µATX Overview: Prelude to a Roundup
by Gary Key on August 7, 2007 4:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Enter the Mobo
Last but certainly not least is our selection of motherboards that will be part of our µATX roundup. We looked at several different ways of presenting the information and determined that we will separate each roundup article by chipset manufacturer. As an example, all of the NVIDIA chipset boards will be compared against each other and then we will move to the AMD 690G chipsets and then finally the Intel chipset based boards. We will have a separate chipset and budget CPU comparison article shortly that focuses on the pure performance of the chipsets with various CPUs. We will go into additional details in each roundup article but for now here are the motherboards we have spent more time with than our families over the past few months.
AMD 690G
Jetway M2A692-GHG
ASUS M2A-VM HDMI
MSI K9AGM2-FIH
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
Biostar TA690G
Sapphire Pure Innovation PI-AM2RS690M
NVIDIA 7050
Biostar TForce TF7050-M2
ASRock AliveNF7G-HD
Abit AN-M2HD
NVIDIA 6100/6150
abit NF-M2 nView
ASUS M2NPV-VM
DFI C51PV-M2/G Infinity
ASRock AliveNF6G-VSTA
Intel ATI Radeon Express 1250
abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD
ASRock 4Core1333-FullHD
Intel G965
Intel BLKDG965OTMKR
Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2
ASUS P5B-VM
Intel G33
MSI G33M-FI
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R
ASUS P5K-VM
Intel DG33TLM
There you have it, approximately 22 boards are planned to be covered utilizing seven different IGP chipsets. Our primary focus (Ed: That got lost somewhere on page 2, didn't it?) in this roundup will be on the features and reliability of each motherboard, but we will also look at performance on an individual basis. We will then perform a platform comparison that will not only compare the performance of our top µATX selections against each other in our individual categories (HTPC, Gaming, Home/Office) but also against platforms based on the more expensive and/or larger ATX cousins. Scattered in between each roundup article will be our side-bar coverage of various components utilized in our platform buildups. Over the course of the next couple of months we will also provide analysis and reviews of several components that caught our interest during the course of testing.
Oh, we almost forgot: we get to do this all over again with the P35 motherboards when we're done with the µATX segment. Where did we put the coffee maker?
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AMD 690G
Jetway M2A692-GHG
ASUS M2A-VM HDMI
MSI K9AGM2-FIH
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
Biostar TA690G
Sapphire Pure Innovation PI-AM2RS690M
NVIDIA 7050
Biostar TForce TF7050-M2
ASRock AliveNF7G-HD
Abit AN-M2HD
NVIDIA 6100/6150
abit NF-M2 nView
ASUS M2NPV-VM
DFI C51PV-M2/G Infinity
ASRock AliveNF6G-VSTA
Intel ATI Radeon Express 1250
abit Fatal1ty F-I90HD
ASRock 4Core1333-FullHD
Intel G965
Intel BLKDG965OTMKR
Gigabyte GA-965GM-S2
ASUS P5B-VM
Intel G33
MSI G33M-FI
Gigabyte GA-G33M-DS2R
ASUS P5K-VM
Intel DG33TLM
There you have it, approximately 22 boards are planned to be covered utilizing seven different IGP chipsets. Our primary focus (Ed: That got lost somewhere on page 2, didn't it?) in this roundup will be on the features and reliability of each motherboard, but we will also look at performance on an individual basis. We will then perform a platform comparison that will not only compare the performance of our top µATX selections against each other in our individual categories (HTPC, Gaming, Home/Office) but also against platforms based on the more expensive and/or larger ATX cousins. Scattered in between each roundup article will be our side-bar coverage of various components utilized in our platform buildups. Over the course of the next couple of months we will also provide analysis and reviews of several components that caught our interest during the course of testing.
Oh, we almost forgot: we get to do this all over again with the P35 motherboards when we're done with the µATX segment. Where did we put the coffee maker?
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sprockkets - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
For focusing on what matters in uATX boards. That and perhaps the vast majority of people are more focused on these items such as S3 standby as opposed to other features.Shame the abit NF-M2 nView is no longer going to be made since it is older tech.
Myrandex - Friday, August 10, 2007 - link
I think its a shame that there aren't any more SLI capable mATX boards coming out. I have the EVGA Nforce4 SLI mATX board and absolutely love it. I didn't want onboard video, as I already had a 7800GT, and I wanted the option of adding a cheap 7800GT to it later as well if I wanted to (as well as I have a dedicated X-fi sound card and a PCie TV Tuner), so that board worked perfectly.Jason
The Boston Dangler - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
I built a micro box just last night. This was for my friend's parents (in their 60's). The box alone hit the $500 target. Everything else will be purchased in person. I hooked them up with XP MCE and remote, they purchased Office Sudent Edition, and all other software will be freebies. The box will be used for the usual suspects: email, internet, music, movies, and office stuff.ASUS M2NPV-VM
(seems very complete, capable, easy to use, I like the MB header for reset, pwr etc.)
3800+ HE
2 GB decent, cheap DDR-800
Seasonic 330W
Coolermaster Centurion 541, forgot to buy fans DOH!
( I didn't like the way the stand-offs didn't support the forward edge of the MB, the tool-less drive bays are kinda PITA, why are the front panel plugs at the bottom?)
Lite-On SATA DVD
Samsung ??? HDD (love them)
5 beans, not too shabby.
Darth Farter - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
heh, same thing here for my dad ordered from ZZF, 3800+, 2gb ddr2 800, Asus 690G, a 250gb WD, liteon sata dvdrw and mini case vostok w. psu from enermax ~$400.mostlyprudent - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
WOW, impressive summary article. That was a lot of information and you conveyed logically and concisely. The sheer scope of material you plan to present over the next month is staggering, but VERY welcome.Do we really have to wait until September/October for the P35 roundup?
CZroe - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
I just hope you guys are aware that Mission Impossible III on Blu-Ray is MPEG2. Most BD movies are VC-1 or AVC video codecs while it's usually the older titles that end up with MPEG2 (due to immaturity of the mastering software). Most BD movies that are also released on HD-DVD are the exact same VC-1 encode on both discs, so this is an unfortunate selection for comparison.Bjoern77 - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
"Oh, we almost forgot: we get to do this all over again with the P35 motherboards when we're done with the µATX segment."The time that review will show up the p35 will be outdated, concerning all that various components included in this review.
But anyway, i'm looking forward to it.
CZroe - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
I just hope you guys are aware that Mission Impossible III on Blu-Ray is MPEG2. Most BD movies are VC-1 or AVC video codecs while it's usually the older titles that end up with MPEG2 (due to immaturity of the mastering software). Most BD movies that are also released on HD-DVD are the exact same VC-1 encode on both discs, so this is an unfortunate selection for comparison.strikeback03 - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
300 was just released on both using VC-1 for each. Though of course that would mean more testing for the Anandtech crew.Kensei - Tuesday, August 7, 2007 - link
Not to be too pendantic, but did you mean "long road"?
Also, while I have your attention Gary, what happened to those literary quotes you used to use at the beginning of article? I like them... not sure about others though.