Price Guides August 2004: CPUs and Motherboards

It's hard to miss some of the newer boards out there that sport Intel's new Socket 775 system. Unfortunately we have yet to see any that offer the same features for the same price as boards still using Socket 478. Additionally, the extremely fragile nature of 775 make us a bit weary of recommending it until it has had some time in the market and shown that it can withstand the kind of use that many enthusiasts will be throwing at it. This really isn't a big deal though since processors supporting the new socket aren't any different from the 478 variety except costing a couple dollars more, so there is currently no reason to make the jump until there are some performance or overclocking advances on the new socket.

For the second guide in a row Abit's IC7-G 875P motherboard takes the lead with it's superior overclocking abilities, features and support. Pair this up with a Prescott chip, overclock it and be ready for screaming performance. Of course Abit included gigabit LAN, firewire, support for up to eight drives (4 PATA, 4 SATA) and excellent overclocking support. Specifically, this model has enough FSB options to get your system running well beyond its stock specifications. While other boards such as the MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R can be had for slightly cheaper, we feel that the quality of the Abit board, along with the top notch overclocking, makes the Abit the best option for the money at this time.