February 2002 High-end Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 3

Motherboard

Pentium 4 Motherboard: ASUS P4T-E

Current Cost: $147
Months on list: 2
Price Change: -$13

Although there are some fine Pentium 4 DDR motherboards on the market, we're sticking with the ASUS P4T-E RDRAM-based board for now. Not only is RDRAM at an all-time low price, but the Pentium 4 Northwood seems a bit more at home with the dual-channel i850 chipset and its RDRAM memory base. This ASUS board also has a full complement of 4 RIMM sockets, and even though the i850 requires dual RIMM installations, it also means greater upgrade potential in the future. Compare that to many Pentium 4 DDR boards with only 2 or 3 slots. As if the news couldn't get any better, the ASUS P4T-E dropped in price to under the $150 range, making it a must-buy this month. The only potential snafu is the absence of ATA133 or RAID support, but this can be easily rectified by purchasing an add-in card or buying a new ATA133 drive with a "free" bundled interface card.

AMD Motherboard: ABIT KR7A-133RAID

Current Cost: $149
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

In choosing the Athlon XP motherboard we're once again caught between a rock and hard place. The KT266A and nForce are both excellent, high performance platforms, but we still need to make a pick. At least until the nForce 415-D appears, we're sticking with the KT266A, and in particular the ABIT KR7A-133 RAID model. This motherboard features 4 DIMM sockets for added flexibility, though you can still only use a maximum of three for standard DDR; to use all four, registered DDR is required. Still, for those who need the extra space and have the cash for registered DDR, the option is there. The KR7A-133 RAID also includes 1 AGP and 6 PCI slots, along with the SoftMenu III BIOS that is so popular with overclockers. Add in a HighPoint ATA-133 RAID controller to the mix and the KR7A-133 RAID is just about a perfect match of features and performance. Plus, at under $140, this is a whole lot of motherboard for the price, and comes from one of the top names in performance hardware.