Price Guide, February/March 2006: Motherboards
by Haider Farhan on February 28, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
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The Xpress 200 boards feature decent onboard graphic capabilities. They obviously aren't intended for gaming enthusiasts, although they're perfect for people who don't need or want to purchase an add-on card. For approximately $77 shipped, the MSI Xpress 200 (939) RS482M4-ILD [RTPE: RS482M4-ILD] is a great option. There are others that are a few dollars cheaper or more expensive, but we feel that this is a decent all-around option.
Slowly, we're seeing an increase in the number of CrossFire motherboards in the market. The Sapphire Xpress 200 CrossFire (939) PC-A9RD480Adv [RTPE: PC-A9RD480Adv] is near the top of the niche, priced at about $140. These CrossFire boards are all priced at $100+, although you do have one option that's just under $100. Going for about $90, the MSI Xpress 200 CrossFire (939) RD480 Neo2-FI [RTPE: RD480 Neo2-FI] would be your cheapest CrossFire enabled motherboard.
Moving back to NVIDIA, this time with integrated graphics, the 61x0 line of boards compete well with the ATI Xpress 200 boards. They tend to cost slightly more, but they're also slightly faster in many benchmarks. Honestly, though, comparing gaming benchmarks on these IGP solutions doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as both are underpowered compared to just about any discrete graphics card.
On to the Athlon 64 socket 754 boards, we can see that these boards are gradually decreasing in number every time we emerge with an updated motherboard price guide. Could it be that the socket 754 platform is being phased out sooner than later?
The Xpress 200 socket 754 boards are fairly competitively-priced to the nForce 4 4X based boards, although the Xpress 200 socket 939 boards are priced about the same, if not cheaper than some of the Xpress 200 socket 754 boards. Our suggestion is to go with the socket 939 board, since the difference between a mid-range 939 processor and a mid-range 754 processor is quite miniscule and sometimes, the price of the board can be the deciding factor. Just not this time around.
The Xpress 200 boards feature decent onboard graphic capabilities. They obviously aren't intended for gaming enthusiasts, although they're perfect for people who don't need or want to purchase an add-on card. For approximately $77 shipped, the MSI Xpress 200 (939) RS482M4-ILD [RTPE: RS482M4-ILD] is a great option. There are others that are a few dollars cheaper or more expensive, but we feel that this is a decent all-around option.
Slowly, we're seeing an increase in the number of CrossFire motherboards in the market. The Sapphire Xpress 200 CrossFire (939) PC-A9RD480Adv [RTPE: PC-A9RD480Adv] is near the top of the niche, priced at about $140. These CrossFire boards are all priced at $100+, although you do have one option that's just under $100. Going for about $90, the MSI Xpress 200 CrossFire (939) RD480 Neo2-FI [RTPE: RD480 Neo2-FI] would be your cheapest CrossFire enabled motherboard.
Moving back to NVIDIA, this time with integrated graphics, the 61x0 line of boards compete well with the ATI Xpress 200 boards. They tend to cost slightly more, but they're also slightly faster in many benchmarks. Honestly, though, comparing gaming benchmarks on these IGP solutions doesn't make a whole lot of sense, as both are underpowered compared to just about any discrete graphics card.
On to the Athlon 64 socket 754 boards, we can see that these boards are gradually decreasing in number every time we emerge with an updated motherboard price guide. Could it be that the socket 754 platform is being phased out sooner than later?
The Xpress 200 socket 754 boards are fairly competitively-priced to the nForce 4 4X based boards, although the Xpress 200 socket 939 boards are priced about the same, if not cheaper than some of the Xpress 200 socket 754 boards. Our suggestion is to go with the socket 939 board, since the difference between a mid-range 939 processor and a mid-range 754 processor is quite miniscule and sometimes, the price of the board can be the deciding factor. Just not this time around.
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Marlin1975 - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
What about VIA for the Intel boards. The Asrock and other PT880pro boards are getting a lot of talk with the support of the 805 dual core chip. i.e. $200 gets a dual core P-D and a board with AGP and PCIe.Phiro - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
Why on earth do you relegate the mATX market to a niche group?Your article flow for AMD starts off with everything 939 then on the second page you say "on to socket 754", which is a dead as hell market. AFTER all of that is done, then you slip in a chunk of 939 6100/6150 boards. No comments on those boards, they aren't grouped with the rest of the 939 boards. It's all about the back of the bus for mATX 939 boards, isn't it?
The 6100/6150 didn't land on Plymouth Rock, did it? Plymouth Rock landed on the 6100/6150!
Calin - Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - link
The market for Socket 754 boards is based around the cheap Sempron processors. The minute I can buy a Socket 939 Sempron processor (preferably boxed) for $60 or around, I will forget about the Socket 754. Until the cheapest Socket 939 variants are double that, 754 is a viable platform.About mATX boards... even if I haven't bought one, I am thinking at buying one...
JarredWalton - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
I've moved the remaining IGP 939 boards to the top of the second page. No slight was intended, but there are a lot of boards to cover and sometimes things end up in odd places.DigitalFreak - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
Man, I wish AM2 was going to be released sooner. I'm jonesing to replace my P4 system.SonicIce - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
wheres 939/AGP? :(JarredWalton - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
Unless you're looking to replace an old (broken) 939 board, I can't see any point in purchasing a new 939 AGP board. The ASRock ULi board is your best bet for AGP 939 at this point, as it has both AGP and PCIe X16.JarredWalton - Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - link
Note: I've added a paragraph on the second page highlighting this information. If you disagree with our assessment of AGP boards, please direct complaints towards me and I'll be happy to discuss the situation. Basically, what's the best AGP card out there right now? 7800GS, or perhaps the outdated X850XTPE (outdated as in no SM3.0). 7800 GS costs close to $300 and offers inferior performance compared to the 7800 GT.Starting at around $285 (not counting MIRs), you can get a 7800GT. Throw in a PCIe board starting around $75, and it's difficult to support AGP as a platform any longer. Again, if you have a fast AGP card and you need a new 939 board, the ASRock is a great option. Low price, support for AGP and PCIe, and it performs well in nearly all areas.