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:: PC Perspective . Motherboard
ECS H55H-M LGA 1156 mATX Motherboard Review - Intel on a budgetMotherboard - Aug 23, 2010 | 12:00 PM Companies like ASRock and ECS are working to compete with giants in the motherboard industry like ASUS and Gigabyte, but they are taking a different path to winning over the hearts and minds of consumers. ECS is developing mobos that not only meet the performance needs of consumers, but they are also working to bring similar technologies and chipsets to market at a lower cost. The H55H-M is one of those boards selling for around $65 from most vendors, but it gives users a capable board that can handle any LGA 1156 processor and even a decent PCI-E graphics card to boot. 
MSI Big Bang XPower Motherboard ReviewMotherboard - Jul 14, 2010 | 09:00 AM MSI started the Big Bang series of motherboard to attempt to take back some of the ultra high-end market from the competition and the new XPower option takes it to a new level by offering impressive power and stability options along with overclocking goods and the ability to support as many as six graphics cards! Let's see if the performance and features on the board are worth the fairly high cost. 
MSI H55M-ED55 LGA 1156 Micro ATX Motherboard ReviewMotherboard - Jul 05, 2010 | 02:00 PM This platform supports all of today’s latest HD formats as well like 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, which makes it a great upgrade for home theater PC builders. MSI built the H55M-ED55 around this chipset, but added more overclocking capabilities through their OCGenie technology that allows one-click overclocking through a nifty button located right on the motherboard. This board also supports overclocked DDR3-2133 memory, two PCIe 2.0 graphics cards, and 8.1 high definition audio.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legit Reviews | Subject: Motherboard
The ASRock 880G Extreme3 motherboard packs a lot of features for a board you can pick up for $110. You will find two USB 3.0 ports, six SATA6 Gb/s ports and even an eSATA3 port on the back. Onboard is AMD's HD4250 GPU which won't get you gaming in style but means you can choose whether to purchase a discreet GPU or if you are not going to push it, to remain with the embedded solution. In the BIOS ACC can help you unlock any cores that might be disabled on your Athlon or Phenom and as for overclocking, Legit Reviews had no problems coaxing an extra gigahertz out of their Phenom 2 X3 720.
"The performance of the ASRock 880G Extreme3 was just as we expected. It performs very well and gives you a great platform for your upgrade dollars. As a bonus, UCC was able to unlock the fourth core, which not all boards (like the ECS board we tested against) are able to do. You will not be disappointed with the way this board handles at all..." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Legit Reviews | Subject: Motherboard
At only $180 the GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5
unfortunately represents one of the less expensive AMD 890FX+SB850 based motherboards. This is a rather frustrating point for many fans of AMD as that makes the motherboard more expensive than all but a handful of the top AM3 CPUs on the market. Thankfully the 880 and other previous chipsets are alive and well and significantly less expensive. Be that as it may, those who want the new features of the 890FX chipset should drop by Legit Reviews for a look at this board. It is not at the top of the performance charts but it is within sight of them and leaves you to spend the 25% price difference on a different component.
"Throughut the testing today we compared the GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5 to the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula. Despite my board preferences the GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5 fell ever so slightly behind the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula. Although, there is one area that the GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5 fell behind in that is a good place to be lower: the price. Currently you can find the GIGABYTE 890FXA-UD5 for as little as $179.99 while the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula is sitting at a heftier price of $224.85. The question that arises is, is the extra $45.00 worth the ever so slight performance increase?" Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
If you thought the EVGA Classified SR-2 was expensive at $606 then you probably aren't going to be impressed with the $700 Gigabyte X58A-UD9 Extreme. At least the SR-2 is a dual socket motherboard which do tend to cost significantly more than your average single socket board but the X58A-UD9 is a single socket board. It is an XL-ATX board 13.5" x 10.3", for reference an ATX board is 12" x 9.6", it sports four 16x PCIe slots as well as as three additional 16x PCIe slots running at 8x speeds along with a nice medley of peripheral ports including USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbs. [H]ard|OCP had a chance to try out this board and found the overclocking ability to be impressive, if difficult to tweak but were most impressed with the size of the board which is perfect for those setting up systems with multiple GPUs.
"The Gigabyte X58A-UD9 is not only massive, but its easily the most expensive board we've ever seen. In fact the cost of the X58A-UD9 exceeds the cost of most workstation motherboards and I find myself asking, the questions: Why? Who does Gigabyte intend to sell this board to? And...What can this board offer that a $450 board cannot? " Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
[H]ard|OCP wanted to know just what the difference in performance was between a motherboard whose second PCIe slot runs at 8x versus one that can hit the full 16x when it has a second graphics card in it. Using an MSI X58 Eclipse which is capable of 16x with both slots populated and some tape on the second graphics card to reduce it to 8x they started benchmarking. As it turns out the difference in performance is minuscule and
that paying a large premium for a board capable of dual 16x bandwidth is not really necessary. See the results for yourself.
"Have you wanted to space your SLI or CFX video cards farther apart on your motherboard to allow for better airflow? Do you have a motherboard that will not support a x16/x16 PCIe configuration? We put x16/x16 and x16/x8 PCIe SLI and CFX configurations head to head and show you what sacrifice there is to be made." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Overclock3D | Subject: Motherboard
The MSI P55a Fuzion sports Intel's P55 chipset along with the Lucid LT22102 aka Hydra, which allows you to mix and match graphics cards into a multiple GPU setup that is neither Crossfire nor SLI. Overclock3D's review tested this by using an ATI HD5870 and a GeForce GTX480 together when running benchmarks. The results are rather interesting when they benchmark a game that allows for Hydra as the performance is impressive, unfortunately not all games are able to use this technology so the performance remains simialr to the single GPU results. Check out the full review to see what this implementation of Hydra can do for you. "MSIs latest P55 motherboard comes with the hottest piece of hardware in recent times. Believe the hype?" Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
Our friends over at ASUS fired over a few "spy shots" of the upcoming Rampage III Formula motherboard that will offer a great set of hardware features as well as some pretty extensive and impressive overclocking options.
The Rampage III Formula is built around the Intel X58 chipset and thus it will support LGA1366 processors including the new 6-core offerings like the Core i7-980X and i7-970.
The X58 chipset allows ASUS to offer support for both 3-Way SLI and ATI CrossFireX graphics solutions and with the double spacing that the engineers chose you should able to fit just about any combination of graphics cards. On the far side of the board you will see not only the six Intel ICH10R-based SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports but also two SATA 6G ports (in red) for more storage options. USB 3.0 is included as well.
The board also features a completely digital VRM system, ASUS Extreme Engine Digi+, that provides stable power to the processor for overclocking.
Other features include support for DDR3-2200 memory, ROG Connect for remote controller overclocking and THX TruStudio PRO and SupremeFX X-Fi 2 audio.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
The new MSI 890FXA-GD70 will run you $200 to try out and sports the AMD RD890 and SB850 chipset pairing which offers some interesting features. NEC provides a pair of USB 3.0 ports on top of the features of the AMD chipset which offers the ability to run a pair of graphics cards at a full 16x, numerous SATA 3 ports and an array of audio ports for just about any setup. [H]ard|OCP liked to see the features but were more interested in the layout of the board and the performance numbers. Both were very impressive as you can see in the full review.
"MSI's newest offering supporting AMD's line of processors comes in the form of the 890FXA- GD70. This board could potentially be a P55 killer, with its balance of features and performance prowess. How does it do in the HardOCP gauntlet and better yet, how well does it overclock?" Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MetkuMods | Subject: Motherboard
Though they are based on the same chipset, the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H and ASRock 890GX Extreme3do have differences. The Gigabyte board is a member of the Power of 3 family, so it sports USB 3, S-ATA 3 and USB Power 3x as well as a pair of PCIe 16x slots. The ASRock also has threes, advertising USB 3.0, SATA 3 and e-SATA 3
(even though the later pair are the same) and three PCIe 16x slots. ASRock also decided to drop IDE completely from the board and you can also spot differences on the back panels. Take a peek at MektuMods for the full details.
"Two motherboards with AMD's 890GX chipset goes head to head to see which one takes the top spot." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: AnandTech | Subject: Motherboard
The gang of motherboards that AnandTech has assembled don't mess around, these motherboards are the flagship X58 boards from these respective manufacturers. The ASUS Rampage III Extreme, EVGA X58 4 way Classified, Gigabyte X58A-UD9 and MSI Big Bang-XPower cover a range of roughly $300 to $600 and all but the EVGA board feature SATA 6G and USB 3.0 though the EVGA board as well as the Gigabyte board sport nVIDIA's NF200 chip to help with graphical duties. Drop by to see just how these boards compare to each other.
"In light of this success, it was clear that ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI would have to go back to the drawing board and come up with new designs to captivate the audience. The launch of Intel’s i7-980X Gulftown together with the availability of SATA 6G and USB 3 controllers from Marvell and NEC provided the excuse for a revamp and here we are a couple of months down the road with everyone vying to capitalize on sales thanks to the longevity of the X58 platform. That’s where we pick up today, we’ve got the very best ASUS, Gigabyte, EVGA and MSI have to offer and have lined up a compare taking a look at basic functionality, overclocking and overall stability." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: Motherboard
Bringing back a three year old chipset for the ASRock N68C-S UCC
might seem strange to a user of an 890GX board, but for someone who really doesn't want to spend $100 on a motherboard it does make a lot of sense. The chipset is mature and fairly flexible, this board can handle either DDR2 or DDR3, depending on how much you want to invest in your memory and it has a nice mix of slots for an mATX board. The onboard GPU is not going to handle HD movies, nor is there much choice in the way of video outputs but as an inexpensive office machine that matters very little; nor will the presence of the core unlocker option in the BIOS. On the whole, Hardware Secrets does see a place for this board in the market, though nowhere near the enthusiast's side.
"The forthcoming N68C-S UCC from ASRock is an low-end micro ATX socket AM2+ motherboard based on the NVIDIA GeForce 7025 chipset, featuring both DDR2 and DDR3 memory sockets and a CPU core unlocking tool, a feature usually not found on entry-level motherboards." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
If you are looking for a relatively inexpensive 890GX based board that doesn't cut out all of the features the chipset provides, a popular choice is ASUS' M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 board. The ASUS specific features like Core Unlocker, GPU Boost, Hybrid Processor, Turbo EVO, and Turbo Key II
only add to the two main feature offered on this board, a pair of USB 3.0 ports and six SATA 6GB/s ports; the single eSATA 6GB/s and the even dozen USB 2.0 ports just add that little extra. Inside a pair of PCIe 16x ports ensure you do not have to use the onboard GPU unless you want to, though Crossfire setups will be sharing the lanes and both will run at 8x speeds. As if that was not enough, check out the overclock that [H]ard|OCP managed.
"ASUS' latest AM3 offering promises to be at least an interesting one. Not only does it feature USB 3 and SATA 6Gbps support, it also offers the lowest cost of entry into the world of quad core computing with support for a Core Unlocker. All with an 890GX chipset with integrated graphics as well." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
For $112 the MSI H55M-ED55 offers a board with the H55 chipsets integrated graphics which will have you playing HD movies without an issue, or the need to invest in a graphics card. Even nicer is the fact that this board, which was obviously intended as a basis for an HTPC also gives you the ability to do some mild overclocking. Steve was quite happy with the results he saw when writing his full review and was quite happy about everything he saw; he would have like RAID support and USB 3.0 added on though.
"The H55M-ED55 is a great example of their commitment to quality boards that are geared toward overclockers and gamers. We saw good performance results in both of these categories during testing and were impressed with how flexibilty and feature rich the BIOS was. The only complaints we could make about it would be the lack of USB 3.0/SATA3.0 support, but most boards at this price point and class do not have these features standard. The OC Genie button was a great addition and should be used frequently by novice PC builders looking to squeeze a few more megahertz from their Intel processors." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: X-Bit Labs | Subject: Motherboard
X-Bit Labs have chosen two boards to represent the upper echelons of the 890FX based motherboard market, the Asus Crosshair IV Formula and Gigabyte GA-890FXA-UD7, both sporting a price similar to an average X58 board. Although both motherboards are targeted at the same market, the companies have gone with very different approaches. In Gigabyte's case they focused on the peripherals that will be added, both legacy and new technology whereas ASUS has focused on the boards BIOS for most of their energy. Drop by X-Bit to see which fits your needs, or if both boards are priced beyond your target budget.
"Our today’s article is devoted to a comparison between two top mainboards based on the latest and highly functional AMD 890FX chipset. We are going to study their features, investigate CPU and memory overclocking potential, compare performance, USB 3.0 speed and power consumption." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: Motherboard
The EVGA Classified SR-2 comes in a fairly uncommon form factor, High Performance Technology eXtended or HPTX, which means you have to find a case that will fit a board that is 13.6" x 15". The reason that the motherboard is so large is to fit the 7 PCIe slots, three of which will function at their full 16x speed concurrently. They manage that with an impressive mix of chipsets, the Intel 5520 chipset provides 36 PCI Express x1 lanes and the ICH10R provides six more lanes, plus there is a pair of nForce 200 bridge chips. It is a dual socket board, though don't expect to drop just any LGA1366 CPU in the board as it will only work with socket 1366 Xeon processors. Drop by Hardware Secrets for more features, like the triple BIOS and informational LEDs on the board. "EVGA Classified SR-2 (the "SR" on the name stands for "Super Record") is an enormous dual socket 1366 motherboard based on Intel 5520 chipset with seven PCI Express x16 for you to build the fastest gaming PC in the world." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
The latest motherboard to make it off of Steve's test bench is the Gigabyte X58A-UD3R, a $210 LGA 1366 board with a nice set of features including Gigabyte's Power of 3 set. The back plate is a gadget lovers dream, with 4 USB 2.0 ports, a a pair of USB 3.0, standard and mini Firewire ports and even a clear CMOS button. Inside you will find a pair of PCIe 16x slots and a pair of 8x slots that share bandwidth with the 16x slots. Overall the board provides moderate overclocking ability and serious features for a price that is quite reasonable for an X58 board, but you can draw your own conclusions about it after you read the full article.
"Gigabyte packed tons of great features, bundled accessories, as well as applications and utilities into their lowest end X58A board. While the board is priced at around $210 with shipping, this is on par with the current market climate, but that doesn't mean consumers might be a little apprehensive at purchasing these fairly expensive parts in the current economic environment." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: [H]ard|OCP | Subject: Motherboard
Perhaps in response to the ASUS ROG series MSI has labelled their newest board as a member of their Gaming Series. The MSI X58 PRO-E is a $189 full ATX board with three PCIe 16x slots, though one only has enough bandwidth to provide 4x to the card. As an X58 board, it supports LGA 1366 CPUs and triple channel RAM up to 1600MHz, 7 SATA connectors plus a sole eSATA port as well as a good dozen USB 2.0 ports. Drop by [H]ard|OCP for a look at this no-frills X58 board if you are looking to build an inexpensive Core i7 platform.
"We take a look at another offering from MSI. Think of this one as a budget oriented X58 board that's pretty much all business. It brings SLI and CrossfireX support to a more mainstream price point. The board's packaging sports a "Gaming Series" logo on it which is a telltale sign of who they are targeting with this product." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
MSI had a quite a substantial booth on the show floor to showcase new motherboards, graphics cards, notebooks, all-in-one systems and more. Let’s a take look at what we found!
The MSI Radeon HD 5870 Lightning graphics card is noticeably different than other 5870 cards on the market with its PCB extension over the top of the cooler. The design offers a pair of 8-pin PCIe and includes a 15 phase PWM configuration so you should expect better overclocking and stability. The custom coolers uses MSI SuperPipe technology and MSI claims it will see as much as a 10C drop in temperatures. 
Another interesting card was the N480GTX HydroGen that features a single slot water block in order to support 3-Way SLI. 
Staring with motherboards MSI had the new 870A Fuzion motherboard that pairs the Lucid HYDRA chip with the low cost AMD 870 chipset to create the lowest priced HYDRA-enabled motherboard on the market. The board features overclocking options like a unique version of OC Genie and CPU core unlocking. 
The P55A Fuzion is another Lucid HYDRA motherboard option from MSI that will come in at a lower price than the only current board, the Big Bang Fuzion. 
Finally, MSI had their own motherboard featuring the upcoming Intel 6-series chipset in preparation for the release of Sandy Bridge processors. There isn’t much new here but the mock up board is there to show MSI being prepared for Intel’s eventual launch. Of course, we have a video tour of the MSI booth at Computex, enjoy!!
Ryan Shrout | Source: PC Perspective | Subject: Motherboard
While we know quite a bit about the upcoming Intel Sandy Bridge CPU architecture we have yet to see much about the platform it will run on. The processor socket might look the same but we are told this LGA1155 (vs the LGA1156 for Lynnfield and Clarkdale) change will not allow the CPUs to swap spots. Because the Sandy Bridge CPU will have pin outs for video headers and will actually be electrically different, you'll be buying a new board if you want to upgrade.
Speaking of those upgrades, we did see a handful of motherboards on display calling themselves either "Intel Sandy Bridge" motherboards or "Intel 6-series Chipset" motherboards. 
This first board was spotted at the ASRock booth and was called the P67 Extreme3. Listed as using an Intel 6-series chipset the board supports up to 3-Way configurations for both SLI and CrossFire and features SATA 6G. I will be curious to see if the new 6-series chipsets have improved the situation for PCI Express lanes or if we are still left with a paltry x4 PCIe that the 5-series has.
We can't devise much just by looking at the P67 chipset but there it is!
This is the Jetway IH65 that looks a little lower end with the pair of PCIe x16 slots.
Finally, the ECS P67H2-A motherboard is the most advanced of the three shown here and will come with four SATA 6G ports, 4 USB 3.0 ports (thank you!!), dual Gigabit LAN and support for two full speed x16 PCIe 2.0 slots.
Other than these details it is hard to get any more information simply based on motherboard pictures and basic spec lists. It doesn't look like the 6-series will integrate SATA 6G though but because I don't see any USB 3.0 chips on the board it's possible Intel has added USB 3.0 to the next series. We will likely find out in September at the Intel Developer Forum or at least when we hit the launch period in Q1 2011.
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: Hardware Secrets | Subject: Motherboard
The Foxconn A88GM Deluxeis a rather unique 880GB based motherboard as it uses the SB850 for its southbridge just like the more expensive 890GX boards, instead of the older SB710 that is the default for the 880GB chipset. That means you have a half dozen SATA-600 ports instead of the older SATA300, you can run RAID5 and you get an additional pair of USB 2.0 ports. The 880G has an HD4250
onboard and the audio is provided by Realtek's ALC888S-VC2-GR codec offering 7.1 sound. If all that sounds like a deal at $85 you should head over to Hardware Secrets to see the rest of the specs on this board.
"The new AMD 880G chipset is based on Radeon HD 4250 graphics engine, which is a slower version of the graphics engine used on AMD 890GX (Radeon HD 4290). This way 880G-based motherboards are cheaper than 890GX-based ones. AMD 880G chipset is normally paired with AMD SB710 south bridge chip, but on A88GM Deluxe the manufacturer decided to use SB850, which is the south bridge chip from AMD 890GX, providing native support for SATA-600 ports. This way A88GM Deluxe is one step above other motherboards based on the same chipset." Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:
Jeremy Hellstrom | Source: MSI | Subject: Motherboard
(Taipei – June 2, 2010) Globally-renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI unveiled its all-new Military Class product series at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010. In mainboards, along with the newly released Big Bang-XPower that can also be seen in AMD 800 series, graphics cards from the R5870 Lightning & Twin Frozr series offer a complete experience. In addition to a sustained foundation of over 23 years of solid R&D, a perfect combination of stability, extreme durability and high performance are upheld from the most fundamental materials procurement to use of server grade, military standards. Not only does MSI use Hi-c CAP, which provide 8 times longer lifespan than Solid CAP, but also Icy Choke, which reduces overheating caused by high current loads from overclocking, giving consumers unprecedented stability and enjoyment. Graphics cards feature Solid State Choke, which has no high frequency noise and low vibration. What's more, both graphics card products feature Solid CAP to increase overall board lifespan. Welcome to visit MSI at Booth L607 during COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010; let MSI show you the new model of extreme technology, and once again experience innovation, quality, durability and extreme performance milestones. 
Hi-c CAP offers 8 times the lifespan of solid state capacitors
Icy Choke, besides having ultra-high heat resistance, also has a lower ESR(Equivalent Series Resistance), which provides a reduced operating temperature, lower power consumption, and smart power saving usage while completely satisfying the dual requirements of low-temperature/high performance and secure stability. Solid State Choke, in addition to having heat-resistant characteristics, offers a special centralized structural design that can effectively reduce the production of noise, provide secure stability and has no high frequency buzz noise—fully meeting the multiple demands low temperature/low noise and stable high performance. Solid CAP provides a lifespan of up to 10 years
Achieving innovation with a strict adherence to quality requires not just substantial R&D and a long accumulation of experience, but more importantly, quality component design and configuration. MSI provides consumers with the most comprehensive solutions through rigorous analysis of consumer user experiences and the discovery and application of valuable high-end materials. In addition to our requirements for innovation, we also insist on product quality, performance and extended product durability. We are prepared to meet the demands of consumers. Want more news? Check out our Archive |
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