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How Can I Check What Motherboard I Have and How to Find Compatible Components



Depending on how your PC was put together, you could potentially just trace back your motherboard model information from the vendor you purchased it from. Many large name PC providers, such as Dell or HP, have unique product codes or IDs that you can use to look up hardware information. Boutique PC builders like CyberPowerPC or Maingear will typically provide your full hardware list somewhere in your order history. If you assembled the PC yourself, then check back on your order history for the motherboard piece or with whomever provided it to you.




How Can I Check What Motherboard I Have




While not entirely perfect, the System Information functionality within Windows 10 may be able to help you figure out what motherboard is in the computer. To get to the System Information window, you just need to:


Most motherboards will have branding, names, and model information printed right onto the board itself, although placement is rarely consistent due to the variations in layout of many of the chipset components. The model and brand information is commonly found near the CPU, along one of the PCI expansion card slots, or printed on the stylized heatsinks on fancier motherboards.


Depending on your motherboard and operating system, there are a few more steps involved. But luckily, it's still easy enough for novices to learn. Here's how to quickly and easily answer the question: "What motherboard do I have?"


You will not need to run Command Prompt as an administrator. Once your command window is open, you can prompt Windows Management Interface Command (WMIC) to check the manufacturer, model, name, and other features of your motherboard.


Your motherboard information should be specified next to Baseboard Manufacturer, BaseBoard Product, and BaseBoard Version. If the fields say that the information is not available, you should use one of the other motherboard checking methods in this article.


A benefit of Belarc is that it does not send your data to any web servers. Rather, once the analysis is complete, you will view the summary in a local file through your browser. To check the type of motherboard you have with Belarc Advisor, start up the program.


If you can't currently use software to check your motherboard type, there's always the option to check it physically. You should choose this option if your PC won't switch on or the motherboard is not currently installed. You can also use this for double-checking the model before you use a board for old motherboard recycling projects. It's not the preferred method if you have a laptop since components may be placed in front of the motherboard itself.


The exact location of the model name on your motherboard will differ according to its layout and brand. Even the check we performed on two Asus motherboards found that the model number was located in slightly different locations for each.


Another place you can find your motherboard model information is on the box it came in. Of course, this is only if you still have it lying around. A label on the outside of the box will include the model and serial number.


Now that you know how to check what motherboard you have easily, you should try out some other tricks for learning more about your computer's hardware and how to use built-in features to troubleshoot potential problems.


Despite the examples we used showing the manufacturer and model number next to each other, there are rare occasions where the brand and model number will be separated on the board. In those scenarios, simply look for a 4-digit code (similar to the popular chipsets above) to determine which motherboard you have.


Hello, I have a Dell Inspiron 13 7000 series (7348) with a bad motherboard that needs replacing. How can I tell what Dell part number of the board to insure a exact replacement? Thanks for your help. Regards


If you have an OEM computer (e.g., Dell or Hewlett Packard), look for the model number of your computer and not the motherboard. For these computers, we suggest referring to the technical documentation for the model of the computer. These documents can be downloaded directly from the computer manufacturer.


Your motherboard will determine how much and what type of RAM you can use, what type of storage (how many M.2 SSD slots do you have?), how many PCIe-based accessories you can plug in, which RGB ecosystems you can use and what CPU upgrades you can make. Also, if you have a problem, you may want to download the latest drivers or firmware updates, but to do that, you need to identify which motherboard model you have.Perhaps you built your PC a long time ago and don't remember which motherboard you used. Maybe you got your PC from someone else, bought it in a store or from a boutique retailer. If you need to look up your motherboard to see its specs or how you can upgrade your PC, there are a few easy ways to find out which motherboard you have:


You could also see if you have software from the motherboard company on your computer. Asus Armoury Crate, MSI Center, Gigabyte Control Center and other manufacturer apps may be able to identify your board.


If building a PC has turned you into a professional hoarder, this is another easy way to go. I like to keep the motherboard box to store manuals and other small accessories. If you still have it, go dig it out to get all the information you could possibly need.


If all else fails, it's time to open the case. Most motherboards have their name printed somewhere on it. In the case of the Asus Prime X370 Pro in this article, it's below the first PCIe slot. That means that to check, I would have to take the GPU out of my motherboard.


You can see your edition on the same Activation page where you checked your activation status. To see which edition you have, select the Start button, then select Settings > System > Activation .


You can see your edition on the same Activation page where you checked your activation status. To see which edition you have, select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Activation .


First released by Intel in 1995, the Advanced Technology eXtended, or ATX, motherboard is still one of the most common form factors in the computer market. If you have a desktop computer, it's most likely to have an ATX motherboard. Of course, the ATX motherboard has gone through several revisions over the years, but the one thing that hasn't changed is its size. So if you're shopping for a replacement, you should be able to swap out an old ATX motherboard with a current model relatively easily. Before rushing out for a new motherboard for your office computer, make sure it will be compatible with your CPU and other components first.


A few years ago, both AMD and Intel had made so many frequent changes to their CPUs that it was difficult to keep up with all of the changes. Upgrading a motherboard almost always meant that you had to upgrade the CPU as well. However, in recent years, the sale of new PCs has been declining as more people have adopted tablets and smartphones as their primary means of connecting to the internet. As a result, if your computer is only a couple of years old, it's quite likely that a new motherboard will be compatible with your current CPU and a new CPU will be compatible with your current motherboard.


Traditionally, AMD has been very good at keeping its CPUs compatible with older technology. If you have an AMD processor that you purchased in the last couple of years, it's likely to be compatible with a new motherboard. However, this often depends on the range of compatibility that the motherboard manufactured has offered.


Both AMD and Intel have resources to help you determine if a motherboard will be compatible with their specific CPUs. If your current motherboard is several years old, it's quite possible that you won't be able to get a replacement that will suit your old CPU. If that's the case you'll have to replace the CPU as well.


Of particular importance are the slots for graphics cards. These require a PCI Express x16 slot. If you have two graphics cards, they will both need an adequate slot, whereas some motherboards may only have one PCI Express x16 slot.


If you're moving from one ATX board to another, finding one with an adequate number of expansion slots shouldn't be a problem. But if you're thinking about a smaller board, and if your ATX slots are all being used, you're going to have to abandon some of your components for the smaller motherboard.


One last thing you need to check before changing motherboards is to check the onboard components. You may be surprised at the number of people who upgrade motherboards only to find there's no place to plug in their monitor or headphones.


Many motherboards come with components soldered directly to the board. These include onboard sound, video, LAN (network adapter) and Wi-Fi. If your current motherboard includes these onboard components, you will need to ensure that your new board also includes these. Otherwise, you will have to buy these components and put them in your motherboard before you can use it.


If you ever wanted to update your BIOS or make any other hardware changes to your Linux system, you likely needed the motherboard information. There is a handy little command line tool called dmidecode that we have written about in the past. This program will dump a ton of information about the hardware on your system. It's name is short for DMI decode because it can display all the information in the DMI Table (SMBIOS). In this case we are going to use specific switches to find the motherboard model and serial number in Linux system.


There is a lot this tool can do, this is barely scratching the surface. This tool is what you need to get any kind of hardware information from the command line. As we demonstrated, you can easily find the motherboard model and serial number in Linux using dmidecode.


HWiNFO is a free tool to analyze your system components. It provides you with comprehensive hardware information as per the latest remarks. You can also check outdated drivers using this tool. Pretty simple to install; you just have to follow the set of instructions given on-screen. 2ff7e9595c


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