You’re really only limited by your budget here. For example, there are plenty of Mini-ITX motherboards that support high-end graphics cards and lots of RAM. No matter what size your case is, you can probably find a motherboard that fits its dimensions and your needs. If you use a compact case, like a Micro-ATX or a Mini-ITX, you’ll want the corresponding Micro-ATX or Mini-ITX motherboard. If you use a standard ATX mid-tower case, you’ll want a full-sized ATX motherboard. The size of the motherboard depends mostly upon your case.

TR4: Supports AMD’s high-end Threadripper chips from 2017 to the time of writing.

FM2+: Supports AMD APU processor from 2015 to 2015.FM2: Supports AMD APU processors from 2012 to 2013.FMI: Supports AMD APU processors from 2011.AM4: Supports AMD processors from 2016 to the time of writing.Some Older AM3 motherboards can be upgraded to AM3+ support with a BIOS update. AM3+: Supports AMD processors from 2011 to 2016.AM3: Supports AMD processors from 2009 to 2011.LGA-2066: Supports the new X-series processors, only available on high-end motherboardsĪMD’s recent socket lines are as follows:.LGA-1151: Supports Intel processors from 2016 to the time of writing.LGA-1150: Supports Intel processors from 2013 to 2015.LGA-1155: Supports Intel processors from 2011 to 2012.Intel’s consumer sockets from the last few years include the following: Intel is the clear market leader, but AMD tends to offer similar performance at slightly lower price levels. The two companies providing nearly the total consumer market for CPUs are AMD and Intel. The first compatibility check for the CPU socket is the brand. If you’re using an older PC and you want a big performance boost, you’re looking at upgrading both the CPU and the motherboard-and maybe your RAM, as well.

Just because it has the right socket doesn’t mean every CPU that can fit into that socket is supported. Of course, you’ll still need to check the specs for your motherboard. So, if your computer is only a few years old, you might be able to upgrade to a more powerful CPU that uses the same socket. Each socket generation supports a few dozen different models of CPU they generally last a few years before they’re upgraded by the manufacturer. The “socket” is the part of the motherboard that holds the CPU in place and connects it with the other electronic components in the PC. Ryzen 7 and the top-tier Ryzen Threadripper series are for performance junkies. The Ryzen 3 and Ryzen 5 families are good middle-of-the-road picks, some of which offer integrated Radeon graphics for mid-range gaming capabilities without a separate graphics card. On the AMD side, the new Ryzen series offers a surprising range of performance and prices.

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