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#1
How do You Find the Best Compatible Motherboard?
In a previous question, I asked what motherboard would fit my my components. With only 1 answer, I realized a better question is how to find the best motherboard system that fits my system? In other words, where would I find a list that presents all possible motherboards that will be compatible with my components and what's good and bad about each one of them?
For example, I need an LG1151. How do find a list of ALL motherboards that would be compatible and figure out which one would be the best? This is what I customarily do. I use 3 website types, Amazon, PartsPicker, and the manufacturers' websites. I don't know if the list they provide are comprehensive (which means that it contains *all* the possible motherboards out there that work or if it's an incomplete list). Since I don't know if it's comprehensive, I have to go to other websites and verify that there aren't other motherboards that they are missing.
The first website I check is PartsPicker and input the parameters which is that it has to be LG1151, compatible with my i7-8700k, ATX/EATX form factor, and finally be a z390 which is the highest option for the chipset. I did this to narrow it down as much as possible. I got 54 options. I rank them by rating but then, I'm stuck. I go to Amazon and read through the ratings of these 54 but I don't even know if there are other options that PartsPicker simply didn't state.
Then, I look for motherboards via Amazon using the same parameters and it looks like it finds a few motherboards that weren't among the 54 that also have high rankings. I start reading the reviews which takes a long time. A very long time. I have to plow through hundreds of reviews to figure out which is wrong and right about each motherboard. I try to make a spreadsheet and show how each is different with numbers as well as with written notes. It takes a long time and I'm still not sure if the motherboards I am looking at are any good. I notice that on manufacturer's websites, they won't list the older motherboards that aren't part of the current line but that still sell. That makes it so much harder because if it's not on the website, it doesn't necessarily mean that a product is discontinued. For example, go to the Asus website. The Asus Rog Maximum Hero XI is supposedly still a great motherboard but it's not listed when you click current motherboards being sold. You have to search for it in the search box instead to get the specs. Kinda' stupid, no?
So, how do you guys look for compatible motherboards after deciding upon some of the components?
*This is for a Window computer if it makes a difference.