Foxconn and Gigabyte Tackle Socket AM2
by Jarred Walton on June 22, 2006 1:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Conclusion
We have now taken a look at four AM2 motherboards, and so far all of them are doing quite well. The Foxconn and Gigabyte boards are nice additions at the high end of the performance/features spectrum. Meanwhile, there are several nForce 570 SLI offerings that cover the midrange segment quite well, and if you're looking for budget AM2 motherboards we are already seeing a couple nForce 550 and nForce4 offerings for less than $90. As we mentioned in our recent CPU Price Guide, single core Athlon 64 and Sempron prices are now at extremely attractive levels, and the dual core parts should follow suit in another month. If you have an older motherboard or system that's in need of an upgrade, late July or early August is looking like an ideal time to make your move.
Looking specifically at the Foxconn and Gigabyte boards, performance is generally close enough that the real decision is going to come down to features. Each one manages to come out ahead in a couple areas, so here's a quick recap.
If you want a premium AM2 motherboard right now, the Foxconn C51XEM2AA, MSI K9N Diamond, and ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe are all presently available, with the Foxconn and ASUS boards coming in at around $200. We are a bit concerned with the default cooling of the Northbridge on the Foxconn board, but if you're willing to add active cooling on your own it performs admirably. The Foxconn onboard audio comes out slightly ahead as well, as the ALC888 on the Gigabyte is about the same as the ALC883. It also comes with FireWire 1394b, and is the only AM2 motherboard featuring that option so far.
The Gigabyte board seems to have a better overall design and layout, and the completely silent cooling solution is definitely nice. Extreme overclockers will probably want to add active cooling to the chipset heatsink(s) anyway, but depending on your choice of case it may be unnecessary. Overclocking on the prerelease Gigabyte board also seems a bit spotty, but we expect that to improve with the retail shipments. The Gigabyte wins out in the feature department when it comes to SATA ports and the expansion slots. The third X16 PCI-E slot certainly isn't required right now, but if you believe in "future proofing" your computer it could prove useful in another year or so. All you need now is actual retail availability of the Gigabyte board.
So far, our overall impression of the AM2 motherboard market is extremely positive. The processors and chipsets are definitely evolutionary in nature, but we have not tested a single AM2 motherboard that qualifies as a lame duck (knock on wood). If you haven't upgraded computers/motherboards/processors in over two years, you may finally find a reasonable excuse to do so in the next month or two. On the other hand, if you already have a decent 939 motherboard and an X2 processor, you should just stick with what you have for a while longer and wait for something truly revolutionary before you upgrade.
We have now taken a look at four AM2 motherboards, and so far all of them are doing quite well. The Foxconn and Gigabyte boards are nice additions at the high end of the performance/features spectrum. Meanwhile, there are several nForce 570 SLI offerings that cover the midrange segment quite well, and if you're looking for budget AM2 motherboards we are already seeing a couple nForce 550 and nForce4 offerings for less than $90. As we mentioned in our recent CPU Price Guide, single core Athlon 64 and Sempron prices are now at extremely attractive levels, and the dual core parts should follow suit in another month. If you have an older motherboard or system that's in need of an upgrade, late July or early August is looking like an ideal time to make your move.
Looking specifically at the Foxconn and Gigabyte boards, performance is generally close enough that the real decision is going to come down to features. Each one manages to come out ahead in a couple areas, so here's a quick recap.
If you want a premium AM2 motherboard right now, the Foxconn C51XEM2AA, MSI K9N Diamond, and ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe are all presently available, with the Foxconn and ASUS boards coming in at around $200. We are a bit concerned with the default cooling of the Northbridge on the Foxconn board, but if you're willing to add active cooling on your own it performs admirably. The Foxconn onboard audio comes out slightly ahead as well, as the ALC888 on the Gigabyte is about the same as the ALC883. It also comes with FireWire 1394b, and is the only AM2 motherboard featuring that option so far.
The Gigabyte board seems to have a better overall design and layout, and the completely silent cooling solution is definitely nice. Extreme overclockers will probably want to add active cooling to the chipset heatsink(s) anyway, but depending on your choice of case it may be unnecessary. Overclocking on the prerelease Gigabyte board also seems a bit spotty, but we expect that to improve with the retail shipments. The Gigabyte wins out in the feature department when it comes to SATA ports and the expansion slots. The third X16 PCI-E slot certainly isn't required right now, but if you believe in "future proofing" your computer it could prove useful in another year or so. All you need now is actual retail availability of the Gigabyte board.
So far, our overall impression of the AM2 motherboard market is extremely positive. The processors and chipsets are definitely evolutionary in nature, but we have not tested a single AM2 motherboard that qualifies as a lame duck (knock on wood). If you haven't upgraded computers/motherboards/processors in over two years, you may finally find a reasonable excuse to do so in the next month or two. On the other hand, if you already have a decent 939 motherboard and an X2 processor, you should just stick with what you have for a while longer and wait for something truly revolutionary before you upgrade.
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JarredWalton - Friday, June 23, 2006 - link
Must be - I have a Canan Rebel EOS now, and I haven't come to grips with the manual yet. LOLsprockkets - Friday, June 23, 2006 - link
Rubycons I believe are Taiwaneese caps, but they had the proper formula for the electrolyte in them so they never "blew up", whereas others tried to copy the formula and got it wrong and did "blow up." I still have boards with them from the 2000-2002 time frame still working whereas the other boards with other caps are leaking all over and the boards failed.That is no longer an issue, but still, they are good.
About those new connectors, anyone use a normal cable on them? I did on one, the MSI GF6150 board, and litterally had to crush the connector cable to get it out because it was not one of the new style ones. Anyone else have this happen to them?
JarredWalton - Friday, June 23, 2006 - link
I haven't had a problem with any cables in the new style connector, but here's a shot of the GB cables:http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/motherboards/r...">Gigabyte (Pre-Release) Accessories
Basically, there's a small metal latch that you depress to allow the cable to disconnect. I've seen SATA connections that were so loose they could literally fall off with a slight bump, so the latch avoids that. If you have a cable with a really fat connector, it could cause problems, but all of the other SATA connectors I've seen are about the same, minus the metal latch.
Phiro - Thursday, June 22, 2006 - link
On the first page matrix, you list the Gigabyte as having the Realtek 883, then from about then on, you switch to the 888. Which one is it?Gary Key - Friday, June 23, 2006 - link
The board has the ALC-888 but Gigabyte had planned on the ALC-883 in the beginning, unfortunately the first set of drivers we used incorrectly reported the chipset but after looking at the chip itself (magnifying glass) and running the latest drivers confirmed our sample had the ALC-888. Sorry we missed the update on the first chart.JarredWalton - Thursday, June 22, 2006 - link
It's ALC888, though that's about the same as 883. 888T would be the interesting option, as that adds some support for Skype and VoIP.photoguy99 - Thursday, June 22, 2006 - link
Why would anyone invest in AM2 now when we can see the price/performance shakeout of Conroe in 1 month?Maybe AM2 will come out as a good choice - If a 4800+ drops to $199 I can see getting on board.
If anyone out there is jumping now for an AM2 I would honestly be interested in the logic behind it.
glennpratt - Friday, June 23, 2006 - link
I just bought an AM2 3500 for $100. I doubt Conroe will be at that price point anytime soon and my budget isn't flexible, plus you can't get a geforce 6150 for intel (HTPC). So for $300 I have an excellent upgrade to my media center IMO. New Case, A64 3500, 1GB DDR2, gerforce 6150.I would see your point if I was shooting for the latest and greatest, but personally I never spend more then ~$100 for a component in my PC's (usually < $80). And in my experience things don't change too quickly in that price range. Regardless of hype.
photoguy99 - Friday, June 23, 2006 - link
That makes sense Glen, good luck with your new system.Mant - Thursday, June 22, 2006 - link
This is off topic...does anyone know where can I buy one of those cool new copper heatpipe coolers that are on these boards to replace the Turbo-charged-extreme-jet-turbine fan on my 939 motherboard? I'm dying to retire that POS and this would be just the thing to replace it!