What Motherboard Do I Have? 4 Ways to Find Out

There are four ways to check the brand and the serial number of your motherboard. This can help when you're trying to expand your computer because knowing your motherboard brand lets you check hardware expansion slots, how much memory you can add, and more.

Types of Motherboards

Types of motherboards are usually defined in terms of their form factor (shape and size), and the technology that's included on the board.

• AT: The original motherboard, used in nearly all computers up until the Pentium 2. These measured 13.8 x 12 inches with 6-pin plugs and sockets for power. A smaller form factor of this motherboard, called "Baby AT" was introduced in 1985. The AT motherboard is considered obsolete today.
• ATX: Intel introduced the ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) motherboard in 1995. Full-sized ATX boards are 12 x 9.6 inches with 4-pin plugs and sockets for peripheral power.
• ITX: In 2001, VIA Technologies introduced the Mini-ITX, a much smaller (6.7x6.7 inches) motherboard made for compatibility with ATX cases. They followed this up with with Nano-ITX (4.7 x 4.7 inches) in 2003 and the Pico-ITX (3.9 x 2.8 inches) in 2007

Information You Can Find About Your Motherboard

You should be able to gather the information you need to order expansion cards, additional memory, and more by using any of the steps below.

This information includes:

• Manufacturer
• Product
• Serial Number
• Version

Let's take a look at some ways you can find this information without opening up your computer case.

How to Check Motherboard With System Information

The System Information utility provides a great deal of information about your computer. Motherboard details are included.

1. Select the Start menu and type msinfo32. Select the System Information app.

2. On the System Information page, you'll see a long list of information. Look for the section with information that starts with 'BaseBoard' to see your motherboard information.

3. The motherboard information you'll see here includes:

   • BaseBoard Manufacturer: The motherboard manufacturer is usually the same manufacturer as the computer itself.
   • BaseBoard Product: This is the motherboard Product number.
   • BaseBoard Version: Motherboard version number. Anything that ends in "01" is typically a first generation motherboard for that model.

   You will notice that there's no serial number displayed here. If you need your motherboard serial number, then you'll need to try the solution in the next sections.

Find Motherboard Details with Command Prompt

You can get access to all of the same information plus the serial number by using a "wmic" (Windows Management Instrumentation Commandline) command in the Windows command prompt.

1. Select the Start menu and type cmd. Select the Command Prompt app.

2. At the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter on the keyboard:

   wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber
   

3. When you press Enter, you'll see those four pieces of information about your motherboard.

4. As you can see, you'll find all the same information about your motherboard that you found in System Information. However, this WMIC command also shows you the serial number for your motherboard.

Find Motherboard Information With Third-Party Apps

There are a number of free software apps you can download onto your Windows 10 PC that'll provide you with information about what motherboard you have.

One of the most popular of these is CPU-Z.

1. Download CPU-Z from the CPUID website and run the installation program.

2. When you first launch CPU-Z, it'll default to the CPU tab and show information about your system processor. See the Mainboard tab to see what motherboard you have.

3. What's nice about software like CPU-Z is it'll show you additional information like the chipset type, the BIOS, and information about the graphics card slot.

The following are some other free applications that will also provide you with information about your motherboard. These have been reviewed as safe and effective.

• Speccy: System information tool provided by the makers of CCleaner
• Belarc Advisor: PC information including installed software and hardware, security information, network details, and more

Open Your Case to Check Your Motherboard

If all else fails, you may need to open your computer case to examine your motherboard and find its details.

Sometimes you'll find the motherboard info written along the very edge of one of the sides of the motherboard, or in the very center near the CPU. Information printed there may also include the chipset, model, and serial number.