With AMD's Phenoms working out the kinks to create an effective mid-range CPU and Intel's Penryns still holding the high ground, fans of both chip giants are probably wondering if it is time to upgrade the star of their computer's performance. Unfortunately, with Intel's 45 nm chips not running on older motherboards, and only some manufacturers of AMD boards taking advantage of the fact that Phenoms are able to run on existing chipsets with only a bios revision, will that new Primadonna, be she a young Phenom or having a narrow 45nm waist, be willing to work in that old theater of yours?
It might be time to lease a new building or, to end my indulgence in metaphor, get a new motherboard. With the absurd nomenclature and amount of features crammed onto these boards, not to mention the sheer number of boards available, it is easy to spend money on something that won't do what is expected or to spend too much money on functionality one doesn't need. How do we narrow the options to find the best chipset value for our requirements?
Choosing a chipset is a big decision. The most important part of a motherboard is the chipset; a mother board without a chipset is arguably a piece of plastic that holds your system's components firmly inside the case. The chipset is responsible for most of the communication that takes place between the parts you choose for your system; having the top of the line CPU, GPUs, memory, drives, etc. on a dated, mainstream chipset is like being the mayor of a town that only allows super high-end sports cars on its roads, and then leaves said roads unpaved. Check this article if you need further basic information about what a chipset is and what it does.
One might decide to go right to the cutting edge of chipsets in the name of future proofing, but both AMD and Intel CPUs face issues there. By the end of the year Intel is going to release its Nehalem chips, which will finally part ways with the LGA775 socket. It was assumed that these CPUs would be very expensive even for the base model, particularly as the bulk of Intel's 2009 line-up is Core 2 based, but there are rumors that an entry level Nehalem will ship under $300. AMD was pretty late on their Phenoms, and though a cost effective option, it certainly failed to make Intel or its users quake in their boots, so AMD is eager to move on to the 45nm Phenoms codenamed Deneb. The good news is that it appears they will run on current chipsets and be out by year's end. Unfortunately it looks like the performance will not be enough to overtake Intel's Penryns, let alone Nehalem. AMD will try to have Fusion and Bulldozer chips out by the end of 2009, and those will require a new motherboard. With a maximum of one more year of running the best reasonably priced chips available from either the Red or Blue team, the motherboard you buy tomorrow has upgrade potential that might be more of a stop gap than a road map.
So we're going to have a look at all of the newer chipsets out there; choosing one or a few that strike you as appropriate allows you to reduce the plethora of motherboards from which you have to choose, to a far more reasonable number.
We will begin with chipsets for Intel CPUs, broken down by whether they are mainstream or enthusiast, be they from nVidia or Intel itself. We then move to the AMD side, again organizing by mainstream or enthusiast, including AMD's and nVidia's chipset line ups, before wrapping up the loose ends. Depending on how far along you are in your purchasing decisions, you may want to read everything or skip to your preferred products using the table of contents below. Either way, the information will help you get the most out of your motherboard dollar.
>>> Introduction
>>> Mainstream Chipset for Intel CPU's
By Intel (P, G and Q; 3 and 4 series)
By nVidia (nForce 630i, 650i, 750i)
>>> Enthusiast Chipset for Intel CPU's
By Intel (X38 and X48)
By nVidia (nForce 680i, 780i, 790i)
>>> Mainstream Chipset for AMD CPU's
By AMD (770, 780G, 780V)
By
nVidia (710a, 720a, 730a, 750a, GeForce 8 series)
>>> Ethusiast Chipset for AMD CPU's
By AMD (790X, 790FX)
By nVidia (780a SLI)
>>> Summary & Conclusion