AM3 is a relatively new socket, but as with X58 motherboards, some products are already standing out from the crowd. This includes the usual suspects of Gigabyte and ASUS, but MSI also comes out swinging with its 790FX motherboard.
Thanks to Phenom II, an AMD platform is now a good choice for many users. Reviewers have time and time again lavished the Phenom II X3 720 with praise for providing high performance at minimal cost, and the X4 940 has also been given the collective nod as the best quad-core that can be purchased for under $200 dollars.
But finding recommendations of the Phenom II is the easy part. Finding the best AM3 motherboard is trickier. Given their many revisions and modifications, motherboards always tend to be less quickly reviewed than processors, which making picking one that is reliable and feature-rich is a bit of a challenge. That said, there are already some clear winners among AM3 motherboards. This brief list unveils the best motherboards below $100, $150, and $200 dollars.
Okay, gum-shoes. You've got me. Take a look at Newegg and you'll see that this board's only real competition is the ASRock M3A, and let's face it - ASRock's reputation could use a little work.
That does not mean the Gigabyte GA-MA770T is not a good board, however. In fact, it hit me off-guard when I first saw it, and I still find it to be a little wonder. Gigabyte is a quality brand, and this board continues in that tradition. At first glance, it has everything that you'd want in a basic motherboard. It is a large board with a spacious layout, so cramping of cards shouldn't be an issue. The capacitors are high-quality and the finish of the mobo is excellent. The BIOS isserviceable and overclocking shouldn't be an issue, something that stands in contrast to boards from ASRock and Jetway, which tend to hover in this price range but offer a far less flexible BIOS.
In fact, after giving a look at the features this board offers, its hard to recommend anything else to the average user. 16GB of DDR3 is supported at speeds of 1066/1333/1666 (if overclocked). Six SATA ports hang out in the usual bottom-right location while eight USB ports crowd the rear panel. There is even on-board RAID, although I can't speak to how well it performs. This board even has FireWire. The only things missing are CrossFire and a powerful integrated graphics solution, but the last point is the only one that can be considered a disadvantage for a board in this price range. And speaking of price, the Gigabyte GA-MA770T actually comes in at $84.99, well under the $100 mark. All things considered, this is the perfect motherboard for a budget AM3 gaming computer or an inexpensive general-purpose AM3 desktop.