January Extreme Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 3

Motherboards

Intel Motherboard: ABIT IC7-MAX3

Current Cost: $176
Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$31

Intel's 875P is the fastest, most feature-packed chipset currently available for Pentium 4 processors. Geared toward high-end users, it supports an 800MHz FSB, dual-channel DDR400, Hyper Threading, USB 2.0, and also has integrated RAID support. The chipset also includes integrated PAT (Performance Acceleration Technology) which boosts memory performance, something that the 865PE does not. Without a doubt, an Intel 875P-based motherboard is the best candidates for extreme platform performance on the Intel side.

Last month we recommended an ABIT IC7-MAX3, and that does not change this month. The motherboard has four SATA ports, an AGP Pro slot, Intel CSA Gigabit LAN, and a number of other hot technologies built-in. ABIT has taken the initiative to throw out all legacy connectors with their "MAX" boards, to make room for additional USB, audio and Firewire connecters. In addition to the usual BIOS tweaking and overclocking features the board also has an OTES style cooling system right above the CPU to keep everything running smoothly.

AMD Motherboard: ASUS SK8V

Current Cost: $209
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

AMD's Athlon 64 FX requires an entirely new 940-pin platform architecture, different from that of the Athlon XP or Athlon 64. Currently, there are only a few high-end gamer-oriented boards available for the Athlon FX. Right now, the ASUS SK8V looks to be the best choice, as the newest VIA chipset has moved to the front of the class in terms of overall performance. ASUS has always made quality boards for both Intel and AMD systems and has not disappointed us in the past.

The ASUS SK8V motherboard uses the VIA K8T800 chipset and in addition to excellent performance and support for registered memory, it also has a wealth of onboard features. This board includes a 3COM 3C940 Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, Firewire, 6-channel audio and Serial ATA RAID. AMD has begun using scalable HyperTransport between integrated circuits which further increases performance across the board. The ASUS SK8V is one of the best motherboards currently available for the Athlon 64 FX platform, and we won't hesitate to recommend it.

System Memory

Intel: Corsair XMS 1GB PC-3200 TwinX1024-3200LL PC3200 (2x512)

Current Cost: $250
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

AMD: Corsair XMS 1GB ECC Registered DDR PC3200 TwinX1024RE-3200LL (2x512)

Current Cost: $287
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Corsair has long been our top choice for this guide's system memory, and overall, their XMS memory line has proven itself to be the fastest, most reliable enthusiast-oriented memory that money can buy. Naturally, we're picking PC3200 memory for both our AMD and Intel systems, as both 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.

The Intel and AMD systems in this guide make use of dual-channel memory, however, due to the different architectures, both use a different type of DDR memory. The Intel system makes use of unbuffered DDR, while the AMD system requires registered DDR memory for proper operation. For the Intel machine we picked Corsair's popular and reliable TwinX1024-3200LL memory, as it offers the best price-to-performance ratio.

For the AMD system, we chose the registered and error correction code (ECC) mode TwinX1024RE-3200LL, which adds a few dollars to the overall price, when compared to the standard DDR of the Intel system. Both DDR memory choices come in the TwinX package, which assures reliability of matched DDR pairs for dual-channel operation.