Motherboards are designed for a particular brand and range of CPU. Similarly they are usually limited to a small number of types and speeds of RAM. Most motherboards hold only one CPU though some have room for a matched pair. For Dual CPU use you need special CPU models designed to be used in pairs. The dual CPU route is expensive. The motherboards are more than twice as expensive, and each CPU is about twice as expensive as the usual type that cannot be used in pairs. A cheaper similar option is hyperthreading where a single fast CPU pretends to be a CPU pair.

One of the most important measures of motherboard speed is the speed of of it’s FSB (Front Side Bus), the direct link between CPU and RAM. The other important measure is maximum RAM capacity. RAM prices are always dropping, and adding more RAM is the easiest and cheapest way to improve the speed of your computer in future.

Well known motherboard manufacturers include: Tyan (Thunder, Tiger, Trinity, Tomcat, Toledo), ASUS or Gigabyte. Asus manuals are well above average. Gigabyte manuals are below average. Happily you can browse the complete documentation on the web before you buy.