QUOTE
The P965 chipset has certainly evoked a lot of different emotions around our test labs as well as around the various hardware sites and forums. This chipset was hyped as the next 440BX in some circles and promoted ad nauseam before, during, and after Computex last year. At first look this chipset seemed to be an instant replacement for the venerable 975X as it costs less, sports an improved memory controller (at least on paper), and supports all Intel processors from NetBurst (Celeron through Pentium D) to Core 2 Duo, as well as the latest Core 2 Quad offerings.
Leading up to Computex 2006 we found that the majority of the motherboard suppliers were introducing at least one product based on this new chipset, while companies like Gigabyte and ASUS would launch several different product lines dedicated to it. The initial product introductions had this chipset being used in every imaginable configuration from the $80 ECS P965T-A to the $250 (at launch) ASUS P5B-Deluxe WiFi-AP. While the high-end boards like the Gigabyte GA-P965-DQ6 and ASUS P5B-Deluxe have dropped in price, the base P965 boards such as the ECS P965T-A and MSI P965 Neo-F continue to hover around the $80 mark.
At times we have even seen these budget P965 boards practically given away for free with the purchase of a processor, but other chipsets continue to thrive in the low end market for people wanting to use a Core 2 Duo processor. In fact, one of our favorite motherboards after the Conroe launch was the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA featuring the VIA PT880 Pro chipset that afforded users the capability to utilize their existing AGP or DDR memory with a Core 2 Duo processor. We still recommend this board and its successor the 4CoreDual-VSTA that features quad core capability and improved performance in the budget Intel market.
Why hasn't the P965 obliterated the other chipsets in the market sector? Obviously one important factor is pricing as it appears there will not be any $60 P965 boards soon (or perhaps ever). That leaves the budget market to Intel's previous generation chipsets and competitors like VIA or SIS. Unfortunately, with the AMD buyout of ATI we will not see competitive chipsets from ATI in the Core 2 Duo market except for the performance oriented RD600 that is currently only being offered from DFI. We also see very good 975X boards such as the DFI Infinity and Intel D975XBX2 in the $160 to $199 range now that offer excellent performance for the price.
Leading up to Computex 2006 we found that the majority of the motherboard suppliers were introducing at least one product based on this new chipset, while companies like Gigabyte and ASUS would launch several different product lines dedicated to it. The initial product introductions had this chipset being used in every imaginable configuration from the $80 ECS P965T-A to the $250 (at launch) ASUS P5B-Deluxe WiFi-AP. While the high-end boards like the Gigabyte GA-P965-DQ6 and ASUS P5B-Deluxe have dropped in price, the base P965 boards such as the ECS P965T-A and MSI P965 Neo-F continue to hover around the $80 mark.
At times we have even seen these budget P965 boards practically given away for free with the purchase of a processor, but other chipsets continue to thrive in the low end market for people wanting to use a Core 2 Duo processor. In fact, one of our favorite motherboards after the Conroe launch was the ASRock 775Dual-VSTA featuring the VIA PT880 Pro chipset that afforded users the capability to utilize their existing AGP or DDR memory with a Core 2 Duo processor. We still recommend this board and its successor the 4CoreDual-VSTA that features quad core capability and improved performance in the budget Intel market.
Why hasn't the P965 obliterated the other chipsets in the market sector? Obviously one important factor is pricing as it appears there will not be any $60 P965 boards soon (or perhaps ever). That leaves the budget market to Intel's previous generation chipsets and competitors like VIA or SIS. Unfortunately, with the AMD buyout of ATI we will not see competitive chipsets from ATI in the Core 2 Duo market except for the performance oriented RD600 that is currently only being offered from DFI. We also see very good 975X boards such as the DFI Infinity and Intel D975XBX2 in the $160 to $199 range now that offer excellent performance for the price.
LINK
from the motherboard's point of view the 965 boards are doing so well at the moment it's hard to look at anything else! performance wise as they stated the 16x8 PCI-E is not good for the future but hell I ain't touching SLI for a LONG LONG TIME!
