When performing maintenance or updates on your computer, it is important that you have as much information as possible about your computer. One of the most important elements focuses on how to know the model of the motherboard that you have installed in your computer.
What is the motherboard?
Without the motherboard, there is no working computer. It is the essential element of your computer, since from the characteristics that it may have, you will be able to install the rest of the complements for the operation of your computer.
Components such as RAM, processor, video card, ports for keyboard, mouse, monitor, can vary depending on the characteristics of your motherboard.
Motherboard Models
There is a wide variety of motherboards to install in a computer, being a specific group that are positioned as the most common in the market. If you are thinking of building a computer from scratch, you should be clear about the model of the board to use:
- E-ATX: This is one of the largest formats there is in terms of motherboard, it has dimensions of 305 x 330 mm, as well as abundant slots for installing RAM memory and graphics cards.
- ATX: This format has been present in the computer market since 1995. It is one of the most used motherboards, it has dimensions of 305 x 224 mm. It is considered one of the most complete thanks to its 7 expansion slots and 4 available slots for the installation of RAM memory.
- Micro ATX: This format has dimensions smaller than the two previously specified, counting with 244 x 244 mm, they are ideal for computers intended for office tasks, since they would not need too many expansion slots, graphics cards.
How to know the motherboard model of my PC?
If, on the other hand, you want to deepen the knowledge about your computer, and, therefore, you want to know what type of motherboard your computer has, you should know the different alternatives for it.
In a traditional way
One of the different alternatives you have to know the model of your motherboard is through the physical inspection of your CPU. To do this, you must:
- Turn off your computer.
- Disconnect it from the power source.
- Unscrew and remove one of the CPU covers.
Seeing your motherboard model this way can be a bit difficult, so arm yourself with a flashlight to see it.
Windows console
It is not necessary to comply with that tedious protocol or download programs to know the motherboard of your computer, if you can use this method. To use the console, you will have to:
- Press the Windows and R keys together.
- A window will appear in which you will type cmd.
- Pressing “enter” will open the command console.
- Enter the command wmic baseboard get product, manufacturer, version, serialnumber (very important that it is written in the same way as shown)
In this way, Windows will provide the model of the motherboard that you have in your computer. However, to know the specifications of it, you will have to search the web.
System Information
This is another tool that your computer has, and, to access it, you will have to repeat the first step of the previous alternative. In this sense:
- Press the Windows and R keys.
- In the window, this time, you will type msinfo32
- At the moment of pressing «enter», a window will open that will offer the model of the motherboard of your computer.
Like the previous procedure, it does not offer more details about the specifications of the plate, but it is, without a doubt, the easiest way to know the model.
Through programs
If these alternatives are insufficient, there are some highly recommended programs for this type of action: CPU-Z and Speccy, these free programs with a simple interface will provide information about the motherboard.