How important is the Motherboard for computer speed?

The motherboard doesn't affect the computer's speed. The only thing that may affect speed is the processor type (Single Core, Dual Core, Tri Core, Quad Core, etc.) The RAM also affects speed, as well as your Internet connection type.

All that aside, to directly answer your question, if your motherboard supports newer attachments, then the attachments affect the speed, not the motherboard.

Motherboard Speed

>The motherboard is "The" most critical component on the computer, more so than the cpu or the ram or the video card...the reason why is because everything is plugged into the motherboard. So even if you have superior OTHER components, they can be dragged down by a cheaply built, faulty motherboard or just a lousy chipset. Speed is only one consideration, although speed seems to be the primary one for most people - you have to consider stability, and FEATURES which all add up to your total computing experience, not just speed.

For me, I spend more time studying motherboards than any other component for this reason. Picking a cpu is easy and all the other components too...the hard part, the part that really requires work, brain power and solid judgment is the motherboard. A bad BIOS will do you in. not having enough SATA ports will limit your experience. Not having front headers for sound might be very inconvenient - not having enough USB ports might limit the number of external devices connected to your computer - you see what I am getting at here. There are a lot of other factors to consider. And the fact is there are almost limitless choices - so which board is the best? You need to do your homework...and most of all, get just "speed" out of your head, because this alone does not determine your overall computer experience with the hardware.

It does factor in BUT the main thing is what motherboard options support what your CPU offers(speed wise) also depends on what your trying to speed up?

A M/B with USB 2.0 will transfer slower than a M/B with USB 3.0 ports over usb....

this applies to

Sata speeds

:Hard drives/DvD drives speeds

So it does depend what you want speed wise BUT with all this said i have always used $60 motherboards with PC's i have built for myself and never had a problem.

Another good thing to keep in mind is speed will CPU/RAM/Video your motherboard can only use what these give it basically

It doesn't make a tremendous amount of difference to be honest: motherboards tend to be bought on features more than preformance. Like motherboards tend to be fairly similar, certainly within 10-15%.

I'm with Jim on this...there is another factor that was not mentioned....some low budget boards only allow for low thermal watt CPU...usually under 95W which could severely limit the CPU you can use and of course its speed...just because a part "fits" doesn't mean it will work to its potential. Poor mother board with low chip set will have a big effect on your overall performance. The better mother boards like Asus and Gigabyte give you a better chance of achieving top performance from the components you use. Keep in mind EVERYTHING in you computer attaches to the mother board one way or another! The better the board, the better your machine.

Actually motherboards can Range Greatly to the point where they practically take no part in speed to their capabilities of Overclocking at ease. Modern Motherboards regardless of Price are only differentiated by the features they posses and the price you can afford...

yeah don't waste your money on a top of the line motherboard, just spend it on cpu and graphics and stuff.

You can only squeeze so much out the mustard bottle.

BOTTLENECK

In other words, the BUS speed is ALWAYS a determining factor on a MB!

the board will not affect performance at all in any degree.

only expendability is affected. if the part's work.. ur fine.