What would be a top motherboard for a Pentium 4 3.2 GHz and 1G of RAM, coupled with a Radeon 9800 Pro display card? I’m building my computer now?

I was going after an Intel P4 3.2 GHz Prescott or Northwood processor. I will be getting 1G of Corsair RAM and an XpertVision Radeon 9800 pro along with a 120G Seagate hard drive, a SoundBlaster Audigy soundcard and a DVD burner. I'm a bit stuck on the motherboard, because as far as I know it's one of the most important parts on the computer.

I was wondering if the Abit AI7 would be a good choice. If not, can you give me some suggestions on a board?

Javier Gimenez, Petersham, NSW

While the ABit AI7 is no slouch, it's a budget priced, entry level motherboard, and you’d get improved performance and features by choosing a slightly more expensive alternative.

The ABit IC7-G is a better featured and performance motherboard. For an extra $50, you’ll get Performance Acceleration Technology dual SATA RAID capability for increased performance, Gigabit LAN for much improved connectivity and the capability to interact at extremely high speed with modern networking solutions, SPDIF in AND out for vastly improved connectivity with home entertainment devices, improved onboard performance monitoring and a BIOS implementation which is designed towards those who might wish to ‘tweak’ the system later on to squeeze extra performance out of it and extend its lifespan as long as possible. (Pauses for breath after very long sentence.)

But the best of the Socket 478 motherboards for Intel processors currently on
offer is possibly the Gigabyte GA-8KNXP which in addition to the features mentioned above also provides PATA RAID for IDE hard drives, and an additional 2 dual-channel memory slots. You can add as many hard drives as you like to this one (well almost) and cater to all your home recording needs, or any other purpose you might wish to put the system
too. You’ll be able to increase the RAM in your system too, without needing to throw away the modules you already have and replace them with larger capacity modules.

Comparative prices (at the time of writing) from Scorpion Technology are:

AI7 $210
IC7-G $265
8KNXP $290

But there’s this to consider-

Do you really want to build a Socket 478 system?

We’re at the “dawn of a new age” in PC technology. LGA775 motherboards are due to be introduced for future Pentium processors which will use the new socket format, and Socket 939 motherboards are looming large to enable the ‘King of the Heap’ AthlonFX processors to be used with everyday DDR RAM modules rather than the more expensive ‘Registered’ RAM. Both these motherboard types will certainly accommodate the new PCI Express interface standard, which is certainly destined to replace the PCI slot form factor in much the same way as PCI replaced ISA slots a few years back.

An expensive upgrade now will certainly get you a high performance system. But waiting six to twelve months longer might just mean that you can upgrade to a system which is far more ‘future-proof’. I’m not trying to dissuade you from your upgrade, by any means. I’m simply pointing out that anyone considering an upgrade at present really should be considering ALL the pertinent factors. Is your current system really starting to struggle? If not, waiting a while might just be a better alternative.

By the way, Javier, The Radeon X800 series display cards and the nVidia 6800 series display cards will be available for purchase here in Australia quite soon. Both of those product lines will be much better display cards that the Radeon 9800 series.

Cheers,

Terry O'Shanassy