Your choice of a motherboard determines not only the type of CPU that you can use, it also determine the type of memory, graphics card and the number of devices you can connect to it. All in all, if you want to build a lasting gaming computer, you have to make sure that your motherboard is the best one around.

In this guide, we’ll help you to understand everything you need to know about motherboard and how you can go about choosing the best motherboard for your system.

Let’s get started.

• What is Chipset and why is it so important?
• Getting to know the socket and slots
• How useful are the integrated components?
• Techniques to choose the best motherboard
• How to save money on motherboard

If you are a fan of AMD, then you have to find out which AMD motherboard yield the best performance for your CPU. With a wide range of motherboards to choose from, this is indeed a difficult task. This review serves to help you to make the correct decision.

AMD motherboard comes in two socket types: Socket 939 and socket AM2. Socket AM2 is a replacement for the existing socket 939. The most significance difference between the two sockets is that AM2 supports DDR2 RAM while 939 don?t, which means AM2 motherboard has a faster and better performance over socket 939 motherboard. This review will only discuss socket AM2 motherboard.

Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe

This motherboard is by far the best AMD motherboard in the market. It has anything that you might need to get up and going, especially the Wi-Fi connection that is really impressive. It has enough SATA ports to be a workstation, and with the latest advancements in the nForce5 chipsets RAID functionality it just gets better. Everything you can ask for in a board is available on the M2N32-SLI Deluxe and it leaves little to be desired to the hard-core gamer.

Gigabyte M59SLI-S5 NVIDIA

GIGABYTE latest S-series motherboards for AMD socket AM2 platform is the GA-M59SLI-S5 motherboard. S5 stands for Safe, Smart, Speed, SLI, and Silent-Pipe. The board offers these features in spades. It supports dual channel DDR2 800MHz high frequencies memories that enable users to reach the maximum system performance easily via personalized software settings. The inclusion of three full-length PCI Express slots means that you can install three video cards, allowing up to six independent displays to be utilized for more screen space, excellent scalability for extreme gaming and 3D graphics.

ABIT Fatal1ty AN9 32X

ABIT has done a wonderful job with the Fatal1ty AN9 32X board. The board consists of SLI, Firewire and other features making it one of the most feature-rich boards on the market. Performance was on a par with other boards on this chipset with the default clock speed, but the overclocking was very good on the board making it an excellent choice for people that want the absolute best.

NVIDIA’s nForce 590 SLI chipset is the cream of the crop for their lineup and this makes the Fatal1ty board an excellent choice for an SLI system.

MSI K9N Diamond

Based on the NVIDIA nForce 590 SLi chipset, the MSI k9N Diamond motherboard?s performance is right there among the best of the AMD AM2 platform. A feature rich board that supports DDR2 800MHz and 6 SATA ports with RAID 5, which is more than any gamers desires. The ability to overclock is excellent, making it a great choice for gamers who want to squeeze the best out of this board.

ABIT KN9 SLI

This board is the cheapest in this review. However, it is still one of the best AM2 motherboard around. The performance is below that of the nForce 590 SLI boards, but those boards are generally the highest performing and have the advantage of LinkBoost technology. The nForce 570 SLI is the mainstream version of the nForce 5 family of chipsets and the KN9-SLI is a good example. Generally, this is a good board that can handle all the heavy applications. So far, in my opinion, this is definitely the most value for money board.

Conclusion

This review shows only the top 5 AMD motherboards in the market. Hope it is useful in helping you making the correct decision. If you are going for the latest top performance motherboard, Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe or Gigabyte M59SLI-S5 is definitely the one you should go for. Else if you are looking for the best value for money type, then ABIT KN9 SLI would make a good choice.

ATI Radeon X1950 XTX

The no.1 position for our graphics card review is the ATI Radeon X1900 XTX. This is a PCI-Express card with a 512MB GDDR3 memory. Supporting a maximum resolution of 2560×1600, it has scored the highest in our benchmark tests. Though the price is a bit steep, in term of performance, it is still the best buy around.

XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual GPU 520M Xtreme

The no.2 position for our graphics card review is the XFX GeForce 7950 X2 Dual GPU 520M Xtreme. Designed for extreme HD Gaming, the XFX 7950 GX2 graphics card is one of the fastest in the market. Running at a video memory of 1GB GDDR3, it delivers ultra-realistic gaming experiences, at resolutions up to 2560×1600. A 512-bit memory interface and fast GDDR3 memory enable incredible smooth frame rates at maximum quality settings. This Extreme version pushes the limits to give an extra boost in performance!

EVGA GeForce 7900 GTX

This card is one of the best sellers due to its great performance. It comes with 512MB GDDR3 and produces extremely good 3D performance. In many benchmark tests, this card consistently emerges in the top three. Highly recommended.

ASUS Extreme GeForce 7800GTX

ASUS has been a leading motherboard manufacturer; however its graphics card has also captured a piece of the huge graphics industry. The card ASUS Extreme N7800GTX/2DHTV GeForce 7800GTX only has a 256MB GDDR3 memory, but surprisingly it scored well in many benchmark tests. Though not the latest card in the market, it is still one of the best performing cards around.

ATI Radeon X1800 XT

Another PCI-express card from ATI. Previously, this was the best performing card around. With the introduction of several new cards in the market, it has been pushed down to the 5th position. Nevertheless, it still scores great results in many benchmark tests.

Conclusion

Getting a good graphics card will surely improve your gaming experience. Hope this graphics card review has been useful in helping you choosing the best graphics card for your system.

The latest motherboard to come onboard our motherboard review is ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition. As its name implies, this mainboard is specifically meant for Windows Vista. If you are familiar with the M2N32-SLI Deluxe, this latest ASUS motherboard is basically an enhanced version of the original M2N32-SLI Deluxe board with Vista driven features. Both the mainboards share the same board design, chipset cooling solution, the same ports and connectors placements, and the same BIOS features.

Built with Windows Vista in mind, this board replaces its integrated WiFi module (found in the Deluxe edition) with an integrated 1GB flash drive so as to support the Vista ReadyBoost feature. ReadyBoost is a new feature by Vista to store frequent access data on a caching system so as to improve the responsiveness of the OS. Instead of storing in the hard drive which has a lower transfer speed, a flash drive with faster read performance is used instead. Tests have shown that this integration of flash drive indeed resulted in substantial improvement on the system performance.

This ASUS motherboard also comes bundled with an external display known as the ScreenDuo. This little display is used to implement the SlideShow feature of the Vista. Featuring a small screen with 320 x 240 pixels resolution, it can be used to display useful information such as weather forecast, stock market updates, news headlines and etc. A point to note here is that the ScreenDuo is connected to the motherboard via a USB cable. This means that using of this screen will actually deprive you of one USB slot. Unless you have much use for those small widget application (such as weather forecast etc), there will not be much use for this small gadget.

Since Vista requires a huge amount of memory, it is no surprise that the M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition board can support up to a maximum of 800MHz 4GB RAM (for 64 bits, it can support up to 8GB). It comes with 4 memory slot, allowing you to mix and match the various memory configurations. A side note from here: from the various motherboard reviews I have read, I discovered that Vista does not load when the motherboard is fixed with 4 GB memory. It may seem that the memory allocation is too much for Vista to take. When it is replaced with 3GB memory combination, the Vista runs like a Ferrari.

Performance wise, the ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition has the same benchmark as its Deluxe counterpart for many tests. This, again, comes to no surprise as they are basically using the same chipset.

Conclusion

For this ASUS motherboard review, if you are a AMD and Windows Vista lovers, then the ASUS M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition is definitely a good buy. As for XP users (or other OS), the M2N32-SLI Deluxe will be a better choice.

Check out Asus M2N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition at TigerDirect now!

Motherboard technology advances so rapidly that you can find a new board in the market every few days. Unless you are constantly updating yourself on the latest technology, it is easy to get lost in the rapidly changing computer world.

This review covers the top 5 socket 775 Intel motherboard.

ASUS P5W DH-Deluxe Wi-Fi

With the most high-end desktop chipset Intel 975X, there isn’t a reason not to recommend this board. This board scores excellently well in term of its features with integrated Wi-Fi, Crossfire ready, 7 SATA ports, and lot of other functions that makes this board outstanding. The included Wi-Fi feature is definitely a big plus to the users. Even when the PC is in sleep mode, the Wi-Fi function is still on, so users can use Skype as a true replacement for tradition long distance telephone service. Highly recommended.

GIGABYTE 965P-DS3

This is one of the best boards that Gigabyte has come up with. Using solid capacitors, users can customize the system performance according to their individual needs. This is extremely useful for DIY and power users who want controllability.

A flaw with this board is that it doesn’t support multiple graphics cards (SLi or Crossfire), as a true Gamer board would do. However, the reasonable price and the excellent overclocking capabilities more than compensate for the flaw and rank it among the top of Intel motherboard chart. The GA-965P DS3 has most of the features that I would want from an Intel motherboard. I really like the design of the board, with the solid capacitors a definite plus.

ABIT AW8D

The ABIT AW8D is an excellent board built specially for the users. It consists of all accessories and features that you want, including 6 SATA ports, High Definition Audio, support for ATI’s Crossfire solution and more. Performance on the board was perfect with the 3.8GHz 670 CPU we use in testing, scoring among the highest on the Intel platform to date.

There is one big flaw though. This board does not support the new Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Duo CPUs. It means that those wanting this motherboard are limited to the current 965 and below CPUs. As more and more Core 2 CPUs reach the market, replacing the 9xx and 8xx series, this means future upgrading is limited. If not for this imperfection, this board would be ranked number 1 in our review. Nevertheless, this is still a great board with plenty of useful features.

MSI 975X Platinum

There are not many motherboards with the Intel 975X chipset in the market, with the MSI 975X Platinum making one of the rare few. This motherboard is currently MSI’s highest end product for users looking to build the ultimate machine. Feature wise, this board is not as comprehensive as its predecessor 955X Platinum, with reduced LAN ports, storage controllers and FireWire ports. Nevertheless, its competitive price still makes it one of the best Intel 975X chipset motherboard around.

Abit AB9 Pro

The AB9 Pro was one of the first P965 motherboards available on the market. Initially, there was some memory compatibility problem with the board, but ABIT has come up with a BIOS update to fix the problem. With a highly competitive price, this board offers a value for money option for gamers. Feature-wise, the AB9 Pro packs dual Gigabit Ethernet controllers, 10 SATA ports, passive chipset cooling, and many useful features.

One imperfection is the design of the board. The IDE port placement is off and the overclocking is not as good as expected.

Not a very spectacular board, but with the low price and the features it contain, it can be a good investment too.

Conclusion

All the Intel motherboards reviewed here have their own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on what you need, you can find the one most suitable for you. In term of performance, the ASUS P5W DH-Deluxe Wi-Fi is definitely the one to go for. Price-wise, you might want to consider the ABIT AB9 Pro.

Choosing a good gaming motherboard is a must if you intend to build your own gaming computer. Motherboard is the most important component in your computer. It’s the part that connects all the other parts together and make sure they run smoothly. Getting an inappropriate motherboard for your computer will either cause your system to malfunction or break down.

How to choose a gaming motherboard?

CPU slot

The CPU connects to the motherboard through a CPU socket. Different CPU brand and model have different socket type.

• Socket 478 – for Intel Pentium 4 processors. (obsolete)
• Socket 775 – for later Intel Pentium 4 and Pentium D dual core processors
• Socket 754 – for AMD Sempron and some AMD Athlon processors (obsolete)
• Socket 939 – for newer and faster AMD Athlon processors
• Socket AM2 – for AMD Athlon processors, a replacement for socket 754 and 939

A gaming motherboard should contain either socket AM2 (for AMD CPU) or socket 775 (for Intel CPU). It must also be able to support dual core processor.

Memory slot

There are 3 different memory types:

SDRAM — meant for older processor such as Pentium III / Celeron processor. This type of RAM has become obsolete and not suitable for gaming purpose. All new motherboards do not support SDRAM.

DDR RAM — Currently the most common and widely used RAM in the market. Most motherboards support this type of RAM. The memory slot that connects the RAM to the motherboard is the 184 pins slot. It’s not compatible with SDRAM.

DDR2 RAM — latest RAM in the market. Most of the new motherboard support this type of RAM. The memory slot for this type of RAM is the 240 pins slot. It’s not compatible with SDRAM and DDR RAM.

Due to the difference in clock rate, a motherboard can only support one type of RAM at one time. It is not allowed to use a SDRAM and a DDR RAM together on the board. It will spoil the motherboard.

When choosing a gaming motherboard, it must have at least two memory slot supporting DDR2 RAM up to 4GB. This is to ensure that the gaming computer can receive the maximum performance from the RAM unit.

Hard Drive Interface

There are three types of interface to connect the hard drive to the motherboard: the IDE, SATA and SATA 2.

IDE — The traditional interface for connecting hard drive to the motherboard.

SATA — A new type of hard drive interface that is of a different technology from the IDE interface. It supports a transfer speed of 150MBps. All new motherboards support this type of interface.

SATA 2 — This is an upgrade version of the SATA interface. It supports transfer speed up to 300MBps.

If you are getting a gaming motherboard, it makes no sense if you buy the one that supports only IDE interface. The wise choice is to go for the one with SATA 2 interface. This will double your hard drive transfer speed, hence increase the system performance.

Graphics Card Slot

New gaming motherboards come with PCI-express slots, which is a replacement for the existing AGP slot. Some of these motherboards even support SLI or Crossfire technology, which allows two graphics cards to be connected to the motherboard. This dual graphics card technology is not a must-have feature, but if you are serious in getting the best out of your game play, then the SLI or Crossfire motherboard is something that you should consider getting.

Conclusion

Choosing a motherboard is never an easy task, especially if you’re looking for a gaming motherboard. It requires you to spend more time and effort to source for the right one.

Depending on the type of game you play, you may want to choose a gaming motherboard that best cater to your needs. If the game that you are playing require lot of graphics processing power, get motherboards that support 16x PCI-Express slot and SLI or Crossfire technology. For strategy games that require more computational power, get motherboards that allow you to upgrade your RAM to 8GB. Determine what you need your computer for, then choose the one that is most suitable for you.

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