When it comes to purchasing computer motherboards, users are faced with so many brands and different models that it is difficult to make up their mind. But if you use the three-character method of "looking, asking, and checking" to identify the quality of the motherboard, then everything will become natural.

1. The wording of 'wang':

1. Looking at the motherboard from the perspective of the chipset

The technology of the chipset determines the performance of the motherboard, and also serves as a The bridge that communicates between the CPU and other components is mostly composed of two chips, which everyone is accustomed to calling: South Bridge and North Bridge. Today's chipset market mainly includes INTEL, VIA, ALI and SIS. Motherboard manufacturers design their own products based on the different performance, features, prices of various chipsets and for different CPUs. Generally, people like to use INTEL chipsets with INTEL CPUs, and VIA, ALI, and SIS with AMD and CYRIX. This makes sense. For example, the VIA chipset has been technically enhanced for AMD and CYRIX. In addition, INTEL chipsets of the same grade are more expensive than motherboards with other chipsets. To facilitate everyone's understanding, the homepage addresses of the more important chipset manufacturers are now provided as follows:

INTEL website: .tw

ALI website: .tw

SIS website: .tw

2. Looking at the motherboard from the CPU

Currently, CPUs are roughly divided into two camps. That is, INTEL's Pentium II and CELERON based on the SLOT1 architecture and AMD, CYRIX, IDT, etc. based on the Socket7 (321 pin) / Super 7 architecture. Since the Pentium II and CELERON processors store the secondary CACHE (cache) in Therefore, the motherboard based on the SLOT1 architecture does not have a cache built in. However, Pentium II's superiority compared to AMD and CYRIX products at the same frequency has attracted the favor of a large number of users. AMD is in the mid-range of the market with its high cost performance and is on track to catch up with INTEL in technology. CYRIX occupies the low-end market with its low price advantage and must cater to various CPU motherboard manufacturers. There are products for both architectures.

3. Look at the motherboard from the prompt information

A lot of information is provided on the surface of the general motherboard, such as: motherboard model, various certification marks, quick setup guide, and some special tips. Matters, etc., which will be of great help to us when choosing a motherboard.

4. Looking at the motherboard from the perspective of manufacturing materials

Capacitors and resistors: Since many irregular pulses are generated when the system is running, the quality of the capacitors and resistors used on the motherboard must be It will directly affect the stability of the motherboard, and high-grade tantalum capacitors and large electrolytic capacitors with low series resistance should be used where stability is particularly affected. Moreover, there are many protection circuits composed of resistors and capacitors on the motherboard, and their existence also provides layers of security to the motherboard. Sometimes we say that the more capacitors and resistors on the motherboard, the better the stability of the motherboard. This is the reason. Therefore, choosing high-quality capacitors and resistors in large quantities is one of our references when purchasing.

The selection is based on the following principles: DIMM slots:

A. A large number can provide greater memory expansion capabilities.

B. Products with good quality, gold-plated pins, deep slots, and half-height DIMM support brackets can provide high-stability, low-attenuation data transmission signals.

CMOS chip: FLASH BIOS (flash BIOS) chip with a capacity of 2MB is preferred. Users can freely upgrade the system BIOS, which reflects the high compatibility and expansion capabilities of the motherboard.

Peripheral logic IC: Some peripheral or motherboard necessary ICs will also affect the stability of the motherboard.

5. Looking at the motherboard from the components

WAKE ON LAN (network wake-up function): Waking up the computer through the network is an indispensable function for network computers in the future.

This function appears as a three-pin interface on the motherboard.

IRDA (Infrared Transmission Device): Transmits data between computers using infrared rays, no cables required. This function is a side-by-side five-pin interface on the motherboard.

Health monitoring function: It can detect and control the voltage, temperature and fan speed of the CPU and alarm when an abnormality occurs in the system, allowing users to quickly solve the problem. The performance of this function on the motherboard is: 1. Detection equipment; 2. Monitoring equipment.

SB LINK: Solve the pronunciation problem of PCI sound card under DOS. It appears as a parallel two-column pin interface on the motherboard and is connected to the PCI sound card through a cable.

We also need to look at the design of the motherboard traces and the layout of the components. It should follow: Convenient installation, few single long-distance flying wires; no components with poor heat resistance around components with high heat generation Wait for a few principles so that the stability of the motherboard can be guaranteed.

6. Look at the motherboard from the accessories

When purchasing, you should pay attention to the accessories that come with the motherboard. Taking Meijie's SY-5EH/M as an example, there are the following types:

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1. Motherboard data cables: hard disk data cable (one or two), floppy disk data cable (one), serial port cable (two), parallel port cable (one), PS2 mouse

2. Motherboard manual and "Overclocking Gamer's Guide" (proprietary to Meijie Company);

3. CD (including: electronic reading manual, instructions for other motherboard models, NJSTAR software, ADOBE software, simple IE browsing device, Chinese and English USB drivers, etc.);

4. Warranty card;

In short, the accessories provided by the motherboard should be complete, rich and easy to use.

2. The wording of 'ask'

Generally speaking, motherboard manufacturers will provide technical consulting services. Users can learn more about the products and avoid being misled. Contact the other party's technical department by phone or email. If you cannot get a satisfactory answer, you can browse the website of each manufacturer to get more comprehensive information.

The last step is "testing". This is the most direct way to understand the performance of the motherboard. There are many testing softwares now. I think the best and most comprehensive ones are WINBENCH and WINSTONE from ZD Labs. .

What should be noted here is that the test must be comprehensive, mainly including:

1. Testing of connector slots one by one;

2. Testing of jumper settings ;The purpose is to ensure that various fundamental frequencies and multiplication frequencies can be realized. Especially the jumper method of jumpers and DIP switches

3. Testing of various special functions provided by the motherboard

4. Long-term copying; ensure that the Stability, usually 24 hours is enough

5. Testing of test software; ensuring compatibility with most mainstream software.

If there are any problems with the test, you should contact the merchant as soon as possible and be careful not to exceed the warranty period.

3. 'Check' wording

After purchasing the motherboard, we should not rush home to test it, but should check directly at the dealer to see if the motherboard has product after-sales service. Commitment and quality guarantee, and there should be written guarantee measures, such as quality assurance card, maintenance card, etc.

Secondly, it is necessary to understand the service quality and technical strength of the motherboard manufacturer so that if the motherboard needs to be upgraded and repaired .

4. Choose the best performance-price ratio

You need to find a product with high performance-price ratio. I would like to have the following principles:

1. The motherboard is a key component in the computer, and it is best to use one with high performance.

2. Conduct detailed investigations and comparisons and then use your own judgment to measure the cost performance of different motherboards, such as motherboard material selection, services, etc.

3. When each new product is launched, the price will be very high. It will take about two months to enter the normal price track. Only by being patient can we get a lot.

4. Another characteristic of the computer product market is speculation, that is, prices are reduced when the supply is sufficient, and prices are increased when the supply is scarce. The period of speculation can be as long as more than a month, as short as two or three days, or as short as a few days. Every day, the price fluctuates from ten yuan to one hundred yuan. Pay attention to the market dynamics and don't "jump in". (Inexplicable)

Whether a computer is stable when working and whether it is coordinated with various accessories, the quality of the motherboard is very critical. The main reason why motherboards can be counterfeited is to take advantage of some users who are greedy for petty gains. A price difference of dozens of yuan can often lead to the rampant use of fake products. When users choose a motherboard, in order to prevent counterfeiting, the author recommends that you pay attention to the following five points:

First, confirm the brand. Motherboards from famous brand manufacturers themselves are a guarantee of quality. At present, the products of Asus, MSI, ABIT, Gigabyte, Metatech, Elite, Lenovo and other companies in the domestic market are basically reliable in performance and reasonably priced. Don’t buy those for cheap. A brand-name product that I have never heard of. Otherwise, even if the test machine can pass safely at that time, there is no telling what day it will suddenly die.

The second is to carefully pick out the workmanship of the motherboard. The poor performance of a counterfeit motherboard can actually be discovered by just recognizing and observing it. Sometimes it is not even necessary to power up the motherboard for testing. The shortest way is visual inspection. Use your eyes to observe whether the workmanship of the motherboard is exquisite. The four-layer and six-layer multi-layer boards will naturally not be fake (as shown in Figure 1, this is a four-layer motherboard). Look at it against the sun and see that it is opaque. This proves that its shielding performance is quite good. On the other hand, inferior double-layer boards or even single-layer boards can be seen at a glance. The welding of such inferior boards is also very confusing, and the wiring is not clear at all. It would be strange if it is fake.

The third is to carefully check the components of the motherboard. The circuit materials and various slot interfaces used on the genuine motherboard must be high-quality components. The following levels of content need to be noted:

1. Socket In terms of slot materials, many motherboards of famous brands use products from famous OEM manufacturers such as FOXCONN (as shown in Figure 2). The materials are solid and the manufacturing process is excellent. The interface parts use a thick gold-plated layer, which can be inserted repeatedly. The connection ensures good contact with various cards and reduces the occurrence of soft failures on the motherboard.

2. In terms of capacitor material selection, high-quality and high-performance electrolytic capacitor products can ensure stable and pure output of the power supply of the on-board equipment (as shown in Figure 3), such as the common Slot 1 slot edge distribution of electrolytic capacitors. Branded motherboards all use Japanese products such as Sanyo and Panasonic, while off-brand motherboards cut corners on the quality and capacity of capacitors, the number of plugged capacitors distributed, etc. The stability and performance of their products can be imagined.

3. In terms of interface identification, genuine motherboards such as those produced by famous brand manufacturers such as Gigabyte are currently in compliance with PC99 specifications, so the serial, parallel, IEEE1394 ports and PS/2 keyboard and mouse on the motherboard The interfaces are all colored interfaces. Fake products, on the other hand, will not use color interfaces due to more manufacturing cost considerations. In addition, for standard interfaces such as IDE on the motherboard, most branded motherboards have now adopted color identification methods. For example, one slot is white and the other is black. If the motherboard has the function of ATA66/100, the motherboard has one IDE interface. One is blue and one is white (as shown in Figure 4), but the fakes are all black without exception;

4. The selection of motherboard batteries, motherboards such as ASUS and MSI generally use Regular batteries such as SONY/Maxell (as shown in Figure 5), while fakes mostly use off-brand batteries produced by other manufacturers. There are also some special circumstances that readers should pay attention to when purchasing. There are currently some brand motherboards, such as MSI’s 6309 series, which also use the method of installing the battery upright. The purpose is to occupy less motherboard space and nearby There is also a black buzzer, which is convenient for users to judge faults based on sound signals, but the fake battery is installed flat and has no buzzer, just like an ordinary motherboard. For this special case, everyone should be particularly careful when purchasing and read more relevant IT media purchasing articles to nip problems in the bud.

The fourth is to clearly identify the design structure of the motherboard.

The key point is to check and analyze whether the design structure and board layout are reasonable, whether it is conducive to the installation of other accessories and heat dissipation, and whether the design itself meets the needs of possible upgrades and installations in the future. In some fake products, the CPU power interface, CPU fan power interface, memory and IDE interfaces are almost all crowded together. Not to mention upgrading, even installation is very laborious, and the wiring layout is also very confusing.

The fifth is to find relevant awareness signs. For a genuine motherboard, or what we call a genuine motherboard, relevant certifications are essential. This is just like the identity of each of us citizens. A motherboard can only pass relevant quality certifications, such as ISO, FCC, etc. The product packaging and related accessories of this motherboard should also be complete and correct.

In terms of outsourcing, for example, the packaging boxes of Gigabyte motherboards are mostly royal blue (Intel chipset) or green (VIA chipset), with bright colors and good printing quality, especially some small icons (such as The small text on ISO 9001 etc.) is very clear. The text on the packaging box is in simplified Chinese, and the packaging box is made of good material, with straight fold lines and the box body is not easily crushed. Another example is the packaging box of MSI motherboards. Most of them have a circular laser anti-counterfeiting label, but fake ones don't. Another example is that Gigabyte motherboards have product serial numbers affixed to them. When purchasing, users can see a long white sticker with a 10-digit number printed on it. There is a bar code above the number, and the font is thin and printed. clear. Moreover, there is the same label on the outer packaging of the motherboard, and the identification number is the same, while the fake ones do not, etc.

Of course, the above are just general motherboard anti-counterfeiting identification methods. There are many specific identification methods for some special motherboards: For example, Gigabyte's genuine motherboards, most of their AGP slots have comprehensive anti-loosening. Sheath (as shown in Figure 4); MSI’s CPU socket materials are mainly MOLEX or AMP brands; some genuine motherboards have colored protective covers on their CD, AUX and other signal input ports to facilitate users to plug and unplug correctly wait. Another point worth reminding readers is that if you are really a "little bird" who is no longer a good person and knows nothing about the brand, performance, price, appearance, etc. of the motherboard, it is best to bring one with you when purchasing the motherboard. A slightly more knowledgeable expert will accompany you. After all, today's profiteers are not good men and women. The author has discovered several cases of JS using off-brand motherboards to impersonate brand motherboards. Among them, some unscrupulous manufacturers are aware of counterfeiting and carry out mass production on a large scale; there are also individual profiteers who resort to the method of substituting fake products for genuine products and substandard products as good products. Anyway, the money you spend and the board you buy are not the same thing. Especially in the case of batch counterfeiting, it is even more difficult for junior users to guard against it. This is because most of these batches of counterfeit goods have been manipulated by unscrupulous businessmen. From packaging to trademarks, they are all so lifelike that even non-professionals can’t tell them apart. For example, for motherboards with the same BX or VIA chipset, there will be a price difference of about 400 yuan between the brand and the unknown brand. However, the genuine and fake motherboards are exactly the same in terms of packaging, motherboard appearance size, component layout and even the number of slots. Without any experience, I really can’t be sure. So the simplest thing is to warn everyone, cheap products are not good products. If you find that there are big differences in the quotations for the same motherboard, you must think twice before you act. 80% of the cheap ones are ulterior motives, haha!

If possible, after passing the visual inspection, users can also use the latest version of Hwinfo and other hardware detection programs to test the motherboard. It is best to eliminate possible problems before walking out of the store. Finally, don’t forget to ask the dealer to issue an invoice (receipt), and indicate the details and contents of the purchased product on the invoice (receipt) or warranty certificate to avoid unnecessary service disputes in the future. OK, at this point, I believe your motherboard has a certain guarantee, so feel free to use it!