The P45 chipset takes the stability of the P35 chipset and introduces support for PCI Express 2.0 - the latest standard for graphic cards. If you were waiting for the best choice of upgrade for an existing LGA775 system, or want a board for a budget system, this is definitely the chipset of choice. It's great time to bag an upgrade. What better gift for the DIY geek in your household?
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BIOSTAR TPOWER I45
from www.biostar.com.tw
The next step down from here in price is the BiostarTPower I45 at $190 (Web ID 121984), which is a feature-packed board. Two eSATA ports are present on the back panel, as well as six internal SATA ports. Performance was extremely impressive, and the board could be pushed to high speeds easily – though the included fan makes a loud noise. The manual headers used to enable Crossfire mode are annoying, but this can be easily overlooked. If you’re after a motherboard packed with features, that will give you plenty of scope to tweak and refine, the Biostar TPOWER I45 is an excellent choice. read full review
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MSI P45 PLATINUM
from www.msicomputer.com.au
MSI’s P45 PLATINUM board is the most expensive of the lot at $240, and offers an elaborate cooling solution on the northbridge. Unfortunately, features are quite light-on, though eight SATA ports (six are right-angled to help with neat cabling) and an eSATA on the back panel offer support for extra storage. Performance is good, but instability creeps in early if you try to push the limits.
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Gigabyte EP45-DS3R
from www.giga-byte.com
Moving to the next motherboard, we have major player Gigabyte’s EP45-DS3R for $170. We looked at the P35 version in our motherboard roundup (Web ID: 120170), and this is essentially the same with an updated chipset. There are six SATA ports, eight USB ports and two Ethernet ports available on this board, which is plenty for even the most prolific storage and peripheral collection. This is a good quality board, with a lot of good features for the price, and can even be overclocked significantly. For sheer value, you really can’t go past the Gigabyte EP45-DS3R – with solid features, performance and price, this is one board that should be at the top of your shortlist. read full review
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ASUS P5Q PRO
from www.asus.com.au
Coming in at only a couple of dollars less than the Gigabyte board, rival manufacturer ASUS’ P5Q PRO will set you back roughly $168. For this, you get eight SATA ports, six USB and a Firewire port. You’ve also got a heatpipe-connected cooling array, which should improve cooling performance markedly compared to separated, smaller ones. Faster memory (such as 1066MHz) refused to work, but performance was good at 800MHz.
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Elitegroup P45T-A
from www.ecs.com.tw
The cheapest board we have here weighs in at a paltry $145, but you also get what you pay for. The Elitegroup P45T-A has six SATA ports, six USB, eSATA and a single Ethernet. Apart from this, there really isn’t that much else to the board, although we had difficulties running one of our benchmarks. We suggest that you spend a little extra, and get something with stronger features and performance.
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