October Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 3

Motherboards

Intel Motherboard: ABIT IC7-MAX3

Current Cost: $207
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

The Intel 875P is currently the highest performing, most feature-rich chipset available for the Pentium 4 processor. The chipset is clearly geared toward high-end users, making it the perfect Intel base for this guide. The chipset supports 800MHz FSB processors along with dual-channel DDR, Hyper-Threading, USB 2.0, and has integrated RAID support. The chipset also features Intel Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT) to boost memory performance through optimized data paths.

Currently our favorite 875P-based board is the ABIT IC7-MAX3. The board has a number of technologies built-in including four SATA connectors, an AGP Pro slot, and Intel CSA Gigabit LAN, just to name a few. The "MAX" specification also means that legacy connectors are thrown out the window and additional USB, audio, and Firewire options are included on the main connection bracket. The board also has a small OTES style cooling unit above the CPU slot to help keep things nice and cool. ABIT has also included all their famous BIOS tweaking and overclocking options that we have come to expect from their products.

AMD Motherboard: ASUS K8V Deluxe

Current Cost: $138
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

The Athlon 64 represents a new platform architecture, which naturally requires an upgrade from previous Athlon XP motherboards. We needed to move away from the aging 462-pin system and migrate to a board that supports the Athlon 64's 754-pin configuration. There are currently only a few available Athlon 64 boards, and for the enthusiast, the ASUS K8V Deluxe looks to be the best choice as of now. ASUS is known for their quality boards, and the K8V Deluxe does not disappoint.

The K8V Deluxe uses the new via K8T800 chipset, and as the Deluxe model name suggests, this motherboard has a wide array of onboard features. There is support for Dual SATA RAID, Firewire, 6-channel audio, USB 2.0, and a built-in 3COM Gigabit LAN, among other options. AMD also uses a new high-speed point-to-point HyperTransport link between integrated circuits to further increase transmission speed. Overall, the K8V Deluxe builds on the success of the nForce2 A7N8X Deluxe board for the Athlon XP making it an excellent choice for this guide.

System Memory

Memory: Corsair XMS TWINX1024-3200LLPRO 1GB (2x512-MB) PC3200

Current Cost: $328
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Corsair is currently our top pick when it comes to system memory, and with good reason. Corsair's XMS memory line has proven itself to be the fastest, most reliable enthusiast-oriented memory that money can buy. We use PC3200 memory for both our AMD and Intel systems as both systems require 200MHz memory speeds. The LL (Low Latency) series of memory is Corsair's highest performing memory making it a natural choice over memory with standard timing.

As our Intel system utilizes a dual-channel memory system, it is only natural that we use a pair of matched memory for best performance. We chose to go with Corsair XMS TWINX LL PRO memory for this very reason. The AMD system will not see a benefit from the two matched memory modules, but due to the extremely expensive nature of single 1GB memory modules it's best to stick with a pair of 512MB sticks.