Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Motherboards > Roundup: Six Core 2 Motherboards Under $100

Roundup: Six Core 2 Motherboards Under $100

10:20 - Wednesday 24 December 2008 by Thomas Soderstrom

1. LGA-775’s Last Hurrah?
2. ASRock P45XE
3. P45XE Software, BIOS, And Accessories
4. Asus P5QL Pro
5. P5QL Pro Software, BIOS, And Accessories
6. Biostar TP43D2-A7
7. TP43D2-A7 Software, BIOS, And Accessories
8. ECS G45T-M2
9. G45T-M2 Software, BIOS, And Accessories
10. Jetway BI-500
11. BI-500 Software, BIOS, And Accessories

12. MSI P43 Neo3-F
13. P43 Neo3-F Software, BIOS, And Accessories
14. Test Settings
15. Benchmark Results: First-Person Shooters
16. Benchmark Results: Real-Time Strategy
17. Benchmark Results: Media Encoding
18. Benchmark Results: Productivity
19. Benchmark Results: Synthetics
20. Performance Index
21. Efficiency And Overclocking
22. Conclusion

A new architecture for Intel’s latest Core i7 processors may be relegating LGA-775 components to the budget market, but using previous-generation components isn’t a dead-end for value seekers, either. Intel never planned to use its new LGA-1366 in the mainstream market, and its next-generation mainstream socket is still at least a couple of quarters away. Buyers should expect today's crop of previous-generation parts to be viable for at least two more years.

But what is value, really? Buyers who define performance as the “bang” in “bang for the buck” would be sorely disappointed to find out that most motherboards offer similar performance. Overclockers get greater value from low-cost components through increased clock speeds, while gamers might consider the graphics performance capabilities of a pair of low-cost HD 4830 graphics cards in CrossFire mode. And for true entry-level budgets, buyers who need a system now but can’t afford a good graphics card just yet will surely benefit from a board that supports both onboard and add-in graphics solutions.

Today’s selection of low-cost LGA-775 motherboards covers buyers who'd be interested in any of the above scenarios, so be sure to check out the six boards in today's roundup.