Entry-Level Motherboards
We'll start at the bottom, with motherboards priced at around $50 or less. Obviously features are going to be cut at this price point, and quality/support might suffer as well, but you can still get some very reasonable options without breaking the bank.
Intel
If you only have $50 to spend, then we suggest the ZOTAC N73PV-Supreme based on the GeForce 7100. This uATX motherboard features HDMI output, Gigabit LAN, four 3Gb/s SATA ports, 10 USB ports, HD audio, one PCI-E x16 slot, one PCI-E x1 slot, two PCI slots, and support for 4GB. This board is offers excellent stability and performance for the money. Pair it up with an E5200 and 4GB of DDR2-800 and you have a solid SOHO system or base HTPC, although H.264 hardware acceleration is not featured on this chipset.
Our other under $50 choice is the ASRock G31M-S motherboard based on the Intel G31 and ICH7 chipsets. This uATX board features 10/100 LAN, four 3Gb/s SATA ports, 8 USB ports, 5.1 HD audio, one PCI-E x16 slot, one PCI-E x1 slot, two PCI slots, and support for 8GB. ASRock also worked their magic on the BIOS so it supports the full range of Core 2 processors. Also included is ASRock's excellent Instant Boot technology; yes, it really works as advertised.
An honorable mention goes to the Foxconn G31MV-K that can be had for around $43. Performance is equal to the ASRock board but we gave the nod to ASRock based on features and BIOS support.
AMD
On the AMD side we have a couple of interesting choices. The $48 ASRock N61P-S has been a solid, no frills, uATX SOHO board for us and features the GeForce 6150SE and nForce 430 chipsets. The board supports 8GB of memory and provides 10/100 Ethernet, 5.1 HD Audio, four 3Gb/s SATA ports with RAID 0/1/0+1/5, VGA output, one PCI-E x16 slot, one PCI-E x1 slot, two PCI slots, and ASRock's excellent Instant Boot technology.
Our next board is the Foxconn A74MX-K 740G uATX board featuring the AMD 740G and SB700 chipsets. This board is a very good option for a basic SOHO build and provides Gigabit LAN, 5.1 HD Audio, 4GB memory support, DVI-D output, 12 USB ports, one PCI-E x16 slot, one PCI-E x1 slot, two PCI slots, four 3Gb/s SATA ports featuring RAID 0/1/10.
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bob4432 - Monday, December 15, 2008 - link
this is the board to use if overclocking is of prime importance to you. Our only knock against the board is that it does not overclock quad-core processors as well as the Gigabyte or ASUS boards.in the first sentence you say this is the board (biostar) to get for o/cing, but then state that it won't o/c quads, so imho, this would not be the board to get for o/cing????
the way i read it, you contradict yourself in the whole midrange intel area. why not just recommend the gigabyte or asus boards since they o/c everything well, not just dcs?
zebrax2 - Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - link
if you read the whole paragraph you could easily understand that this board is recommended because of its ability to overclock dual cores and anyway both the gigabyte and the asus board are also recommended anywaysymbul - Monday, December 15, 2008 - link
It's a bit late to buy for Christmas I think. The best deals were on Black Friday and the Thanksgiving weekend. I got a brand new Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P for 100$ during that time. At that price point, everything else is moot, unless you really need a x48 chipset motherboard.djc208 - Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - link
I jumped on that one as well. If anything it was nice to see it recommended to re-affirm my purchase. Should have gotten a second one for my Sage server with all the ports on it, but it'll get that as a hand-me-down when I finally go to something with DDR3.Noya - Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - link
I gotta say the best deals were on eBay thanks to Microsofts Live Cashback. From Black Friday to that Sunday, they were offering 30% cashback. And if you were smart, you bought from a buyer that combined the shipping in the price and claimed "free shipping".I was on a budget as usual, but bought a Gigabyte UD3p for $84.50 and a Q8200 for $119 (e8400 was $121, but I wanted a quad as I only upgrade every 2 years). Besides, the UD3p overclocked my Q8200 to 3.3ghz without even trying. Fry's had 2x2gb Ballistix DDR2-800 for $20 with rebate, though their site was laggy for a few days.
Mwave.com was selling tons due to valid rebates also as the invoice was from mwave.com.
Graphics cards were crazy cheap- 4870 1gb @ $165, gtx260 core 216 @ $175, gtx280 @ $240-250 and the 4870x2 @ $300-315.
Wesley Fink - Monday, December 15, 2008 - link
Where were motherboard deals on Black Friday? CompUSA is gone from retail, Circuit City and Best Buy were never real motherboard players, and Fry's is only in the West.Etailers have been running special pricing all along and you can buy through early next week and still get a motherboard in time for Christams from Newegg, ZipZoomFly, mwave and others.
Still others will get cash or gift cards for Christams that they will use to buy motherboards, video cards, memory, and other computer components AFTER Christmas. This article and the other guides that will appear this wekk will be very useful to many potential buyers, if not all.
strikeback03 - Tuesday, December 16, 2008 - link
I thought Black Friday was very weak this year. Maybe CompUSA leaving the market is to blame, but there wasn't anything I though was worth getting up very early for. My brother-in-law and I went to Circuit City around 8AM, he bought a wireless keyboard/mouse, I bought a USB TV tuner, we both would not have cared much if they were sold out. We then swung by Sears to pick up a My First Craftsman set for a friend's kid and went home. Unless you were looking for a TV or still chasing a Wii this was not a good year.JeBarr - Monday, December 15, 2008 - link
Yes an article such as this is a tad lat for christmas anyways. Not just here but most all review sites seem to have gotten lazy this year when it comes to holiday-type buying guides. I guess too much time was spent beta testing all those x58 boards, didnt leave much time for anything else.Elvis2 - Monday, December 15, 2008 - link
I like the layout :)flipmode - Monday, December 15, 2008 - link
With that $170 price of the DFI x48 mobo, I am surpised with the recommendation of the $160 Biostar P45 mobo. I am curious, what is the thinking there? Is there something wrong with the DFI mobo? Because if not, how could it *not* be the *only* recommendation in the $150 and above range? Even for people that don't want to spend more than $150 I'd say save up the extra $20 to get the x48 fer cryin out loud.