Everybody knows that if you're number 2, you try harder, What if you're number 3 or 4, what do you do then? You look for Golden Opportunities to prove that you have first class products. ASRock did just that during the rise of the Core2Duo era, when overclocking nearly became a household word. ASRock built a stellar reputation with LGA775 motherboards that survived (and thrived) at the high Front Side Bus clock speeds that were required to get those Intel CPUs singing soprano. ASRock now has a new opportunity for market expansion, with the release of the AMD Phenom II CPUs; they once again have a chance to show the world that their products are second to none for supporting the latest and greatest CPUs, with an eye towards the enthusiast market.

With the new Phenom II chips, there are certainly some brand new reasons to start looking at AMD-based motherboards again. The new ASRock AOD790GX/128M motherboard uses all the latest support chips from AMD: the 790 series Northbridge and the SB750 Southbridge. The 790GX also provides integrated graphics processing with an ATI 3300 GPU inside. Follow along with Benchmark Reviews as we take a good look at what ASRock has brought to the latest AMD party, with their new AOD790GX/128M motherboard.

Launched last summer by Intel, the P45 chipset has quickly grown in popularity, replacing the aging P35 chipset. Intended for a mid to upper mainstream consumer base, the P45 chipset boasts some impressive features, such as: full DDR2/DDR3 support, 20 PCI Express 2.0 lanes, ATI Crossfire support, and a 65nm manufacturing process. By now manufacturers have had ample time to design and refine their P45 based motherboards and today Benchmark Reviews takes a look at ASUS' mainstream P45 DDR3 motherboard: the P5Q3. As a twist on our usual motherboard reviews, this article will also shed some light on the growing DDR2 vs DDR3 debate with some hard numbers in the benchmark sections.

There are certain products in every category that somehow manage to attain legendary, if not mythical stature. In the Intel socket based motherboard world that status is frequently obtained not by feature count, not by component selection, not by build quality, but by an ethereal capability to do one thing well: overclock the pins off the latest generation of Intel CPU. The fact that this capability is inextricably linked to the skill of the person tweaking the BIOS, and in many cases is difficult to repeat, only seems to add to the legend. Just as it is impossible to predict which aspiring new actor or actress will become the new darling of the Hollywood glitterati, there is an element of chance as to which motherboard among the many on offer will grab the brass ring. GIGABYTE Technologies Inc. offers 24 version of P45 based Socket 775 motherboards, yet one of them is a diva of the overclocking community. Benchmark Reviews is pleased to bring you our findings on the Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Motherboard.

The GA-EX58-UD4P is the latest high performance X58-Express Series motherboard from GIGABYTE, designed to unleash the awesome power of Intel's new Core i7 processors and replaces the GA-EX58-UD5. Equipped with a host of new features including the new QPI interface, 3-channel DDR3 support, 3-Way SLI and CrossFireX support, Ultra Durable 3 technology and the industry's most extensive range of overclocking features, the EX58-UD4P is bringing excitement back into the high performance motherboard industry. In this article, Benchmark Reviews compares the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P motherboard to their EX58-EXTREME, Intel's DX58SO Smackover, and last-generations GA-X48T-DQ6.

The i7 series of processors accompanied by an enthusiast grade motherboard utilizing the X58 chipset were one of the most highly anticipated product releases since the Core 2 Duo. At the time of the launch Intel introduced their DX58SO motherboard affectionately nicknamed the "Smackover". The DX58SO motherboard is without a doubt the most feature laden endeavor that Intel has undertaken to date. It is not only slanted towards the the serious overclocker but it provides a bevy of BIOS related features that could easily take take Intel's latest product to the next level of performance.

The GA-EX58-EXTREME is the latest high performance X58-Express Series motherboard from GIGABYTE, designed from the ground up to unleash the awesome power of Intel's new Core i7 processors. Equipped with a host of new features including the new QPI interface, 3-channel DDR3 support, 3-Way SLI and CrossFireX support, Ultra Durable 3 technology and the industry's most extensive range of overclocking features, the EX58-EXTREME is bringing excitement back into the high performance motherboard industry. In this article, Benchmark Reviews compares the EX58-EXTREME to Intel's DX58SO Smackover and last-generations X48T-DQ6 motherboards.

After a very extensive testing phase, Benchmark Reviews will present its findings with regard to the ASUS P6T Deluxe X58 motherboard. Before getting into the meat of our review there are a few facts about the versions of this board that we'd like to share. The ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard actually comes in two editions: 1) The P6T Deluxe edition which includes the motherboard and a bevy of accessories; and 2) The P6T Deluxe OC Palm edition which includes all of the items from the Deluxe edition plus the OC Palm device. This review will encompass not only the performance and features of the P6T Deluxe, but also those that the OC Palm monitoring interface brings to the table.

As predicted for this year, the dizzying high prices of DDR3 have finally dropped to within reason- even edging into that of DDR2's price point. The reason for such drastic price drops is that chip makers like Micron, Samsung, Hynix, and Qimonda are currently in full swing mass production of DDR3 DRAM - increasing supply and beating demand. This excess in inventory of DDR3 means a steady supply affordable and readily available chips that have helped to spur such rapid market adoption, evident with over fifty different motherboards currently on the market that support this memory standard.

Further DDR3 price drops are expected to continue into the fourth quarter and means many will be looking for quality motherboards suitable for high-speed DDR3. That being the case Benchmark Reviews thought it would be of interest to examine one of the more mature DDR3 based motherboard offerings on the market today; the ASUS P5E64 WS Professional Motherboard based on Intel's 3 series X38 Express Chipset with support for unheard of "Quad" graphics.