Roundup: Six Core 2 Motherboards Under $100

Asus P5QL Pro

The Asus P5QL Pro targets a market that views $100 motherboards as extravagant. Buyers who put price ahead of features will be pleased to note that for around $85, the P5QL Pro includes only those features needed to meet the majority of their demands.

In fact, the P5QL Pro is even the thinnest motherboard of today’s comparison, and the only one to arrive noticeably warped. Yet motherboards rely on a case to provide mechanical support, so the appearance really shouldn’t present much of a problem to value seekers.

One big thing that low-cost buyers can appreciate is flexibility. The P5QL Pro supports full-length cards in every one of its six expansion slots, broadening its market to include both low-budget builders and repair personnel. Gamers with modified graphics cards will find space for triple or quad graphics card coolers without any cable clearance issues.

Another way Asus was able to reduce the P5QL Pro's cost was by making it narrower than typical ATX motherboards. The smaller size provides an installation advantage, as even the most crowded cases should have enough room in front of the Ultra ATA connector to add a cable.

Unfortunately, the narrow design left no room for an ATX connector at the front edge, and we instead find it more inconveniently placed between the P43 northbridge and the P5QL Pro’s rear edge. We can’t think of any system where this would be beneficial, as the computer’s thickest cable must be routed either around the CPU cooler in traditional cases or around the graphics cards in cases that have the power supply at the bottom. In fact, the cables of some power supplies might not reach this far.

Similarly, with no room at the front of the circuit board for additional connectors, the floppy header has been moved towards the back of the bottom edge. Few users require these, but anyone clinging to Windows XP might find a floppy handy for adding AHCI drivers during OS installation.

Asus even puts its front-panel audio connector in the bottom rear corner, which is a location that, though traditional, causes grief when trying to connect the cables of the top-panel jacks used by some cases.

A few positive features that help the P5QL Pro stand apart from many other low-cost motherboards is the use of solid capacitors in all locations, a replaceable BIOS IC that can help recover the motherboard’s functionality in case of a bad flash, and a four-phase voltage regulator where some competitors use only three. The combination of these quality enhancements, support for over-sized expansion cards, and Asus’ reputation for performance could make the P5QL Pro the ideal choice for the ultra-low-cost crowd.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Asus P5QL PRO (Revision 1.00G)
NorthbridgeIntel P43 Express
SouthbridgeIntel ICH10
Voltage RegulatorFour Phases
BIOS0803 (10/08/2008)
333.3MHz (FSB1333)333.0 MHz (-0.10%)
Clock GeneratorICS 9LPRS916JGLF
Connectors and Interfaces
Onboard1x PCIe 2.0 x162x PCIe x13x PCI3x USB 2.0 (2 ports per connector)1x SerialPort header1x Floppy1x Ultra ATA (2 drives)6x Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s1x Front Panel Audio1x CD-Audio In1x S/P-DIF Out1x Fan 4 pins (CPU)1x Fan 3 pins (Chassis)
IO panel2x PS2 (keyboard + mouse)6x USB 2.01x Digital Audio Out (S/P-DIF coaxial)1x RJ-45 Network6x Analog Audio (7.1 Channel + Mic-In + Line-In)
Mass Storage Controllers
Intel ICH106x SATA 3.0Gb/s
Marvell 88SE6102 PCI-E1x Ultra ATA-133 (2-drives)
Network
Atheros AR8121 PCI-EGigabit LAN Controller
Audio
Realtek ALC1200 HDAEight-Channel (7.1 Surround) Output

An Ultra ATA controller, digital audio output, and enough analog audio jacks to support 7.1-channel output plus a microphone and line input simultaneously are the only superfluous features for low-cost system builders. Of these, the full set of analog jacks will probably be used most frequently.

Buyers in the P5QL Pro’s secondary market will find that the combination of dual PS/2 ports and Ultra ATA support make it a great replacement for previous-generation systems. Asus had long-ago removed the second PS/2 ports from its more expensive products.

That twice-discussed Ultra ATA controller is Marvell’s 88SE6102, which uses a PCIe interface to provide full bandwidth to two drives at speeds up to 133 MB/s.

The Atheros AR8121 is so small that its manufacturer claims it’s half the size of the nearest competing product. It uses a PCIe interface to deliver full bi-directional bandwidth to the P5QL Pro’s single Gigabit Network connection.

Realtek’s ALC1200 is a special part manufactured to Asus’ specifications, supporting 7.1-channel surround audio plus synthesized surround using DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC for stereo speakers.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
  • V3NOM
    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.
    Reply
  • cangelini
    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.
    Reply
  • rjcorrin
    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.
    Reply
  • jsc
    "What is a >$100 board going to give me?

    I have a DS3P becuae i need the exrta SATA ports.
    Reply
  • 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.
    Reply
  • rjcorrin
    "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?
    Reply
  • rjcorrin
    "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?
    Reply
  • gaiden2k7
    I got a Gigabyte UD3P for $99 during black friday... would that top this list? :)
    Reply
  • Noya
    I got a Gigabyte UD3P for $84.50 during Black Friday, pwned you ninja gaiden fag.
    Reply
  • malveaux
    Wait, no AMD stuff?

    :(
    Reply