Thursday Reviews

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This motherboard has a lot of connections on the back of it. Aside from the PS/2, serial, parallel ports which are common to most motherboards there is also onboard video, 7.1 audio, gigabit NIC, 10/100 NIC, and four USB 2.0. Onboard video is nice for lower end systems which will save some people money on buying a separate video card. The socket is one of the biggest changes that comes with the new LGA775 standard. There are now shorter capacitors around the socket and four holes for mounting the heatsink.

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We've already had a taste of Intel's 815 chipset, the LGA 775 CPU and PCI Express video cards. As for the last brand we tested, I was excited to see the new technology working, but was left unimpressed. Now it's ABIT's turn. ABIT has sent over a couple motherboards and video cards promising me that ABIT can do better than the other guys. Now I'm excited about getting started once again! The first ABIT board we'll tear into is the AG8, LGA 775 motherboard based on the Intel 915P chipset.

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Delivering a gaming experience that is anything but mainstream, the RADEON X700 visual processing units (VPUs) include the advanced, cutting-edge features previously introduced in ATI's RADEON X800 family of VPUs and a higher level of performance than even last year's high-end visual processors.

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HIS's X600XT proved to be an excellent choice if you looking at a more affordable PCI-E videocard option, but still want an excellent card with some excellent features. In this case, the software bundle was second to none and the additional perks like the ramsinks and large VPU cooler will allow the buyer to squeeze a little more free performance out of this videocard for the dollar. This card is all about the extra value for your hard earned dollar.

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ABIT is probably not a name that many of you are unfamiliar with. Always innovating and striving for top performance, ABIT has been an industry leader for over 15 years. When you think about the top enthusiast-oriented motherboard and video card manufacturers, ABIT will definitely make the list. The company produces many of the best performing products on the market.

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The Socket-939 is a step in the right direction for AMD, and the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum would make a fine choice if that is the path you're looking to take. Whether the FX or non-FX version of the Athlon 64 is your cup of tea, this motherboard can swing both ways.