Look, we know you've got choices, and when it comes to
motherboards, you've got options galore. If you've been eying a new Core i5 or Core i7 rig to replace that aging
Pentium 4 486 system of yours, but aren't quite feeling the pre-fabricated thing, a whole slew of mobo makers have pushed through new boards to support Intel's
P55 Express chipset. The gurus over at
Hot Hardware -- gluttons for pain no like other, it seems -- rounded up mainboards from ASUS, EVGA, Gigabyte, Intel and MSI in order to see which ruled the roost, and more importantly, which was right for you. Options ranging from $140 to $340 were taken into account, and while the top-end EVGA P55 Classified obviously performed well under pressure, just about every single contender had a little something special to offer. There's no cut and dry "winner" when it comes to something like this, only detailed explanations as to which board suits what kind of buyer. Tired of paging through Froogle without actually knowing what you're looking for? Tap that source link and get some enlightenment.
posted April 3rd 2010 4:11AM
just go with Asus.
They're all good brands.
@einhanderkiller true that. and after reading the whole thing, I gotta say, maybe I would go with EVGA. I've been more of an AMD man (cheapo) and there is nothing better than an ASUS AMD board.. all others fail in my opinion.
@vihio Sure buddy, just ignore the fact that Gigabyte completely showed them up in the P55 stage by releasing USB3/SATA6gbps way before them and pretty much revolutionizing the industry whilst ASUS, who probably just took a check from Intel, canceled their original USB 3.0 motherboard. Just ignore Gigabyte's much better customer service/RMA procedures, just go for the one with the name you like right kid?
EVGA is for the kiddies who think red and black go faster, ASUS is for the kids who think paying more for the same options is 'safer' and Gigabyte is for the people who have a clue.
@guideXD
In this post, instead of apple and MS Fanbois we have
Gigabyte, Asus and EVGA Fanbois, Jesus Christ.
Cant escape the fanbois!
@guideXD
USB3.0 and SATA 6Gbps are must haves on the next mobo purchase
@Jordo1234
Wow then that means camera articles must be teeming with Nikon and Cannon fanboys and smartphone articles must be thriving with Apple and Android fanboys too. I think you're on to something man!
@smeee
of course, since there's so many things to use my brand new USB 3.0 ports with. oh wait...
@vihio
And if you actually value stability, you'd go with Intel.
@vihio I would go with the EVGA due to more slots on it. I love the ASUS board, but I always run out of PCI slots.
More options, Consumer WIN!
@staticjethro
FINALLY!
@staticjethro
They look like little skyscrapers!
@staticjethro I'm seeing Firewire 400 ports in there, bur apparently, 800 *isn't* an option. Or maybe they're on the board itself.
Why there is no Apple motherboard in there? Oh wait...
@DamnYourUgly
weird when i follow the no ipad news link... there is no news!
Is it just me or do half of these motherboards look bent/bowed?
@dickweed I was thinking the same thing...
@Pyro
Good so I'm not crazy. Its probably the angle they took the picture at.. Unless they really are bent?
Then again it could be barrel distortion from the camera.. Blah I'm looking to far into this.. time for bed!
@dickweed Looks like modern art. I like it.
@dickweed
Except for the Gigabyte boards!
Love my Gigabyte board. It's thick and sturdy. Awesome layouts, great BIOS..
@dickweed Shutup dickweed. Actually, you're right, I just really wanted to say that. =)
@dickweed
I just was working a PC yesterday that had its Mobo warped just like the top one but worse! Maybe its a combo of the heat + weight. My friend was using like 3 screws instead of the 9 to hold his mobo to the case. Mobo was MSI, I will never get one.
This middling platform gets all the (USB 3.0/SATA 6) fun while the X58's get jacked on price and old tech. The love affair with the P55 scene among tech journalists is puzzling.
@Marc B
While the 1366-platform is indeed a lot more expensive you can get mainboards with USB 3.0 and SATA-600 without a problem for it. Still, in the long-run 1156 seems the better choice, but then again, I don't plan to replace my 1366-i7 920@3.3Ghz until the next big platform change anyway.
@Strabo Would you recommend your 1156 i7? I'm planning to replace my aging P4 this summer and been looking for Mobos left and right.
Why are some curved?
@Teslanaut
maybe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%B6llner_illusion
@Teslanaut They are actually curved
I checked with a ruler :P
@Crank I don't think it's an illusion or optics. Boards are thin with a good amount of weight stacked on them and can easily bend a little bit. They were probably held or propped on the edge for the picture.
@vHatch
Yeah i agree, thats not an optical illusion its just the weight in the center of the board weighing it down.
otherwise all the boards would be bowed the same.
@Teslanaut
I just was working a PC yesterday that had its Mobo warped just like the top one but worse! Maybe its a combo of the heat + weight. My friend was using like 3 screws instead of the 9 to hold his mobo to the case
-.-
@smeee
Put a ruler to them, they really are bowed. I was thinking the same thing, but they really are bent = /
@Teslanaut Boards that have actually been in a PC with a heavy heatsink on the CPU naturally tend to develop a little bit of bow to them.
You usually don't see it when they're bolted down, but after you take them out they usually are somewhat curved. It sits upright, with the weight of the CPU heatsink (usually on the left hand side when viewed from that angle) bending the board "inward".
why would you want this over the x58 chipset?
The performance difference are so minor between any of these board. They should have throw in Tri SLi or Quad CrossfireX tests just to show there are some different between them. Not just some standard how many USB ports, how many PCI-e, RAID, etc etc... Those are the minimum requirement (given) to look at what board to get in this day and age. The how high BCLK can go test is good. Didn't expect they would test that as there are different factor can affect the outcome.
There are still serial ports on todays motherboards? Wow. At least ISA has gone right, right???
@CrackedButter
Without Serial Ports Hardware modders would be pretty screwed.
I just ordered from newegg a Gigabyte mb + i5 750 combo. I have always liked their reliability even in their "cheap" line-up.
Do they still have burning foxconn sockets?
what I want to know is why do manufacturers keep putting dual NICs on casual use/gaming motherboards? A machine that's going to be used for web browsing, games, etc should not be bridging VLANs and I doubt that any games are so high bandwidth as to necessitate trunking the ports. All it does is add a few bucks to the cost and another component that can fail and has to be QA'd
@Solipsism
I frequently use both my NICs. Do you think Mobo manufactures should stop making any feature you don't use??
@Solipsism It is nice to see 2.0 Gbps after its trunk :) My guess is it's very low cost to put in and the customer can use it as backup after the warrenty expire on the board. I don't think a lot of user would use i5/i7 for file server due to higher energy consumption
If you frequently use both NICs, I would guess that you are doing something wrong, or that you are in such a minority that it is pointless for motherboard manufacturers to cater to you. Apart from servers that are bridging/routing between VLANs or require multiple IPs on the same subnet, there is really no use for a multi-adapter setup that is not an edge case including the previously mentioned trunking.
Feel free to share what you use your NICs for; personally, I would prefer a single Intel NIC over the Marvel ones these boards normally have.
Nice to see a more technical post at engadget.
Why do manufacturers still put PS/2 ports on motherboards? You'd think they'd want to get rid of legacy crap.
They are all good brands. I'm no fanboy, but I usually just look at Gigabyte first, and compare Asus similarly priced boards. If all other things are equal I go with Gigabyte. Otherwise Asus. There is nothing wrong with the other brands. There is just not enough that is differentiating the boards from one another, and that is the easiest way for me to week through it. If someone says 'just buy Asus' or 'just buy Gigabyte' they are probably just settling on a brand because of previous good experience. Not because of real fanboism.
I won't even consider getting a new motherboard until they have entirely made the switch from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 (and probably the same with SATA II and III.
I use the second NIC for my iSCSI connection to my Openfiler SAN....which is where I store my VM's...all 30 of them...:-)