What are the Best Motherboards for 2016?

When you build your own PC, the best motherboard to go with it depends on several factors. You want speed, of course, but then you need to decide what chips and processors fit into your motherboard's design. Don't forget graphics cards, audio and video components, as well as the number of cores you need to make your computer technology hum.

Thankfully, you can find the best motherboard from one of many manufacturers. TechSpot notes a search of Amazon returns more than 700 entries for "1150 motherboard," so there are plenty of options out there. Choose a motherboard based on your productivity needs, gaming aspirations or office requirements.

Gaming PC

Gaming PCs are big business, and motherboards can take online gaming and streaming to the next level. The MSI X99A GodLike Gaming Carbon motherboard looks tough because it is tough. The motherboard even has 16 LED lights for visual effects. This best gaming motherboard offers lots of features with a little extra for overclocking to speed up your experience.

Workstation

The best motherboard for a workstation or enterprise server helps your office become more productive thanks to better data storage, faster Internet ports and plenty of slots to upgrade the hardware. The Asrock X99 WS-E/10G motherboard uses higher-end Gigabit Ethernet connections to give your computer faster download speeds, which means you may not have to wait hours for that new software package to come from the cloud.

Memory storage capacity is on the rise thanks to better computer technology, and computers should break into the 100 terabyte range of RAM by 2025. A ton of ports in the Asrock motherboard allow you to connect plenty of devices, removable memory sticks and peripherals to your computer. This motherboard may be the way to go until hard drives get more RAM capacity. This way, you can have as much RAM as possible for your high-performance machine.

Many Cores

If you love plenty of cores, the best motherboard for this type of set-up is the Asrock X99E-ITX/ac mini. This hardware matches well with six-core Haswell processors--the more cores you have, the faster the processing speed of your computer. If you want another fast workstation or specialized server setup, Asrock's mini could be the one if you pair it with the right processors.

More Bang for Your Buck

Good motherboards do not have to have high-end components. Two Asrock models, the 970A-G/3.1 and the H110M-DV, work well with AMD and Intel processors, respectively. Both motherboards use USB 3.0 or 3.1 ports and have plenty of connectivity options. The H110M-DV supports Gigabit Ethernet speeds, while the 970A-G/3.1 outperforms comparable motherboards in terms of the number of features for the price.

Thanks to plenty of demand, the best motherboard for your custom-built PC can come from just about any manufacturer and meet any price range. Make sure you assess your needs before building the PC of your dreams and then start with the right motherboard before adding cores, graphics cards and processors.

Photo courtesy of EricRobson214 at Flickr.com