When I began planning for the VCR project, I made a trip to my long-time, brick-and-mortar computer parts purveyor Micro Center to shop for components. The motherboard is obviously one of the most important components you can purchase, since it will determine all the other parts you can install. My biggest determining factor, though, is price.
At roughly $60, the MSI H81ME33 Intel mobo is a fantastic bargain that offers support for the latest Intel Core processors, USB 3.0, 4K UHD video as well as some niceties like a metric fucktonne of USB ports, a simple BIOS screen with mouse support, a one-click overclock function, and a simple BIOS updater all in a space-saving mATX form factor.
The mobo is finicky with Linux, requiring a little jiggery-pokery and breath-holding while it pre-boots, but it works like a champ with Windows. My only real hitch is that it doesn’t enjoy USB peripherals like DVD-ROM drives and some wireless keyboards, but it usually yields to its human overlord after a nominal delay.
Support for MSI motherboards is self-directed, so you’re going to need to have some decent Google ninja skills if you run into a problem. The nice thing, though, is that the website is easy enough to navigate and the basic support documents are quickly located.
There are proprietary drivers available for all the on-board components, and MSI provides a few utilities that one can customise their system with, though I prefer not to use them.