11-Way P45 Motherboard Shootout

[Guest]

Thank you for the clarification. i went back and reviewed the x38 / x48 comparison articles and then used THG's Pricegrabber comparison tool. i am not sure i trust the data entry on that entirely, but according to my search, the ONLY ATX socket T 775 board that fully supports Crossfire in full pciexpress 2.0 x16/x16 with a FSB of 1600 and has built in dual gig ethernet LAN while using DDR2 is the Asus Rampage Formula??!? It listed the Asus P5Q, which is a P45 board, as having 2 pciexpress 2.0 x16; is that board a special anomaly or did they just not quite describe it accurately? Unfortunately, that particular board is not listed as having built in ethernet :-( The search also listed pci express 2.0 as "N/A" on all x38 boards just listing them as pci express x16, but that has to be incorrect also?

i'm sure i'm sounding nit-picky, but i hope not to spend $200 - $300+ for a board that doesn't do all that ... it didn't seem to be that stringent of criteria when i started the search (although i know with DDR3 there are more, but the difference in price doesn't seem to justify the expense after reading the reviews here imho).

Thanks again for the help! i am very excited to get this thing bought and up and running :-D

 

[Crashman]

No, ALL DDR2 X38/X48 motherboards support the same memory modes and 2x x16 PCIe 2.0. Dual Gigabit Ethernet models include (listed in order of Newegg.com price).

Foxconn X38A
Gigabyte X48 DS4
Gigabyte X48 DS5
DFI LP LT X48-T2R
GIGABYTE GA-X48-DQ6
ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA

Of course there are many models that Newegg doesn't carry.

There cannot be any anamoly that allows any P45 motherboard (including the P5Q Deluxe)to support two x16 slots in x16 mode. So quit believing everything you read and start studying the chipsets when in doubt.

Heck, this very article starts out with a P45 chipset diagram!

 

[MaxROCKSTONE]

So, ASROCK sent this board P45TS-R and not the P45R2000 ??? because with a lot features and priced in France for moreless 85 €, I'm sure is better than the P45TS-R and would have been FIRST in your P45 mobo comparison's; what's a pity for ASROCK.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]MaxROCKSTONE[/nom]So, ASROCK sent this board P45TS-R and not the P45R2000 ??? because with a lot features and priced in France for moreless 85 €, I'm sure is better than the P45TS-R and would have been FIRST in your P45 mobo comparison's; what's a pity for ASROCK.[/citation]

The ASRock P45R2000-WiFi is fully described and tested in this article. Check out the description, then browse the test results to see where it stood.

 

[Guest]

Okay, I read the conclusion page THREE times trying to decipher who the 'real' winner is. What I wanted to see was: ...and the overall winner IS xyz. So, please, can someone (preferably the author) tell me who the winner is of this 11-way shoot out.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]Fuerza[/nom]Okay, I read the conclusion page THREE times trying to decipher who the 'real' winner is. What I wanted to see was: ...and the overall winner IS xyz. So, please, can someone (preferably the author) tell me who the winner is of this 11-way shoot out.[/citation]

The article left some room for interpretation because the overall leader, MSI's P45 Platium, took that leadership with a third place finish, a second place finish, an excellent feature set and a moderate price.