And, even if the drivers were installed automatically or using specialized programs, you will not be able to upgrade your computer without knowing anything about the motherboard.
Search for packaging and receipts
The first way, the simplest and most commonplace, is to search for instructions and equipment boxes.
If the packaging has not yet been thrown away, it should also indicate the model of the board, and a number of other information.
If the box is no longer there, you can use sources of information such as:
- A sales receipt (not to be confused with a cash receipt), on which the full name of the equipment is often written.
- Equipment warranty card.
Advice! The coupon should be kept in any case, even after the end of the warranty - sometimes there are addresses and phone numbers of services where the board can be repaired in the event of a breakdown.
- Installation disks. Often they are designed for several board models, but sometimes they are designed for only 1-2. And at least you will have an approximate name.
visual way
In order to determine the model of the board on the computer in a visual way, you will need to turn off the power, find a screwdriver of the right size and provide sufficient lighting.
- Unscrew the bolts from the side cover of the system unit. Sometimes there are two and both are removed. In this case, you most likely need a lid that has fewer ventilation holes.
Or the opposite of the one that heats up the most when the computer is running; - After removing the cover, look at the labeling of the board. It is not always in a conspicuous place. Often the "motherboard" is marked at the PCI-E slot or at the processor.
- As you can see from the image, the name of the board in this case is H61MV-ITX. It is he who will have to be driven into the search bar of the browser to search for drivers or characteristics.
The above method cannot be called convenient and safe.
Firstly, because the system unit may be under warranty, and after opening the case, it will most likely be invalid.
Secondly, other installed devices can interfere with finding the name of the board, and it’s better not to remove them without experience.
Thirdly, there are other options to find out the name of the board.
Using Windows Tools
One of the easiest and fastest methods to determine the name of a board is to use the command line to invoke the system utilities.
This will not require installing additional programs, but simply following the instructions below:
- Open the "Run" menu (via "Start" or by pressing the keys "Windows" + "R");
- Enter the wmic baseboard get Manufacturer command (getting the manufacturer's name, for example, ASUSTek) and wmic baseboard get product (gives the board model, for example, P8H61-MX).
Another utility from Microsoft, launched through the same command execution menu, has similar functionality. Only msinfo32 is already entered in the window.
In the window that opens, you can find the characteristics of your motherboard. The parameters in the list may be in a different order and even in English.
However, as you can see, sometimes this method does not help to determine either the manufacturer or the model of the board.
However, just like the previous version, using other commands. Therefore, it is possible that in order to determine the name of the “motherboard”, you will have to download and install additional software.
Software Definition
Using the software to determine the parameters of the board is quite simple.
The problem can only arise if the missing drivers just do not allow you to connect to the Internet.
You can prevent such a situation by writing appropriate programs to a disk (not a system one) in advance.
CPU-Z utility
The program will allow you to get all the information about the processor and the board in a few seconds. Download it on the official website of the manufacturer.
After opening the program and going to the Mainboard tab, they look for the necessary data in the Manufacturer and Model lines.
AIDA64
The same task as CPU-Z is performed by the program formerly known as EVEREST. The problem with using it is that you can install it on your computer for free only for 30 days.
The extension of this period is paid, but a couple of minutes is enough to determine the brand of the fee.
You can find information by clicking on the Motherboard icon. The name of the board and a lot of other useful information will appear in the window that opens.
And if necessary, using the same program, you can update all the drivers for both the "motherboard" and other components.
How to find motherboard model
From this video you will learn how to determine the model of your motherboard (system) board.
- the motherboard is considered the main module of the computer, its correct operation creates the conditions for the correct functioning of the remaining nodes installed in the PC. All the filling of the system unit is connected specifically to the motherboard, that is, the hard drive, video card, central processor, RAM strips. In addition, all additional internal and external peripheral devices are connected to it. To ensure reliable operation of this module, you should always install only those drivers recommended by the manufacturer. Installing third-party drivers is fraught with undesirable consequences, so you need to take them from the website of the motherboard manufacturer.
Unfortunately, in most cases, when purchasing a ready-made computer, users forget to ask the seller for the name of the motherboard or processor. Therefore, to identify a particular node, you can find out from the accompanying documents, sales receipt or on the website of the trading company. This is the case if the PC was purchased through a network of stores selling in the Internet space. But even such options for identifying the motherboard are not feasible for a number of different reasons. In view of this, there are other ways to recognize the name of the PC motherboard.
Recognizing the motherboard using Windows
Existing software for diagnostic testing of Windows OS makes it possible to quickly recognize the name of a particular node located on a computer. The most acceptable way how to check motherboard on pc, the built-in option "System Information" is considered, to use it you need:
Use the "Run" command line by pressing the Windows + R keys at the same time;
Enter the msinfo32 directive in the input field and press "Enter", then "System Information" will open.
There, on the right side, information about the board will appear. That is, the name of the manufacturer and the type of device.
Note: There is a situation when the msinfo32 utility is unable to recognize the board and a message is displayed that the information is not available. Then you need to use another method of recognizing the board.
The Windows operating system has another opportunity to identify the type of "motherboard", for example, using another command:
It is this option of recognizing the type of motherboard that works more correctly. But even here there are some failures when obtaining the necessary information, in this case, you can use the programs of other manufacturers that can accurately determine the model.
Motherboard Type Recognition Software
Most of the existing diagnostic programs for PCs make it possible to obtain the necessary information, and most importantly how to check motherboard on pc. Apart from the complexity of installing these programs on a computer, this method is considered quite effective, but it requires the presence of the Internet. In the methods described above, an Internet connection is not required.
Application program for displaying technical information about a personal computer CPU-Z
Among the most reliable and easy to use diagnostic utilities is CPU-Z. This program is from the category of free, which is freely available to the same in Russian. But at the same time, this little utility is able to clearly provide all the information about the components installed on the computer. Working with it is very simple, to get information about the motherboard, you need to click the "Board" tab and everything you need will be displayed in the window.
A powerful program for diagnosing and testing a personal computer - AIDA64
Here is another one of the best PC diagnostic programs Aida64 (available in Russian), although this program is paid, but you can find free options on the network. On the developer's website, you can take a demo version with a trial period of 30 days. This program gives almost complete information about the computer.
Working with this program is also extremely simple, after launching it, go to the "System Board" tab. A complete information about the motherboard installed in the computer will open, up to the addresses for updating drivers and BIOS.
How to find the information label on the motherboard
In the case when it is impossible to load the operating system, as well as the command line, then you should inspect it visually and find the shield on it. Although this option involves opening the system unit, but if there is no warranty seal, then you can remove the cover. To do this, remove all modules installed on the motherboard from the motherboard in order to provide a complete overview.
Basically, well-known motherboard manufacturers apply information designations in the area of \u200b\u200bthe PCI-E slot or next to the processor. As a rule, the model type is indicated in large print - this adds convenience to see the module without dismantling its case.
There is a completely misconception that you can recognize the type of motherboard using the driver disk that came with the hardware. This approach is completely wrong, since manufacturers generally complete a batch of boards of a certain line with the same disks. On these CDs, you can see only the name of the series, but not the name of a particular model.
- today we will look at how to find out the motherboard model on a computer. Updating drivers, checking hardware compatibility and purely out of curiosity - ... using the methods of checking the motherboard model given in the note is much easier than disassembling the computer and studying the stickers inside the system unit.
You can simulate quite a lot of situations in which it is very important to know the model of the motherboard: a banal driver update, buying a new hardware (to find out what can be added to the system and whether there are the necessary slots for this, for example, to expand the RAM) ...
If you have preserved the documents that are issued along with the computer (or individual positions for the components, if you selected the components yourself), you can find out the answers to your question there. This is probably even the best way, because you can check the correspondence of the real situation with what is indicated in your docks.
In principle, I will not tell you how to find out the name of the motherboard by opening the system unit - in the modern situation this is absolutely not necessary, because software methods will provide information more than just a visual inspection of the motherboard.
Of course, I do not deny that you can find out the model by looking at the board itself (I'm not so stubborn as to say that this should never be done), and an advanced user probably knows where and what to see ... well, I recommend that we use the simplest and most correct methods
Method 1. Find out the name of the motherboard through the command line
If you enjoy using the Windows command line, you can easily find out your motherboard model using Microsoft's powerful WMIC tool.
With WMIC we can query the baseboard to check the motherboard and a few additional parameters such as the serial number, revision and other detailed information about your motherboard. Let's try with an example to find out the manufacturer of our motherboard, model and serial number using WMIC.
The program is in English, but this will not be a problem for us, we are specifically interested in the Motherboard line - this is the name of our motherboard.
Despite such a small size (less than 1 megabyte in archive) the program can tell a lot about your computer, but I would not recommend using it ... find out what kind of motherboard is on the computer - it is great, for everything else there are more convenient analogues.
Method 3. AIDA64 - find out the motherboard model
There are several editions of AIDA64, the Extreme Edition is fine for us (the app costs money, but the 30 day trial version, indicated on the download page as TRIAL)
After installing AIDA64, run the program and find the "Motherboard" icon on the left side. In the window that opens, in the second line "System board" the manufacturer and model of the motherboard will be displayed. As you can see in my computer the name of the motherboard is Asus P8H67.
If you scroll down to the end of the window, you can find a link to the fresh BIOS download page (the "Download BIOS updates" line). This can be useful if the purpose of determining the motherboard firmware is a new version of the BIOS firmware
Method 4. Piriform Speccy - a good program from the developers of Ccleaner
If you have ever used the Ccleaner program and it left you only positive emotions with its result, then the small Speccy program from the developers of the same Cclener (Piriform) will answer the question of how to find out the motherboard model. Download as always on the official website:
Launch the application and on the left side go to the "System board" tab. On the right side in the "Model" line there will be an answer to our question - in our case it is P8H67 (LGA1155) ...
Not only did the program correctly determine the name of the motherboard installed in the computer, but it also showed its socket (1155) and a lot of useful information (such as voltage, BIOS version and system temperature)
Method 5. CPU-Z - will tell not only about the processor
CPU-Z is a very popular utility for identifying the processor, but is great for identifying the motherboard model on a computer. The program is absolutely free and does not require installation, just download the latest version from the official website
After starting the utility, go to the "Mainboard" tab and in the "Model" line there will be the name of the installed motherboard. I have a P8H67 motherboard in my computer (yet testimony all applications match)
For many, the BIOS block will be useful, the version and manufacturer of the firmware are displayed here ...
Method 6. HWiNFO32 - detailed information about the motherboard
To download the program, go to the official website (there are several versions of the program - HWiNFO32 for 32-bit systems and HWiNFO for 64-bit systems). In my case, I downloaded HWiNFO64.
After installing the appropriate version of HWiNFO, launch it (it may take a long time to start collecting information about your computer's components). The program will automatically display the "System Summary" screen, where the motherboard model will be shown in the "Motherboard" section
By the way, please note that HWiNFO correctly identified the video card ... you should add it to the note about video cards
Method 7. Sisoftware Sandra - an underestimated program
When I was looking for information on how to look at the motherboard on a computer, I never came across such an application as Sandra Lite in the reviews (we will use it, since specifically Lite- distributed free of charge). As usual, you can download it on the official website, avoid leftist sources ...
After installing Sisoftware Sandra Lite, launch the program and go to the "Devices" tab. In the window that appears, double-click on the "Motherboard" icon and wait until the utility collects all the necessary information. Detailed information about your motherboard will open in a new window, in the "Model" line and there will be an answer to the question how to find out the model of the motherboard?
This section displays not only the name of your motherboard, here you will find quite a lot of other useful information about your motherboard. For example, you can find out how much memory and how many slots for it in total ... or the chipset model on which your system is built
BONUS! Information about the motherboard in the HTML report
This application is called LookInMyPC and you can download it from the developers website (in English, there is a portable version that does not require installation)
http://www.lookinmypc.com/download.htm
After launch, you can choose what exactly to generate a report about, but we leave everything as it is and click the “Generate Report” button ... all that remains is to wait until the report is generated - this is fast.
The file with the report will open in any browser, in the "BIOS Information" block in the line "Board Product ID" and there will be the name of our motherboard.
In fact, the report contains a lot of interesting and useful information, and as for the English language, Google Chrome translates everything wonderfully.
The report generates a lot of data about the software part, and you can view it at any time without the program itself - this is very convenient
What have we learned about the motherboard? - Conclusions
Friends, we have considered several ways to find out the model of the motherboard. As you understood from the note, it is quite possible to do this without disassembling the system unit - there are more civilized methods.
What to do with this information? - even if you need to visually look at your motherboard, it is quite possible to find its image and specifications on the official website by model name.
If you need to find out the motherboard model that is installed in your computer, then the easiest way is to disassemble it and look at the model name on the motherboard itself. In most cases, this is enough to remove one of the side covers of the system unit.
Why you need to know the motherboard model
The name of the motherboard is not the most important characteristic of your computer. But under certain conditions, you need to know it:
- You need a description of the motherboard to find out the compatible types of processors, the maximum amount and type of RAM, the number of slots for it, the presence of a RAID controller, and much more. This information will be useful when you upgrade your computer.
- You need to download drivers when installing the operating system or change the BIOS firmware.
- When conducting an inventory to account for IT equipment in your organization.
When there is no way to find out the model of the motherboard
In some cases, it is not possible to disassemble the computer and read the name. For example:
- You do not have physical access to the computer. Relevant when you remotely administer a computer in another building, city or country.
- Laziness. No one wants to crawl under the tables on the floor between the trash cans, change of shoes and bags of workers.
- The system block is sealed. Damage to the seals may void your seller's warranty.
- You do not have a tool (screwdriver) to unscrew the screws and remove the system unit cover. This is also possible, because the fasteners can be under the “asterisk” or you went for a minute to a girl you know, who simply doesn’t have a screwdriver, and a nail file can’t cope with the task.
How to find out the model of the motherboard using programs
If you are using an operating system of the Windows family on your computer, you can use several hardware diagnostic programs. For example speccy.
How to check motherboard model from command line
However, the easiest way is to use the command line. That is, you do not need to install any additional software, the built-in tools of the Windows operating system are enough.
To find out the manufacturer of the motherboard, use the command wmic baseboard get Manufacturer
You should see something like this:
C:\>Windows\system32>wmic baseboard get Manufacturer Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
To find out the model use wmic baseboard get product
You will see something like the following.