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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highlandsun - Monday, November 7, 2005 - link
Yeah, the Gigabyte offerings look good, though I'll be waiting for the GA-K8N51PVMT-9 with 6150/430.rrcn - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Updated. ;)Anton74 - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Indeed, kudos to AT! :)siliconthoughts - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Agree totally. In fact I'm posting from one (Gigabyte K8N51GMF-9) that is pretty nice.Featureset spanks the listed integrated video boards (Microatx with Gigabit, firewire, 3Gb SATA2, 1x PCIe and 16x PCIe and 2 PCI slots, HD audio, athhlon X2 compatible.)
To top it off, MWAVE carries it for $72.50! cheap, good and fast. Such a sweet deal, yet strangely not in the list.
Anton74 - Saturday, November 5, 2005 - link
Yes, I've had my eye on that exact board as well. Now all I need is retail S939 Sempron availability for the perfect office system. :)