December 2005 Value Gaming PC Buyer's Guide - Page 3

Motherboards

When selecting a motherboard for our Value Gaming System, it is important to find the best overall value, while ensuring you get the most future-proof and high-performance hardware possible. Naturally, these goals are often at odds with each other, and the sticker price is usually the main stumbling block. To find that right combination, the motherboard needs to be affordable, but also have a good mix of performance, overclocking, and onboard features. Whether you're buying a low-cost gaming system or an ultra high-end powerhouse, the motherboard is still one of the most important components, as it provides the backbone for your entire computer and determines your future upgrade path.

Athlon 64 939-pin Motherboard: MSI K8N Neo4-F (nForce4)

Current Cost: $82 + $4 for 24-pin Cable
Months on list: New
Price Change: N/A

Throughout 2005, we have consistently upgraded our AMD motherboard selection, and we're at it again this month. The upgrade to the Athlon 4 3500+ and Socket 939 necessitates a new motherboard, but we need to be careful in allocating our budget for a new 939-pin motherboard. The chipset has to have support for the newest technologies like PCI Express, and needs to be a high-performance, feature-rich platform. The nForce4 is the obvious choice, but since the Ultra and SLI models are a bit out of our price range, we're setting our sights on the standard model. The MSI K8N Neo4-F fits the bill in all ways, and offers a low-cost method of adding Socket 939 to our AMD value rig.

The MSI K8N Neo4-F offers a lot for its $82 price tag, and is actually less expensive than the Socket 754 motherboard we chose last month. It features the nForce4 chipset and has support for all AMD Athlon 64-based 939-pin processors, including the high-end Athlon 64 FX and X2 models. PCI Express is the big feature, as well as a full 16-bit, 1 GHz HyperTransport up/down connection, and virtually equivalent performance to the nForce4 Ultra. Overclockers need not fear, as MSI is one of the top board manufacturers, and includes all the standard CPU, Memory, Graphics, and Front Side Bus speed/voltage selections in the system BIOS.

The MSI K8N Neo4-F may be an entry-level board in terms of price, but the selection of onboard hardware is equivalent to many higher priced motherboards. The K8N Neo4-F supports Socket 939 AMD processors, and features dual-channel DDR266/333/400 memory support (4 DIMM sockets - 4GB max) through the Athlon 64's integrated memory controller. Other onboard features include PCIe x16 graphics, 1 x PCIe x4, 1 x PCIe x1, 4 x PCI, 2 x PATA with RAID, 4 x SATA with NVRAID, 1 x Floppy, 10 x USB 2.0, 7.1-channel audio, and integrated Gigabit LAN. This is certainly a nice hardware mix for a "value" gaming system, and the MSI K8N Neo4-F gives us the price, performance and features necessary for our AMD system.

Pentium 4 Motherboard: ASUS P5GPL (i915PL)

Current Cost: $91 + $4 for 24-pin Cable
Months on list: 3
Price Change: -$2

The Pentium 4 640 processor selection remains unchanged, so we don't need to switch the Intel LGA 775 platform. The Intel 915-based chipset line is still the best option for a value system, especially as the 955X, 945P, and 925X/XE boards are more expensive and rely on higher-priced DDR2 memory. Many i915-based motherboards can be found with either DDR or DDR2 memory support, and the i915/DDR combination is actually quite affordable, especially when taking into consideration the lower prices of the LGA775 Pentium 4 processors. LGA 775 value remains a key element in our overall strategy for the Intel system, as the motherboard is slightly more expensive than an equivalent i865PE model, but the LGA775 and PCI Express format allows us to save money on the processor and video card components.

The ASUS P5GPL motherboard is based on the i915PL chipset, which is essentially a 915P with some limitations. One of them is the absence of HD audio, which is a non-issue, as this is an option you won't find on low-cost Intel motherboards anyway. There is also a limit of one DDR module per channel, which means than you can only use one set of dual-channel DDR400 modules. For the purposes of a value system, the i915PL is really no different from the i915P, and we're able to get a quality ASUS motherboard into the bargain. The ASUS P5GPL is based on the 915PL/ICH6 chipset, which supports Intel LGA775 processors (533/800 MHz), and features 4 DDR sockets with dual-channel DDR333/400 support (2GB max). To counter the inherent limits of the 915PL chipset, ASUS includes their Hyper Path2 feature, which shortens the latency time between the CPU and memory and improves memory performance.

The ASUS P5GPL has a 1x PCI-Ex16, 3x PCI-Ex1, 3x PCI layout, without any sort of AGP video option at all. As with the newer Intel-based products, the ASUS P5GPL is a Serial ATA board, with four SATA ports and only a single PATA connector. The remaining onboard options are also high-end, with 8 x USB 2.0, Realtek ALC850 8-channel audio and Marvell 88E8001 Gigabit LAN (with ASUS AI Net 2). The only real issue is its lack of support for the dual core Pentium D models, but the Intel 945PL boards have been dropping in price and could find their way into our guide in the near future.

ASUS is the name of the game in system overclocking and the P5GPL has a very robust System BIOS, complete with a range of processor frequency selections (AI Overclocking, CPU Lock Free, full FSB selections) and a variety of voltage controls (CPU, DDR & PCIe). This is supplemented with some nice features such as adjustable FSB/DDR ratios and fixed/lockable PCI/PCI-E frequencies.

* Note - The new i915PL and nForce4 motherboards utilize a 24-pin power connector, and although these can be run with a standard 20-pin unit, we recommend purchasing a basic 20-pin to 24-pin adapter cable ($4) for the PSU. We have used these in system testing with no problems whatsoever, and many 24-pin compatible PSU units ship with them.