Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1935
Price Guide, January 2006 - Motherboards
by Haider Farhan on January 28, 2006 12:48 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Introduction
Welcome to our latest motherboard price guide. We are seeing the newly released i975X chipset based motherboards have begun to slowly roll into the market, while we expect the i955X based boards to be gradually phased out. While some deals on certain pieces of hardware are made even sweeter by including mail-in rebates, there aren't too many available this week. We are also expecting the new 945GM based boards to be released some time during Q1 '06. These boards will support both the Yonah and Merom processors.
Please do remember to look into the RTPE for your computer hardware buying needs. Our RTPE lists motherboards, RAM, CPUs, video cards, sound cards, flash memory, hard drives, optical drives, and LCD panels. Don't forget that you can also search by category, brand, or a particular merchant. The RTPE also can show you the latest in pricing fluctuations, special prices on refurbished products and which specific goods that have rebates. As always, our RTPE database is constantly growing and should contain much of your hardware necessities. Check back often, and if it doesn't contain a certain piece of hardware in the specific categories we have covered, please feel free to contact us and let us know what is missing.
Athlon 64 - Socket 939
It appears as though that not too many of the nForce 4 SLI boards have had any significant price changes. We can see the MSI nForce4 SLI (939) K8N Neo4 SLI [RTPE: MS-7100-030] is up about $11 and is currently going for $141 shipped. The K8N Neo4 is a very popular choice which features 10 USB ports, 2 Ethernet ports, 7.1-channel Creative Sound Blaster Live 24-bit H/W audio, 3 IEEE1394 ports, and 4 SATA II ports with RAID 0/1 support. The DFI nForce4 SLI (939) Infinity [RTPE: DFI Infinity (SLI)] is also an exceptional choice, going for about $118 shipped.
At times, having to deal with mail-in rebates can be too much of a hassle, but at other times it's well worth the trouble. We have found that the Abit nForce4 SLI (939) KN8 SLI [RTPE: KN8 SLI] is on sale for just about $109 shipped after a $30 mail-in rebate. We'd like to point out that this rebate is valid until February 9, 2006 and must be postmarked within 30 days of purchase. If you're not afraid of purchasing a refurbished product, you can pick up the KN8 SLI for $78 shipped over at Newegg (sales tax may be applicable depending on your state of residence). Many times, a refurbished product can come with all the bells and whistles that usually come with it. There also may have been absolutely nothing wrong with the returned product and was only returned because the initial purchaser thought there was; although your mileage may vary.
If you're looking for the absolute best socket 939 motherboard, the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe [RTPE: A8N32] remains a great high-end board with an equally high-end price. We're not convinced that the dual X16 lanes really help performance, but the 8-phase voltage regulation and some serious BIOS tuning make this arguably the best gaming platform currently available. (That may change once RD580 boards launch, but that remains to be seen.)
Unfortunately, there haven't been any significant price adjustments with the nForce 4 Ultra motherboards either. Although we do have a few recommendations here as well: the ASUS nForce4 Ultra (939) A8N-E [RTPE: A8N-E] which is going for $110 shipped. We're also seeing the DFI nForce4 Ultra (939) LanParty UT Ultra-D [RTPE: LanParty Ultra] that is on sale for $133. The Biostar nForce4 Ultra (939) TFORCE4 U [RTPE: TFORCE4 Ultra] is also an acceptable choice, going for an even $97.
The nForce 4 4X boards are decent low-end solutions. For its options and price point, the Chaintech nForce4 4X (939) VNF4 [RTPE: VNF4] seems like a fair value board going for approximately $57 shipped. You can see from the graph below that this is probably the lowest price this board has reached.
Chaintech nForce4 4X (939) VNF4
We can also recommend the MSI nForce4 4X (939) K8N Neo4-F [RTPE: MS-7125-030] which is on sale for an even $84 shipped.
The Asrock M1695 939Dual-SATA2 [RTPE: 939Dual-SATA2] fully supports both PCIe and AGP video cards and can be had for $73 shipped.
The nForce 3 Ultra based motherboards have practically all vanished, except for the EPoX nForce3 Ultra (939) EP-9NDA3+ [RTPE: EP-9NDA3+] going for $98. We don't recommend going with this board as the nForce 4 boards have already proven their stance and that is where you want to drop your hard earned cash.
More AMD Motherboards
The socket 754 based motherboards have held their ground fairly steadily since our last look. They are also gradually diminishing, and as you can see from the price chart below, that not too many remain in the market. The ASUS nForce4 4X (754) K8N4-E Deluxe [RTPE: K8N4-E Deluxe] is an adequate board, which is currently priced at about $104.
For approximately $79, the MSI Xpress 200 (939) RS482M4-ILD [RTPE: MS-7191-020] is a great option for users looking for decent onboard graphics capabilities.
Sapphire recently released their version of the Xpress 200 CrossFire motherboard, the PC-A9RD480Adv [RTPE: PC-A9RD480Adv]. Price-wise, this particular board is situated right in the middle between the Asus and DFI Xpress 200 CrossFire variants.
The Biostar nForce 410 GeForce 6100 (939) TFORCE 6100-939 [RTPE: TFORCE 6100-939] is a great board, going for $74. As another great option, you also have the ASUS nForce 410 GeForce 6100 (939) A8N-VM [RTPE: A8N-VM] which is on sale for approximately $73.
The ASUS nForce 430 GeForce 6150 (939) A8N-VM CSM [RTPE: A8N-VM CSM] is an excellent motherboard and is definitely one to consider. At the moment, you can find this board going for about $85. For the same price, you can pick up the MSI nForce 430 GeForce 6150 (939) K8NGM2-FID [RTPE: MS-7207-040] which was recently released a little while earlier this month.
Intel Motherboards
Motherboards featuring the i975X chipset were just recently released into the market. Currently, our RTPE is only displaying two motherboards with this chipset, but as the channel gets stronger, we'll have more boards appearing in the charts. We actually just had the opportunity to take a look at the Intel D975XBX, which is based on the i975X chipset. We found that this board was about average, yet not too impressive, although quite stable as many Intel motherboards are. You can read more on this board in Gary Key's all-inclusive article.
As you may already know by now, the i975X has been instilled to replace the unsuccessful i955X, while hovering at around the same price point. While this new i975X chipset will support the Conroe processor, it will not support the Yonah because the Yonah is based on the socket 479 platform. But you can expect the 945GM based boards to support the Yonah as well as the Merom. We are expecting the 945GM to be released at around Q1 '06.
For a low-end dual-core CPU, a motherboard featuring the 945P chipset would be a great choice. For approximately $125, the ASUS 945P P5LD2 [RTPE: P5LD2] is a reasonable board. We can also recommend the MSI 945P Neo-F [RTPE: MS-7176-020] which is also a great motherboard for the price.
You can see the motherboards featuring the i945G chipset in the pricing chart below. Although nothing spectacular, these motherboards have adequate integrated graphics capabilities which are perfectly fine for your basic home-office type of use.
More Intel Motherboards
The nForce 4 SLI (socket 775) based motherboards have also have been quite stable over the course of the past few weeks. We're not seeing anything too impressive, but the ASUS nForce4 SLI (775) P5ND2-SLI Deluxe [RTPE: P5ND2-SLI Deluxe] is one of the most feature filled boards available. At the moment, this board is priced at about $171.
The only real suggestion we can give for the i915G chipset based motherboards is that you stick with the cheaper priced boards available. We believe the higher priced variants are not worthy because of their high cost.
This concludes this weekend's motherboard price guide. Join us again next time and thanks for reading!