Choosing a motherboard

EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT idea as to what constitutes a good motherboard. Business folks want reliability above all else, gamers want the highest frame rates, overclockers want the most tweaking options, Linux users want compatibility and the budget conscious, that seems to be pretty much everyone these days, want as much as they can get for as little money as possible. Trying to pick out which individual boards will suit everyone is something of a mammoth task. In this round up, you'll find that some simple ground rules have been set.

Rule 1: the motherboards have to come from recognised, easily available brands. That might seem unfair to some firms but THE INQUIRER has readers all over the world and plenty of them can only get access to a limited range of kit.

Rule 2: the motherboards must be feature packed and up to date. That means every board must have, as a minimum, USB 2.0, LAN, SATA, AGP x8 and 6 channel sound.

Rule 3: preference has been given to motherboards which feature Firewire (IEEE 1394) and SPDIF (digital audio) connections. Some people might not need these but the booming use of digital video cameras means that Firewire is important and anyone who appreciates DVD audio quality will know that SPDIF is worth it.

Rule 4: the motherboard must come with everything you need. 'Optional' riser cards that nobody stocks will simply not do.

AMD Athlon XP motherboards

Best All-Rounder
Gigabyte GA-7VT600 1394	Manufacturer's Web Site Review
The new Via VT600 chipset might not be the fastest chipset but it's a real cracker in almost every other way. The Gigabyte board beats the competition because of its inclusion of Firewire. If you're not interested in Firewire, there are cheaper versions that don't include it but, considering that the motherboard can be bought for less than £60 ex. VAT, you might as well get the full on version. Business use: the VIA chipset uses a 4-in-1 driver set so it's low maintenance. The chipset and drivers are also mature so stability should be fine. Games: the VT600 is around the same speed as an Abit NF7 nForce 2 board so your frame rates will be good. Linux: Via provides a good set of Linux drivers, though the SATA support is still in the early stages. You can find out more here.

AMD Athlon XP -Luxury
Gigabyte GA-7NNXP	Manufacturer's Web Site Review
Prepare to say, "ouch" when you see how much more it costs than the GA-7VT600 for less than a 10% performance hike. But, if you must have the best of the best of the best, here's where to look. This motherboard has pretty much everything. It's a testament to the nVidia design engineers that, with a few tweaks, the nForce 2 is still the top AMD chipset around. Business: unless you really need the extra features, you should fire your accountants if they let you buy this board; it's twice the price of the VT600 based GA-7VT600. Games: if you must have the best, this is it. Simple as that. Linux: some of the more zealous open source advocates complain that nVidia only releases closed source binary drivers but those drivers are available, work well and are updated regularly so it seems like peevishness, especially as nVidia are far from alone in releasing closed source drivers.

 

Intel Pentium 4 Motherboards

Best All-Rounder
Abit IS-7	Manufacturer's Web Site Review
There are cheaper motherboards on the market but the Abit manages to combine everything that the average user might need while the chipset is bang up to date. One of the big problems facing anyone buying an Intel chipset at the moment is that there are some old 'bargains' around but, if you look carefully, most don't support the new 800MHz FSB. The IS-7 does support it so it can be used with the latest and greatest Pentium 4C chips. Business: a solid chipset, a solid manufacturer and a decent price. Spot on. Games: pretty much as fast as any motherboard for the Pentium 4, spending more will only get you extra features. This should be all you need. Linux: no problems getting drivers for Intel chipsets; the network, audio and SATA are fine too.

Intel Pentium 4 - Luxury
ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe	Manufacturer's Web Site Review
It was a close run thing between this and three other motherboards but, just as in the last round up, Asus seems to have a habit of sneaking past the competition with some nice touches. Asus burnt its fingers slightly on the original P4C800 which didn't really measure up; watch out at purchase time to make sure that you get the P4C800-E and not the older version. The newer one has plenty of little tweaks that make it the perfect Pentium 4 motherboard, though at a considerable price. It faced fairly close competition from the Abit IC-7 Max 3, Gigabyte GA-8KNXP and MSI 875 NEO FIS2R so you might want to check those out too. Business: the accountant will need quite some convincing but this is one fine motherboard. Games: the Asus is just about the top performer out there, what more would you want? Linux: getting the sound going is the biggest problem as there is no dedicated Linux driver available from Asus yet so you'd be stuck with AC97 but the LAN and SATA RAID are sorted.

Conclusion
It's nice for Gigabyte that the firm has managed to turn out the best AMD based boards at both ends of the spectrum but a little disappointing from a consumer point of view that it really doesn't face much in the way of decent competition. Every other manufacturer seems to leave bits out or price itself well beyond. Is it too much to ask for Firewire and SPDIF connections at a reasonable price? The fact that Gigabyte manages to provide them shows that it's a fair thing to ask for.

On the Intel front, the story is slightly different. The Abit IS-7 stands out a country mile at the bottom-to-middle end of the market but the top end is thick with competition, so much so that choosing just about any i875 based motherboard from a major manufacturer is going to get you something good. Perhaps it's a sign of the times; firms seem to be neglecting the low end a little and aiming more for the higher margins of top flight boards. Given the IS-7's specification, that could leave Abit to clear up.

Next up in the Top Products Guide is that most important of areas, the true user interface: keyboards and mice. µ