When we decide to assemble a new computer, we must select all (or most) of the components. We have a huge offer on the market that allows us to create good systems regardless of price. But, there are components like the motherboard that it could be cheaper whether remove certain unnecessary elements.
The motherboard, as you well know, is the main element where all the components are connected. The problem they have is that they have an excess of connections and capacities that are not of interest to 90% of the users. Even those that could have a certain utility, really do not have it and only make the product more expensive.
All this is superfluous in gaming motherboards
We have become accustomed to large motherboards, with countless internal and external ports, even with RGB. But, many of these added elements only make the final product more expensive, not contributing anything to the user. Instead, there are interesting things that could use or improve and that seem forgotten.
This is all we would remove from a motherboard:
- PCIe and M.2 ports: It is not that we are going to remove all of them, but a large part. Beyond a PCIe x16 and a couple of PCIe x4, the rest are superfluous since most users will never use them. In addition, we would leave a couple of M.2 PCIe on the motherboard, since it is normal to occupy one of them, so adding two or even three is making the product more expensive at all
- SATA connectors: We are not going to load all of these connectors either, but if we reduce their number to a couple, at most. Years ago it made sense to have four, six or more of these connectors, but today it doesn’t make much sense anymore. Most users do not even use them in the presence of M.2 PCIe SSDs and their increasingly attractive price. Also, the SATA port is technically obsolete.
- RAID controller: It makes very little sense these days for a motherboard to allow you to create arrays of hard drives. This was when mechanical hard drives or HDDs made sense, since you grouped a couple or more of them together and improved performance with RAID 0. With SSDs, it’s not worth it and creating RAID 1 groups seems more logical to do so on a NAS.
- VGA, DVI and PS2 ports: Have we gone back to 2000 and no one has warned us? Seeing a VGA or PS2 port on a high-end motherboard hurts the eyes, why fool us. We can admit the presence of DVI in the input range, but come on, it doesn’t make much sense nowadays
- RGB: It is still time for manufacturers to launch motherboards without this element that does not contribute anything. Most use it four times and end up turning them off because they are annoying, activating them only when there is a visitor. They make the motherboard more expensive to add something that does not affect performance at all.
Two things that should urgently improve
We have already seen all the elements that we would get rid of, which in the end serve to make the motherboard cheaper. Although now we are going to make it a bit more expensive with two elements that should be improved accordingly. They are forgotten elements and we do not know the reason. These are:
- Sound card: We do not know why in the last five or six years these have gotten so bad. A few years ago, high-end motherboards had great sound cards, but today’s ones are pretty simple. We see a huge decline in the quality of them, although they are then sold as fabulous with Japanese capacitors and other elements more cosmetic than anything else.
- VRM phases: We were not referring to the VRM phases themselves, which in some aspects could be polished, we are referring to the heatsinks. Aesthetics prevail in most cases, something that causes efficiency in heat dissipation to be lost. It may seem silly, but the heat in the end is nothing more than energy losses
Tell us in the comments what you think of our reflection and what things you would like to see added or removed on the motherboards
