What makes a motherboard better?

Though I have been building my family's gaming towers for many years, I still consider myself a novice in many ways. Take for instance the last system I built for my son. I used an Abit Fatality 925x with an Intel p4 3.4g single core and still DDR2400 (it was a while back, though it's still going strong). No matter what graphics card we have in it, everything happens NOW and the graphics care displays to its very best ability.

Now, in contrast, I have my past two systems, both using Biostar motherboards (TForce's), the first with the same chip as my kid's and the second using an E8400 and gaming Ocz ram. As far as "snap" goes, the kid's system runs as good if not better on some apps than either of mine.

He runs all sorts of garbage running on his system (aim, etc) and has hardly enough hd space at any given time to save a song but still smokes while I have ample hd and far fewer programs.

Everything about my system(s) (in terms of newness and newfangledness)should be superior to his...it aint
Can the mobo make that much difference? Should I look for another cause?

Thanks for your imput

Horace

the kid's system:

windows xp home
Sapphire x1950 pro pci-e x16 256mb
Rosewill Stallion 450w 12v psu
Intel P4 3.4g Prescott
2gb samsung DDR2400
Abit 925x (Fatality)
Thermaltake Typhoon 120

My current gaming system:

windows xp home
Zotac 8800gt 1gb pci-e 2.0 x16
Rosewill Stallion 500w 12v psu
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale
2gb OCZ 1066 (running at 800; couldn't get the voltage right to run at 1066)
Biostar TP43D2-A7
Dynatron 92mm cpu fan (I know, cheapy, but it cools great)

Bear in mind, his doesn't smoke mine but I would think mine should smoke his.
That is, I don't feel justified having purchased allegidly "better" gear.

thanks

Horace

The only thing that makes one mobo better than another is some have more layers, making them better quality.

Some have different chipsets (obviously) and some of those chipsets are a bit faster than others.

Also some have japanese capacitors, which have a longer life.

Some have extra slots, ports, connectors and some have sound and some video.

You generally get what you pay for, but in some cases you can get a good board cheap. Take my P965 for instance, it was considered a low end (under $100) C2D board. However its lasted me 3 years, overclocks like a beast and I have never had an issue with it and therefore have not found any reason to upgrade as of yet.

I'm taking a hard look at the core i5's when they come for my next "budget beast". I could afford a top of the line system, if I wanted, but I dont need that. I have a mortgage, cars, boat, etc that are more important to me than bragging rights on pc.

Well there are a few things you can do to help performance.
1. Better/more RAM, (I recommend G.Skill DDR2 800 2x2GB)
2. Try a BIOS flash (an older BIOS can sometimes be a little unstable, and won't use all the hardware it has efficently),
3. Check the amount of cache the HDD has (he may have 16m, while you may have 8m),
4. I also recommend XP Pro, or Vista Home (both are better than XP Home)
5. Uninstall things you don't use, and clear out the startup tab in the start menu.

And no, I wholeheartedly assure you, he does nothing to maintain his pc's health.

superPI

yeah your system should eat it X1K is the gen before the 8800 geforce maybe 2 and the core 2 duo will most certinly eat it alive