Price Guides August 2005: Motherboards
by Kristopher Kubicki and Howard Johnson on August 6, 2005 1:32 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
More PCIe Intel
NVIDIA's nForce4 for Intel has generally been too expensive and too insignificant to really pay much attention to. The last few generations of Intel chips have not done a great job of capturing the enthusiast, which is a primary component of AMD's successful processors lately. However, with the dual core race, AMD and Intel are once again on level ground - with the Intel Pentium D series (particularly the Pentium D 820 [RTPE: BX80551PG2800FN]) leading the pack for Intel. Now, a low cost, dual core Intel system makes sense; and if you plan on buying a single GeForce 6600GT or a 7800GT and upgrading to a second one later, SLI makes a lot more sense too. Unfortunately, the missing component in that equation is the motherboard; NVIDIA makes the only SLI capable motherboard for Intel if you disregard Tumwater.
The price for nForce4 Intel motherboards is quite terrible. Biostar leads the pack as far as price goes, and there was a massive $37 price cut just yesterday. Whether that holds long term remains to be seen, and with all other boards costing over $160 we may just be getting a short term sale. MSI has a nice rebate on the P4N Diamond [RTPE: MS-7160-010], and if you have to spring $200 for a motherboard you might as buy Tier 1.
Update: Since publication, we have found two great deals on nForce4 Intel boards including the Gigabyte GA-8N-SLI Pro and the MSI P4N SLI-FI. Both are great boards for the price, but unless you plan on using SLI capabilities the 945P motherboards still carry more features.
ATI's Crossfire Intel solution is on the horizon (again) as well. While there aren't any boards shipping now, nor will there be until September, competitive multi-PEG motherboards might be what this sector needs to bring the cost of this sector down.
We'll mention Intel's 915P lineup this week, although it may be one of the last times we need to. Intel roadmaps revealed that 915P is almost EOL in favor of the much more capable 945P lineup. Your money is better spent on a current generation Intel lineup or an AMD combo instead.
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justly - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
I don’t see how this helped you at all. This guide lists maybe 6 socket 754 motherboards when Newegg alone lists 74 socket 754 moterboards on their web site.formulav8 - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
I guess how I see it as helping me is using their pricing engine.It has helped me more so with my personl computer as I am using s754 and was thinking about doing a upgrade from a 3400+ Newcastle to hopefully(If my wife will let me) upgrade to the 3800+ X2 Dual Core cpu.
Jason
justly - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
if the price engine helps you then great, but if thats all you need then there is always pricewatch and dealtime.I also got to thinking all the socket 754 boards listed in this guide are nForce 4 or ATi based, so really this guide helped you even less because all those are PCI-E not AGP (you did say a Radeon 9600 was going to be used, so you need AGP).
formulav8 - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
I wanted to mention, the mobo is not specifically for me, but it is for a customer. And she wants the cheapest 64 Bit possible, so I have to go with a s754 - 64 Bit Sempron cpu. She wants to play City of Hero's and this Sempron should do the job nicely, especially since her video card is only a 9600 Pro.Jason
bldckstark - Monday, August 8, 2005 - link
I needed this review too. I just bought an MSI NEO4 SLI and reading as the pick of the month makes me feel GOOD ;^)