Price Guide, November 2005: Motherboards
by Haider Farhan on November 5, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
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Now that there are many Socket 939 motherboards in the market, their price has dropped considerably and has actually begun to catch up to their Socket 754 counterparts. The Socket 754 platform is still an excellent option for the builders who will be going with a Sempron based system.
The nForce4 4X (Socket 754) based motherboards are relatively close in price; most are hovering in the $70-$80 price point. The DFI Infinity [RTPE: nForce4 4X (754) Infinity] is a great board for overclockers at $75 (plus shipping). Another excellent motherboard we recommend that you take a look at is the MSI K8N Neo3-F [RTPE: MS-7135-010] going for $70 (plus shipping).
If you're looking for a board with decent integrated graphics, we propose you look into the Xpress 200 from ATI. The MSI RS480M-IL [RTPE: MS-7145-020] is at a decent $79 shipped. It also has 4 SATA controllers, a single PCI-E slot and supports up to 2GB of RAM. Nothing spectacular, but it does contain many of the extras that one may require.
ATI's Xpress 200 CrossFire, currently only being marketed by DFI, was found to be an exceptional enthusiast board competing well with NVIDIA's nForce4 series, as Wesley Fink describes here. The DFI LanParty UT RDX200 [RTPE: LP UT RDX200 CF-DR] is not your average run-of-the-mill board, going for an expensive $200. Not something we would recommend just yet. We would like to see other manufacturers create some competition for DFI to bring the price down.
Competing with ATI's Xpress 200 integrated graphics is NVIDIA's GeForce 6150/6100 - nForce 430 and the GeForce 6100 - nForce 410. The 6100/410 comes in both Socket 939 and Socket 754 variants. In our first look at the Biostar TForce 6100-939 (6100/410) [RTPE: nForce 410 GeForce 6100 (939)], we were very satisfied with the performance of NVIDIA's integrated graphics; currently going for about $70. A fair price if integrated graphics will suit your needs and is competing with ATI's Xpress 200 nicely.
Currently, the only 6100/410 motherboard on the Socket 754 platform is the Biostar GeForce6100-M7 [RTPE: GeForce6100-M7]. Down about $1.00, the GeForce6100-M7 is on sale for $64.
At the moment, Gigabyte is the only manufacturer producing a motherboard based on the GeForce 6100 nForce 430; the GA-K8N51GMF-9. Down about $1.50, the Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9 [RTPE: GA-K8N51GMF-9] is going for $78.99 shipped.
Now that there are many Socket 939 motherboards in the market, their price has dropped considerably and has actually begun to catch up to their Socket 754 counterparts. The Socket 754 platform is still an excellent option for the builders who will be going with a Sempron based system.
The nForce4 4X (Socket 754) based motherboards are relatively close in price; most are hovering in the $70-$80 price point. The DFI Infinity [RTPE: nForce4 4X (754) Infinity] is a great board for overclockers at $75 (plus shipping). Another excellent motherboard we recommend that you take a look at is the MSI K8N Neo3-F [RTPE: MS-7135-010] going for $70 (plus shipping).
If you're looking for a board with decent integrated graphics, we propose you look into the Xpress 200 from ATI. The MSI RS480M-IL [RTPE: MS-7145-020] is at a decent $79 shipped. It also has 4 SATA controllers, a single PCI-E slot and supports up to 2GB of RAM. Nothing spectacular, but it does contain many of the extras that one may require.
ATI's Xpress 200 CrossFire, currently only being marketed by DFI, was found to be an exceptional enthusiast board competing well with NVIDIA's nForce4 series, as Wesley Fink describes here. The DFI LanParty UT RDX200 [RTPE: LP UT RDX200 CF-DR] is not your average run-of-the-mill board, going for an expensive $200. Not something we would recommend just yet. We would like to see other manufacturers create some competition for DFI to bring the price down.
Competing with ATI's Xpress 200 integrated graphics is NVIDIA's GeForce 6150/6100 - nForce 430 and the GeForce 6100 - nForce 410. The 6100/410 comes in both Socket 939 and Socket 754 variants. In our first look at the Biostar TForce 6100-939 (6100/410) [RTPE: nForce 410 GeForce 6100 (939)], we were very satisfied with the performance of NVIDIA's integrated graphics; currently going for about $70. A fair price if integrated graphics will suit your needs and is competing with ATI's Xpress 200 nicely.
Currently, the only 6100/410 motherboard on the Socket 754 platform is the Biostar GeForce6100-M7 [RTPE: GeForce6100-M7]. Down about $1.00, the GeForce6100-M7 is on sale for $64.
At the moment, Gigabyte is the only manufacturer producing a motherboard based on the GeForce 6100 nForce 430; the GA-K8N51GMF-9. Down about $1.50, the Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9 [RTPE: GA-K8N51GMF-9] is going for $78.99 shipped.
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SniperWulf - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
no mention of the EPOX s754 SLI board? its a nice package for just over $100CWK - Sunday, November 6, 2005 - link
How about a section for micro-ATX boards (and some reviews maybe?)microAmp - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Any plans on doing a review on this motherboard? Asrock M1695 939Dual-SATA2Hopefully not a cherry picked one from the manufacture either.
Anton74 - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
They've already done this nearly 2 months ago: http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2524">ASRock 939Dual-SATA2: First Retail ULi PCIe/AGPmicroAmp - Sunday, November 6, 2005 - link
Can't believe I missed that :) Thanks!IRQ Conflict - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
What is more supprising is the :(http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16281&a..."> DFI LANParty UT RDX200 CF-DR doesn't seem to be in the list eitherKristopherKubicki - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Well, we could recommend a $120 SLI motherboard, or a $250 Xpress 200 motherboard. SLI for me - that's for sure :)Kristopher
Anton74 - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Are the new Socket 939 boards based on the GeForce 6150/6100 (and 410/430 southbridges) not yet included in this guide?I think they are very good alternatives to nForce4, especially if you want both integrated graphics and gigabit LAN.
highlandsun - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
I was just looking at the Asus A8N-VM CSM, looks like it'd do well for an HTPC but I wish it had digital audio inputs. It has a coax S/PDIF out but I'd like a board with optical I/O. Do any of those others have optical in and out?rrcn - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
It looks like the only board that has In and Out is the Gigabyte GA-K8N51GMF-9. Although it has coaxial in and out, you can always purchase a coaxial to optical converter/adapter.