Motherboard choice for a Gaming PC
It’s only logical that our high end CPU choices get matched up with a high end motherboard. On the Intel side, we recommend the ASUS P5AD2 Deluxe (B0007WY584) model. It has all the new technology on it, including the new i925X chipset, support for PCI Express, dual channel DDR2, Serial ATA, Wireless LAN, Gigabit LAN, 8 channel audio, IEEE, USB2.0, and RAID.
The high end AMD motherboard is just as impressive with features. The ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe (B0007COBH4) is based on the NVIDIA nForce 4 chipset and has a feature that is unique to this board. It supports SLI, which allows 2 GeForce 6 video cards to run in tandem for twice the performance. This harks back to the days of Voodoo cards. The board also provides on board features similar to the Intel board and also has a built in firewall.
For our Intel low end motherboard we’ll want to get the MSI 865PE NEO3-FS (B0006ABV8O) or a similar i865PE chipset motherboard. This board has all the features of an i865PE board including dual channel DDR and support for Prescott chips. It also has support for USB2.0, Serial ATA, onboard Gigabit LAN and 6 channel audio. And with support for overclocking, it’s a winner.
For our AMD low end motherboard MSI comes through again with their K8T Neo-FSR (B0001CVGZ0). It supports the Athlon 64 chip and is powered by the VIA K8T800 chipset. Although it only has single channel DDR support, it makes up for it by including USB2.0, Gigabit LAN, 6 channel audio, Serial ATA and a bunch of overclocking options built in.