How to Tell What Motherboard You Have

The model number and manufacturer of your motherboard is important information that you’ll need when buying new equipment — like RAM — for your computer, or when you need to upgrade certain drivers.

It can be hard, however, to know just how you’re supposed to tell what brand and model of motherboard you have.

Luckily, there are a few simple methods you can use to get this information, no matter the motherboard your computer runs on. Here’s how to tell what motherboard you have.

Windows System Information

You can open Windows System information by searching for it from the Start menu, or by running “msinfo32.exe” from the run app. I decided to choose to search for it as you can see here:

Then, in the “System Summary” section of the main page, look for the label “System Model.” This is the model of motherboard your computer is running on. To find your motherboard’s manufacturer, look for the “System Manufacturer” label, which should be directly above the “System Model” label.

Command Prompt Method

This is the simplest and most reliable way of getting information about your motherboard. On Windows XP or higher, type in the command “wmic baseboard get product,Manufacturer,version,serialnumber” to command prompt.

Press Enter and your system will return your motherboard’s model, manufacturer, as well as its version and serial number, if possible.

You can open the command prompt by running “cmd” from the run app.

CPU-Z

CPU-Z is a piece of free software that you can use to scan your system and get information about your motherboard.

The information about your motherboard, including its model and manufacturer, will be under the “Motherboard” tab of the main interface ribbon.

The utility also provides other information about your hardware, including the model and specs of your CPU, memory and graphics card.

Belarc Advisor

Belarc Advisor is another free piece of software that you can use to get information about your motherboard.

When you open the program, it will perform a series of system scans — some of these can be skipped to speed up the scan process. Once complete, Belarc Advisor will open a local file containing the results of its scan using your default web browser. Your board’s model name, serial number, bus clock and UEFI will be listed under the heading “Main Circuit Board.”

You should note that while both of these pieces of software provide motherboard information, they aren’t complete hardware monitoring tools. If you need additional information about your system — like your current CPU temperature — you’ll need a different tool.

Manual Check

If for whatever reason you can’t run any software — or if you need to identify a motherboard that’s not plugged in — you can always crack open your desktop and manually inspect your motherboard. The model name can be printed just about anywhere on the motherboard where there’s enough space for the text.

You also won’t be able to learn a motherboard’s serial number, bus clock or UEFI with this method — online research will be necessary if you need that info.

Using Information About Your Motherboard

With your motherboard’s model number, you have all the info you need to shop for RAM and other hardware, which are some of the best ways to speed up a computer — and you can also use this information to download or upgrade your motherboard’s drivers.