Motherboard: Gigabyte 8I845GVM-RZ (-C)

This low-end offering from Gigabyte is based on the Intel 845GV chipset architecture. The board is good on the performance front and easy on the pocket. the board has onboard graphics but no AGP slot, unlike some other boards in its class. Other features of the board include an IrDA connector, six USB ports and over-clocking support.

We tested the board using P4 3.2/ 512 MB of RAM, 40 GB, 7200 rpm HDD and onboard video. It did well in both Business Winstone and Multimedia Content Creation Winstone benchmarks signifying that it is good at running everyday productivity applications. Its performance was at the same level as the Sempron-based boards such as the MSI KM4M - V tested by us in last month's shootout (page 138). It managed to better the MSI board in the Multimedia Content Creation test by a margin of 7%.

The Bottom Line: Overall, a good entry-level board for running day-to-day office applications.

Ankit Kawatra