Manufacturers Specs

[JonTheCanuck]

hey, i was just looking at some comp specs and how people say what certain kind of motherboards r good and whatnot. So are some motherboard types better than others? i'm a complete n00b for this kind of thing and was just wondering if theres a large difference between lets say ASUS motherboards or SOLTEK, and i dont even know if those thigns go in the same 2 categories lol but what r the better companies for making cpu products and whatnot?

 

[Asus]

Different companys have a slightly different aim for their target market but the major companies to consider maybe but not limited to: Abit,Albatron,Asus,Chaintech,Epox,Gigabyte,Leadtek,MSI.
Abit likes to aim at the PC enthusiast.
Asus is a very stable board with a strong following. (very strong performance on their P4 boards)
Epox is a newer company and provides good OCing boards for AMD.
Gigabyte is known for their feature rich boards (but may come at a cost).
MSI also is a very stable well known board manufacturer.
Albatron provides good quality boards with those on a a budget I think. Leadtek and Chaintech are two more good company out there trying to look different from the rest.

It would be a good idea to know what chipset they use.
Know what features are included and what you would use.
Read a few reviews on them.

 

[SidewinderX]

Persoanlly, if you can go with an Asus or Abit, imo. MSI isn't far behind as well.

 

[TheOtherDude]

I recommend Asus and Abit for the P4.

For the Athlon XP, I recommend Abit, Epox, and Soltek.