Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1715
Price Guides June 2005: Motherboards
by Kristopher Kubicki & Larry Barber on June 19, 2005 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
This week we have some awesome deals on AMD and Intel motherboards. It wouldn't be a Price Guide if we didn't throw in our weekly reminder to give the RealTime Price Engine a try, so stop what you're doing and test it out! Do you like product alerts, buy recommendations and trend information for CPUs, memory, motherboards and lots of other computer products? Of course you do, that's why you're reading a Price Guide! RTPE has all these neat features and many more, so give it a try and send us some feedback.
Last month during our motherboard edition of the guides, we took a look at some of the PCIe options for Socket 754 and hinted at the new motherboards on the way from Intel. The 945P and 955X motherboards successfully launched a few weeks ago and like most of Intel's motherboard launches, boards were on the shelves immediately (if not a little before) the actual launch dates. Kudos to Intel for at least temporarily giving us reason to believe that not all PC component "launches" are just product-less media events. Unfortunately, ATI's "launch" of Xpress 200 Crossfire was probably the furthest thing from a retail product launch we have seen since the GeForce 5xxx a few years ago. But we will get to that in a minute...
Dual core processors are here. AMD folk won't need a new motherboard for their X2 dual core chips, but they will need a second mortgage. Intel dual core chips are significantly cheaper, but require one of those new Intel 945P and 955X boards we just mentioned. Since a lot of people want us to mention DTCP-IP ("featured" on the new 945P and 955X motherboards), we will talk a little bit about that as well - and whether or not it should hinder your next purchase decision.
Athlon 64 Socket 939
Last month there were only 15 nForce4 products, this month there are over 40. VIA shows up in much smaller force with an additional 4 K8T890 motherboards, but whether or not they stick around in the core logic arena long enough to offer driver support for those motherboards remains something to be determined. PCIe is really the only way to go in our opinion - particularly for AMD systems. By the way, G70 shows up later this week (on retail shelves!) in PCIe form - another reason not to jump all over AGP.
First, check out the AMD nForce4 SLI motherboards available right now. Our personal favorite still remains the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe and Premium lines, but there are some very aggressive rebates right now on the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI [RTPE: MS-7100-020] which won our Editor's Choice award several months ago. There was a bit of discrepancy about overclocking on the Neo4 Platinum when using Winchester or Venice chips, but MSI engineers have assured us the latest BIOS fixes this problem.
If you already have a very nice AGP video card, then by all means spring for an nForce3 AGP motherboard on Socket 939. However, there are several things to consider first; expect to see Socket M2 DDR2 processors from AMD early next year with very little AGP support if any. Also, start to expect product launches (like G70) showing up en masse for PCIe, with AGP support just trickling in behind. We already pay a premium for AGP hardware, as is painfully apparent with the GeForce 6600 series. It isn't in the best interest of AMD, NVIDIA, Intel or ATI's to have two separate hardware specifications running around and unlike the PCI to AGP transition several years ago; AGP carries no legacy development tree. We are already starting to see technology that can only work on the PCIe bus (TurboCache) - don't expect these companies to keep up support for the PCI hack that is AGP any longer than they absolutely have to.
Clinging to AGP for the low end makes the least amount of sense. Low end AGP video cards generally cost more and perform poorer than NVIDIA's TurboCache series while board prices between moderate nForce4 4X and nForce3/K8T800 are negligible. Socket 754 motherboards with PCIe are totally the way to go. ASUS and MSI have the strongest showings right now - and our recommendation for a good budget nForce4 Socket 754 motherboard goes to MSI's K8N Neo3-F [RTPE: MS-7135-010]. The Neo3-F also features one of those unusual AGP sockets that route via the Southbridge - so even the fence sitters will have a reason to grab this board.
Of course, feel free to completely ignore our advice and grab an AGP budget motherboard. The K8N Neo3-F we recommended above has more functionality than most of these boards and at a better price.
K8T890 motherboards are pretty much your only alternative to nForce4 on the AMD scale of things right now, but keep in mind that dual core processors still don't work on these motherboards. Since K8T890 boards are usually value oriented anyway (and dual core Athlon 64s are anything but value oriented), we haven't talked much about this problem yet. Given a similarly priced nForce4 motherboard, we would recommend the NVIDIA option to avoid buying a new board if you do eventually end up with a dual core upgrade. It's unfortunate that K8T890 has dual core problems because some motherboards, like the ASUS A8V-E Deluxe [RTPE: A8V-E Deluxe] and the Abit AX8 [RTPE: Abit AX8], are very solid all around motherboards for the price.
Perhaps the most disappointing updates we've heard in a while include the continuous problems plaguing Xpress 200 Crossfire. Xpress 200 (a.k.a. R*400, R*480) had an extremely low adoption rate that didn't extend outside of Tier 1 motherboard manufacturers for very long. At Computex, we saw a plethora of manufacturers ready to jump on board to the "Crossfire" craze for ATI's multiple VPU solution. Sadly, months have gone by without working samples much less retail products. We were slightly lucky at Computex when Anand had the opportunity to benchmark a reference system. Since the most optimistic manufacturers are telling us mid July before a single retail motherboard ships, hope Crossfire is nothing short of incredible by the time it actually shows up. ATI has an interesting opportunity to replace VIA as the number two AMD core logic manufacturer (Xpress 200 actually works with dual core processors), but ATI also has a track record of missed opportunities.
If we are going to talk about ATI as a major core logic manufacturers, we might as well mention ULi too. ULi made quite a stir at Computex with some of their new north bridge technology, but since shipping products are a few weeks (months?) off, it's way too early to say whether or not they have a chance of competing against NVIDIA or ATI in the near future. We have heard of several manufacturers that like ULi's products, but can't adopt them due to the SKU overlap with VIA and NVIDIA products.
There is still some fight left in Socket 462 in the form of Sempron combos. A decent KT880 [RTPE: KT880] motherboard runs around $50 with a Sempron 2600+ [RTPE: SDA2600DUT3D] usually running about $70. There are some bundle deals at various merchants as well, so check out our forums for more details.
It has been a few years in the making, but it looks like Intel's products have given enthusiasts a bit more to look forward to recently with the Pentium D 820, 830 and 840. Unfortunately, unlike the AMD route, cheap dual core processors are offset by extremely expensive 945P and 955X motherboards. As expected, the differences between 955X and 945P are very minute, so don't expect Intel's Memory Pipeline Technology featured on 955X to really justify the $80 premium for boards. On the other hand, there are some very good 955X boards; including ASUS's P5WD2 Premium WiFi-TV [RTPE: ASUS 955X P5WD2]. Although pricey, the P5WD2 Premium WiFi-TV bundles a WiFi-TV PCI card that runs on 802.11a. The additional Analog, DVB-T and FM radio inputs also make this one of the most feature packed boards we have seen yet. Wesley has a full review of this board in roundups to come, but we thought we would give it a mention before then.
Spending nearly $300 on a motherboard doesn't make a lot of sense to most people. If you are looking for a board for your Pentium D 820 and don't want to break the bank, Gigabyte has a few choices including their GA-81945P-G motherboard. This board doesn't support dual PCIe x16 slots, but it does provide the same features you would find in 925X while providing dual core support. Pentium Ds are great buys, but don't lose focus on the price advantage they have over AMD's X2 processors. The Gigabyte GA-8I1945P-G [RTPE: GA-8I945P-G] offers Gigabit Ethernet, SATA II and RealTek audio; definitely a great buy for being one of the cheapest 945P boards on the market. Don't forget to check out the nForce4 Intel motherboards on the next page as well.
We should throw a bit of warning out there for anyone who anticipates to buy one of these 945P or 955X motherboards; Digital Rights Management (DRM). DRM is one of those scary words that tends to kick up a lot of emotions, but whether or not it's warranted is a different story entirely. The new Intel motherboards we just mentioned utilize a technology called DTCP-IP or Digital Transmission Copy Protection over IP. The specification, which ahs been around for almost 2 years now, identifies your computer by a fingerprint combination including your processor ID code and motherboard ID and allows sanctioned content to traverse your computers network. The content can then be deleted but not retransmitted off the machine. DTCP-IP can be disabled in the BIOS.
Whether or not this technology even works is something that has yet to be demonstrated, since no content providers have any services that use DTCP-IP yet. Some argue that even though the technology is optional, it will probably become mandatory down the line - and since when did it become the job of the computer hardware to decide whether I am allowed to copy or share something? Palladium/TCPA conspiracy theories aside, DTCP-IP does hint of something more ominous to come. However, don't expect IP-TV feeds from AOL/TW or HBO anytime soon without some DRM infrastructure in place. Our advice? Turn off DTCP-IP in the BIOS... If the big media providers start offering content like IP-TV, then turn it back on. If you don't want DTCP-IP or don't want to support it, buy an AMD motherboard before they inevitably adopt the DRM as well. Personally, I would love to have four simultaneous 1080p streams on my desktop, but we all know that won't happen without some level of DRM extending beyond the OS.
NVIDIA managed to ship several more nForce4 SLI Intel Edition motherboards since we last mentioned them. There were some severe doubts about whether or not nForce4 for Intel was really going to take off, but it seems manufacturers have been able to adopt boards well enough. NVIDIA anticipates low priced SLI boards for everyone before the end of the year, but it looks like the price point will have to lower significantly for something like that to happen. These boards are dual core capable but also come with lots of features, which place them in good competition with 955X motherboards. A favorite of ours, the MSI P4N Diamond [RTPE: MS-7160-010] includes Creative's SoundBlaster Live chip. Then again, if you don't really plan on pursuing SLI but do want a dual core CPU, it's more cost effective to go the route of 945P.
As our recent roadmap revealed, Intel has virtually no plans to pursue 1066MHz front side bus. Thus, all of those 925XE motherboards that were released a few months ago with the faster bus speed over 925X serve no purpose to anyone. Abit's AA8-DuraMAX [RTPE: Abit AA8-Duramax] 925X motherboard is one of the cheapest boards around with excellent features (but it won't support any of those dual core Pentium D chips). Then again, your money is probably better spent on an AMD combo if you're in the market for a new CPU/motherboard.
There is little point in mentioning 915P motherboards as well, but we couldn't help but notice the Biostar I915P-A7 [RTPE: I915P-A7] fell to $80 shipped over the last few weeks. Again, you're better off spending the money on an AMD combo, but if your 915P motherboard died or something, the Biostar makes a decent replacement.
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