Then we have the issue that separates PC enthusiasts and performance hounds from everyday users: overclocking. Most folks won't care about this niche concern, and indeed will opt for motherboards with chipsets that aren't overclocking-ready at all. For that very reason, we saved this section until last. Several things are worth scrutinizing when buying a motherboard for overclocking, though, if that is your jam.

Start with the power-regulation circuitry. The job of the power-regulation circuitry on a motherboard is to provide a clean, compatible power source to the CPU and RAM. The power supplied by the power supply doesn’t arrive at the motherboard at the correct voltage for these components, which is why this hardware is essential. A motherboard with an insufficient power-regulation system can hamper performance if pushed too far in an overclock, and power circuits have even been known to blow out when overdriven.

Most motherboards are designed with a sufficiently capable power system and fail-safes to avoid such issues. Typically, you only encounter problems on a rare motherboard with a flawed power design or a manufacturing defect. It’s worth noting, however, that not every motherboard can handle the power needs of every "compatible" CPU that physically fits in its socket, even if the board supports other CPUs in the same immediate family. Some motherboards will explicitly state a maximum CPU power limit, but the safest thing to do here—again, we stress this!—is to check the motherboard maker’s list of supported processors for the board.

If you’re overclocking, the importance of the power-regulation hardware increases. That’s because overclocking often requires increasing the power flow to the CPU. The power-regulation hardware is made up of components that are commonly referred to as power phases, VRMs, or MOSFETs. Essentially, the job of this hardware is to take the power sent from the power supply and adjust its voltage and amplitude to better suit the processor. Often, motherboard OEMs will specify the number of power phases a board is designed to support for overclocking, and the materials may also list the current capacity that these components can handle.

Regardless, you'll encounter a lot of marketing fog around these parts, with no easy, golden number for how many phases you want or how much current they should be able to handle to get good overclocking results. Instead, it’s easiest to just remember this: More phases and higher current ratings are generally better, all else being equal. Phases share their workload, so the more of them you have, the less likely it is that any one of them will be overworked to the point of failure or crash.

You should also assess the cooling hardware around the CPU socket, as this metal cools the powerful hardware. You want to see large heatsinks here at a minimum, but more premium models will also feature heat pipes in some series and sometimes include a fan to further enhance cooling performance. It’s impossible to draw firm conclusions at a glance about this stuff, but a robust set of cooling gear around the socket indicates a higher-end board in which the maker took care to outfit it properly.

Many motherboards designed for overclocking have several helpful features to aid in troubleshooting and resolving problems. Some boards have LED pinpoints onboard that correspond to messages in the manual or an “88”-style red LED numeric readout that displays a numbered error code to indicate specific troubles.

On some boards, you’ll also find buttons on the board itself or its rear I/O panel that can clear the BIOS, which is exceedingly helpful if you overclock your PC too far and cannot get into the BIOS. A few boards have two BIOS chips for the same purpose; you can switch between the two BIOSes and their discrete settings to resolve issues. This can even save you from what would otherwise be a complete system failure if, for some reason, one of your BIOSes gets corrupted and unrecoverable. It happens! (See our guide to BIOS tweaking basics.)