like SSDs to analyzing clocks behavior and overclocking, we run tests to evaluate each and every aspect of the motherboard.
- We start by some basic CPU and memory benchmarks using 7-Zip, AIDA64, Blender, Cinebench, Geekbench, and 3DMARK CPU Profile.
- Then we check how all the installed SSDs are performing using CrystalDiskMark and PCMARK10.
- For gaming, we calculate the 3DMARK Fire Strike Ultra Score, Speed Way Score, Steel Nomad Score, Time Spy Extreme, and of course, we also play AAA titles on max settings to note down their average framerates.
- To test the overall system performance, we run the PASSMARK RATING of PerformanceTest and also calculate the PCMark 10 Score.
- During all of these testings, we monitor the clocks behavior and thermals under idle, multi-core, and single-core loads.
- Lastly, we check how the VRM/MOSFETs of the motherboard are doing using a thermal imaging gun.
Overall
In short, our motherboards testing take on average 12 to 14 hours. We start with the packaging/unboxing to go over the included content and end on a full-fledge test build with several benchmarks to gauge the system performance.