Introduction

The Socket 939 processor would have to be one of the hottest processors around at the moment for anyone interested in running a true enthusiast rig. While availability isn't the best on some of the cheaper models currently, there is no denying that a lot of people are trying to get their hands on a cheap yet capable 3200+ that is capable of overclocking through the roof.

While nVidia and ATI have had a very heated graphics card battle over the past few years, both are well and truly making themselves noticed in the motherboard chipset market in another battle which is surely set to heat up over the next few years as well. ATI released their first mainstream chipset last year for Pentium 4 and nVidia continued making a name for themselves with the nForce 2 Ultra 400 and nForce 3 chipsets for the AMD platform.

We will be looking at the two latest chipsets to hit the Socket 939 processor market today which is the nForce 4 from nVidia and the 200 Series from ATI. Both chipsets are designed to give you the best performance possible out of your 939 processor although nVidia are already on their second Athlon 64 chipset whereas ATI is only at their first attempt not only for the Athlon 64 but also AMD so nVidia has some experience behind them which may well give them the upper hand at the end of the day.

We will be having a closer look at both the reference boards which we received directly from the suspects and see what they have to offer and which one is going to be best for your AMD64 system this New Year.

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