Motherboards

What Matters: Spending extra for a motherboard with features like USB 2.0 ports and IDE RAID can save you money in the long run.

Eric Dahl

Whether you're building a new PC or overhauling an old one, a new motherboard is the place to start. And with boards packing extras like FireWire (IEEE 1394) and USB 2.0 ports, six-channel sound chips, and RAID controllers, you might not need to add much else.

The choice of motherboard you make determines the RAM and CPU types you can use, so you must look at those three critical components together. You can spend as little as $180 total on the trio and get by, but for that amount you're practically buying obsolescence. Plan on spending between $400 and $700 for a capable midrange setup. From there you can narrow the available choices according to your preference for AMD or Intel processors (if you have one), or you can just look for the best value in your price range.

And though you may not need a RAID controller or a LAN connection now, getting those extras on a full-featured board like Soyo's KT333 Dragon Ultra will save you money if you need them later.

PC World Spotlight on Motherboards (chart)

Key Features

Chip set: A motherboard's chip set performs such vital functions as routing data from hard drive to memory to CPU, and ensuring that your peripherals and expansion cards can communicate. The chip set limits the CPU types and speeds the board can take, the type of RAM you can install, and (to a degree) whether extras like integrated graphics, sound, and USB 2.0 ports can be included with the board.

Manufacturers base their motherboards around the chip sets they use, adding features like RAID controllers and FireWire ports to differentiate their boards. That's why knowing the vital stats (CPU and memory support, IDE controller speed, and whether sound and graphics are integrated) of the chip sets you're considering can help you pinpoint differences between otherwise very similar motherboards.

Popular Intel Pentium 4 chip sets include Intel's 850E, 845E, and 845G; Via's P4X333; and SIS's 650 and 645DX. (Head to Tom's Hardware Guide for more on what each chip set supports). The latest AMD Athlon XP+ chip sets include Via's KT333A, SIS's 745, NVidia's NForce, and ATI's Radeon IGP.

CPU: Pentium 4 and Athlon XP are your main choices. We tested several motherboards based on different chip sets with both a high-end and a low-end CPU. In most business applications, we found little difference between systems using the fastest Athlon and P4 chips, though we did see a big price difference. At press time the fastest P4 chip, clocked at 2.53 GHz and running on a 533-MHz bus, sold for around $650, while the speediest Athlon XP chip cost $200. That may change later this year as P4 chips widen their MHz lead over Athlons and the new, faster chips push today's speed champs down to more affordable prices.

Celeron CPUs are available as low-price alternatives to P4s, and some Durons can still be found as Athlon XP substitutes, but large performance drops usually accompany the small cost savings (see " New 1.7-GHz Celeron: A Bad Buy" for details).

RAM: Most boards use DDR SDRAM, though a few P4 chip sets require Rambus memory (RDRAM). DDR memory is available in a variety of speeds; you should generally buy the fastest your board allows. Motherboard manufacturers list DDR memory types according to their clock speed or bandwidth, along with other notations. From slowest to fastest, the types are: DDR200 (aka PC1600), DDR266 (PC2100), DDR333 (PC2700), and the upcoming DDR400 (PC3200).

RDRAM is available only on boards equipped with Intel's 850 or 850E chip sets, and it must be installed in pairs. Free memory slots must be filled with continuity modules (CRIMMs). RDRAM costs about twice as much as DDR memory, but it can be useful in high-bandwidth applications. RDRAM is currently available in two speeds: PC800 and PC1066. Spring for the swifter PC1066 (and a motherboard with a chip set supporting it) if you're purchasing a Pentium 4 that runs on the 533-MHz bus.

Sound and Graphics: Motherboards with integrated sound have become so common that it's hard to find one without it. The latest models sport six-channel digital sound chips that are more than adequate for casual gaming and MP3 playback. If you're adding a sound card, disable the integrated sound with a jumper or a BIOS setting.

NVidia's NForce, ATI's Radeon IGP, and Intel's 845G chip sets integrate adequate graphics processing. If you plan to run the latest 3D games, though, you should either avoid integrated chip sets or make sure your motherboard includes an AGP slot so you can add a graphics card.

Storage: Most motherboards ship with an IDE controller that supports ATA/100 or ATA/133 drives. The performance difference between these two standards is negligible, however, so the decision you make here isn't a huge issue.

Boards with IDE RAID support present a more interesting choice. A RAID system uses a pair of identical hard disks to increase performance or provide redundancy in case a drive fails. These days, RAID-equipped boards cost as little as $8 more than their RAID-free counterparts.

Connections: Many motherboards offer ethernet, USB 2.0, and FireWire ports. So-called legacy-free boards ship without PS/2, serial, and parallel ports.

Recommendations

If you want the best value, an inexpensive board with a midrange Athlon CPU is probably the right choice. Look to P4 boards such as the VPSD P4PB we tested if you intend to tackle tasks like video editing, but be prepared to shell out some serious cash for the fastest P4 CPUs.

Motherboard Buying Tips