Roundup: Six Core 2 Motherboards Under $100
Table of contents
- 1. LGA-775’s Last Hurrah?
- 2. ASRock P45XE
- 3. P45XE Software, BIOS, And Accessories
- 4. Asus P5QL Pro
- 5. P5QL Pro Software, BIOS, and Accessories
- 6. Biostar TP43D2-A7
- 7. TP43D2-A7 Software, BIOS, And Accessories
- 8. ECS G45T-M2
- 9. G45T-M2 Software, BIOS, And Accessories
- 10. Jetway BI-500
- 11. BI-500 Software, BIOS, And Accessories
- 12. MSI P43 Neo3-F
- 13. P43 Neo3-F Software, BIOS, and Accessories
- 14. Test Settings
- 15. Benchmark Results: First-Person Shooters
- 16. Benchmark Results: Real-Time Strategy
- 17. Benchmark Results: Media Encoding
- 18. Benchmark Results: Productivity
- 19. Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- 20. Performance Index
- 21. Efficiency And Overclocking
- 22. Conclusion
A new architecture for Intel’s latest Core i7 processors may be relegating LGA-775 components to the budget market, but using previous-generation components isn’t a dead-end for value seekers, either. Intel never planned to use its new LGA-1366 in the mainstream market, and its next-generation mainstream socket is still at least a couple of quarters away. Buyers should expect today's crop of previous-generation parts to be viable for at least two more years.
But what is value, really? Buyers who define performance as the "bang" in "bang for the buck" would be sorely disappointed to find out that most motherboards offer similar performance. Overclockers get greater value from low-cost components through increased clock speeds, while gamers might consider the graphics-performance capabilities of a pair of low-cost HD 4830 graphics cards in CrossFire mode. And for true entry-level budgets, buyers who need a system now but can’t afford a good graphics card just yet will surely benefit from a board that supports both onboard and add-in graphics solutions.
Today’s selection of low-cost LGA-775 motherboards covers buyers who'd be interested in any of the above scenarios, so be sure to check out the six boards in today's roundup.
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interesting, although pretty much anyone building a P775 system these days would spend a bit more than $100... and somethings really weird with this commenting thing cos i can't read what i'm typing... it just ... doesnt fill the box? just when i type something it instantly goes to the left instead of filling the box... but anyway, interesting if a bit useless article.
FWIW, the issue with text disappearing from the commenting box as you're typing is something I've reported and m waiting for a fix still. Thanks for confirming that it's still an issue.
Yes - everyone has money shooting out of their pantless ass to buy more expensive motherboards. I use a gigabyte Ep35 DS3L and am very happy with it. What is a >$100 board going to give me? Is it just that you want to waste money? I'm guessing you are one of those people who carry a balance on your credit card and lease a Lexus - you debt-carrying phag.
"What is a >$100 board going to give me?
I have a DS3P becuae i need the exrta SATA ports.
I run the I.T. department for a couple small businesses, and the sub $100 motherboard is almost essential in today's economy. Sure I could use a $120-$150 motherboard, DDR3, 10000 RPM hard drive, and all kinds of other things, but I would end up with a system that is only marginal faster in business applications for 3+ times the price. Take one of the G3x or G4x motherboards, 2GB DDR2, Intel E7x00 CPU and 80GB+ HDD and you have a system that will meet the needs of a good majority of businesses and home users. I am personally a gamer and can see the value in the higher end components; but there are a lot of other market segments out there where this makes financial sense.
"I have a DS3P becuae i need the exrta SATA ports."
The DS3L has 4 Sata ports which could easily handle 3 terabytes and a DVD drive. You could have saved money by editing down your porn collection and deleting your stolen .iso's of the entire "Friday the 13th" collection. Then you would have had enough space to install "Mavis Beacon Teaches Touch Typing". That would give you something else to do with your hands during your "adult film" marathons.
Did you happen to notice that the comment box detects your errors and underlines them in red?
"I have a DS3P becuae i need the exrta SATA ports."
The DS3L has 4 Sata ports which could easily handle 3 terabytes and a DVD drive. You could have saved money by editing down your porn collection and deleting your stolen .iso's of the entire "Friday the 13th" collection. Then you would have had enough space to install "Mavis Beacon Teaches Touch Typing". That would give you something else to do with your hands during your "adult film" marathons.
Did you happen to notice that the comment box detects your errors and underlines them in red?
I got a Gigabyte UD3P for $99 during black friday... would that top this list?
I got a Gigabyte UD3P for $84.50 during Black Friday, pwned you ninja gaiden fag.
Wait, no AMD stuff?
lol @ rjcorrin's 1st comment.
In reply: Maybe he already had HDDs laying around of smaller size and thought it best to save money by spending a few more dollars on more SATA ports than hundreds on new 3 x 1TB HDDs. You're reasoning is asinine and self contradicting.
Did you happen to notice that the comment box detects your errors and underlines them in red?
Did you happen to notice you're using Firefox? It, not this comment box, does that.
"I have a DS3P becuae i need the exrta SATA ports."The DS3L has 4 Sata ports which could easily handle 3 terabytes and a DVD drive. You could have saved money by editing down your porn collection and deleting your stolen .iso's of the entire "Friday the 13th" collection.
And what about Raid? And all the PC's I've had in this Millennium have had 2 Removable Disk drives.
Not to mention I have multiple OSes installed, and an extra drive I use for storage (I reformat often). So I have plenty of drives.
Ummm, maybe I missed it but I didn't see anywhere that said what video/graphics card was used in these test. Anyone!?! I'm curious because of the power consumption numbers. Thanks.
Attention to detail alert... The MSI Neo3-f has eight SATA ports not, as the article claims, six.
lol @ rjcorrin's 1st comment.In reply: Maybe he already had HDDs laying around of smaller size and thought it best to save money by spending a few more dollars on more SATA ports than hundreds on new 3 x 1TB HDDs. You're reasoning is asinine and self contradicting.
I am suggesting he can reduce the bytes of crap he is retaining by legalizing his content. For all I know, he already has 8 terabyte SATA drives.
Seriously, running all 8 SATA ports is going to take a massive case and an equally massive power supply. This dude doesn't need more SATA ports, he needs a data center.
Attention to detail alert... The MSI Neo3-f has eight SATA ports not, as the article claims, six.
This is the exact number of ports on the DS3P. So, again, what does a >$100 board going to give me?
Though this does give you an what our Taiwan & Chinese friends have in the goodie bin at the local computer store.. you will still want to wait to bu
Though this does give you an what our Taiwan & Chinese friends have in the goodie bin at the local computer store.. you will still want to wait to bu
Ugh, got cut off..
Wait to build your system until Q1, Q2 processor price cuts of 2009.. especially if you have your heart set on $ inTEL $ 775 vs amd.
Did you happen to notice you're using Firefox? It, not this comment box, does that.And what about Raid? And all the PC's I've had in this Millennium have had 2 Removable Disk drives.Not to mention I have multiple OSes installed, and an extra drive I use for storage (I reformat often). So I have plenty of drives.
/Sarcasm
Maybe I should load up a few more OSes, Opera, IE (6 & 7) and Chrome to fully analyze the capabilities of this text box. I should probably hook up a raid array (mode 0+1 anyone?) to maximize my system performance and maintain the integrity of my porn collection prior to starting my full analysis of this text box.
/sarcasm
Do you get any real work done on that computer of yours? Seems like you're spending all your time loading operating systems, plugging in drives, reformatting, and flipping between your extensive collection of linux derivatives. Get a life dude!! You are a hacker-poser!
And...
Merry Christmas to EVERYONE!! (even the Jews)
Merry Christmas