Intel 850 Motherboard Roundup: September 2001

How and What to Compare

The biggest difference among the boards in this roundup comes in terms of overclocking features.  As such, the first thing we did was separate them into two groups - one for overclockers and one for non-overclockers. 

Recent testing indicates that our current stability tests are not completely capable of reflecting the differences between boards anymore, simply because stability has improved so much across the board compared to the “old days.” Unfortunately, we’ve had to omit the stability test results from this roundup since they would essentially be meaningless in its current form.  Rest assured that  we are working very hard behind the scenes to find another, even more stressful test for stability. 

The Performance Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you should not base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.