3/30/03 - The market for AMD Athlon based motherboards is currently dominated by the NVIDIA nForce2 chipset based boards. This chipset has an amazing set of features available for it and provides the best performance to date for Athlon based processors. It even can support a 400 MHz frontside bus for future Athlon processors. Here are the Top 5 AMD Athlon based motherboards available today.
1. ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
ASUS's A7N8X Deluxe motherboard is what all other board manufacturers should strive for. It supports AGP 8x, Serial ATA RAID, dual Ethernet, 6-channel audio, IEEE 1394, USB2.0 and a wide range of overclocking settings. The board also has Q-Fan which allows the motherboard to control case fan speeds based on internal temperatures. The performance and quality of construction are outstanding.2. MSI K7N2G-ILSR
The MSI K7N2G-ILSR is the motherboard to choose if you are looking for an all-in-one package. No need for any expansion slots with this board as it is all built in: AGP 8x, Serial ATA RAID, dual Ethernet, 6-channel audio, IEEE 1394, USB2.0 and the nForce2 integrated graphics processor. This is an excellent board for those looking for a general performance office desktop system.
3. EPoX 8RDA+
EPoX's 8RDA+ board uses the new NVIDIA nForce2 chipset providing dual-channel DDR memory support, AGP 8x, Ethernet, 6-channel audio, USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394a. This board does not have as many features as some of the other boards available. Its an excellent value for those looking for a solid performing motherboard at a lower price.4. ABIT NF7-S (v1.2 and higher)
ABIT has focused their products at overclockers and the NF7-S is no exception. It supports AGP 8x, dual-channel DDR, Serial ATA, 6 channel audio with Dolby Ditigal 5.1, USB 2.0 and IEEE 1394. The important thing to know when looking at this board is to make sure it is a version 1.2 or higher. Earlier versions of the board had some difficulty in overclocking which ABIT corrected in version 1.2.5. Soltek SL-75FRN L Golden Flame
Want a low cost high performance nForce2 motherboard that also comes in a bright golden colored PCB layout? Soltek's latest SL-75FRN motherboard is your choice. It is a very low cost nForce2 motherboard because it lacks a some of the integrated features such as SerialATA, but it posts solid performance numbers and comes in a very attractive package. A very distinctive look for cases with a window.