Page 2: How They are compared
<b>How They Are Compared</b>:
<b>Performance</b>:
This is the performance of the board, and chips compared to others of its own kind. The performance is based on benchmarks from around the web, and how they average according to what I've seen. Most boards benchmark within 5% of each other now, which can be the gain of a whole chipset. Its one of the hardest categories to judge, as very few companies are consistent.
<b>Stability</b>:
The stability is based on what some reviews have commented on, but mostly from user feedback in various forums. As of late, most boards are quite stable, but a few years ago, stability was a vital stat, with numbers of crashes per day, and it was not rare to see double digits in a review. It is still an important stat, but as software and hardware have matured, its harder to judge.
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Overclocking:
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This is rated on how many overclocking bios options are usually included in the boards. It is also rated on the more important factor, how can it overclocks. Bonus points are always awarded to companies that are innovative in the field.
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Price:
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The price compared to other boards is measured. Of course, options like onboard ethernet, RAID, and sound are accounted for, while brand name is not. Some of the marks are not based on pure price, but more on my opinion if the board is worth it.
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Features:
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This is whether or not a manufacturer puts additional options on the board like RAID, sound, NIC, etc. Bonus points go for manufacturers that offer additional models, or gives you the option to add them on or not.
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History:
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This takes into account the past performance of their products. If a manufacturer's boards randomly die on you after a couple years, or they just tend to have a lot of problems with them, it should be listed here.
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Support
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The web page and personal support are judged here. 5 points go to each. If drivers, bios, and other info is available on the web pages, and if personal response to emails is given are the deciding factors.
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Products worth mentioning:
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Listed here are the outstanding, or very bad products made. Outstanding products are ones that are the top of its class by a large margin, and ones that the buyers and say how much they love. Usually these are the boards you still here about over a year after they are sold. Most of the time this correlates to their brand name, if you've heard of them they'll probably have some points here.