Conclusion:

It’s not often when receiving motherboards based on a reasonably new chipset that we receive samples which are ultimately so different. The standard procedure is for companies to include as many features as they can in the hope that it will attract as wide an audience as possible.

When looking at the Sapphire and MSI 690G motherboards the featuresets are similar. Both have onboard HDMI and VGA. They are both able to output 8 channel HD audio and have a number of USB 2.0 ports mixed in amongst the GB Lan and SATA 2/Raid support, it is here however that the products veer off in different directions.

MSI have gone for a value product with two memory slots, minimal bios options and very few bundled extras. Sapphire have gone just about as far as anyone could on their product with enough add-in brackets to give the board as many features as a full ATX whilst maintaining a small size. The inclusion of four memory slots allows for future applications which may be memory hungry and the bios is filled with configuration options which some more expensive products would be envious of. Finally the inclusion of a DVI card is a real selling point.

In terms of product performance we see that Sapphires take on the 690G tends to be a little faster than MSI’s when the two are configured identically. The difference was never going to be huge however there is a reasonably large difference in price between the two products, which means with the Sapphire we need to weigh up the value of extra memory slots and the bundled connectors (specifically the DVI).

Probably the most interesting feature within the review is the comparison of performance between the 690G and Nvidia’s now mature 6150 chipset. There are aspects of the AMD products performance which are class leading – those being entry level gaming and video encoding, however all too often there is no real benefit in buying a 690G board if you already have the Nvidia chipset in a system.

The big selling point of onboard HDMI is also a real mix in terms of recommendations, the connector makes attaching the product to a HDTV exceptionally easy and the image quality improvements over the older VGA or Component connectors are clearly apparent. That said, the inability of the core to provide playback of Blu-Ray movies at 1080p means that the 6150 connected via DVI>HDMI cable is actually a better solution if high resolution playback is essential.

Summary:

Sapphire:
The Sapphire PI-AM2RS690MHD gets our Shortlist award through being the best 690G based board we have seen to date. The inclusion of some great connectivity options is a real plus and the high levels of bios configuration really take the board to a level not achieved by other manufacturers.

What do these awards mean?

ZipZoomFly $119

MSI:
MSI’s K9AGM2 also received the Shortlist award through providing a great performing board for a small cost. Those looking to build an entry level media system should give this product serious consideration.

What do these awards mean?

EBuyer £44 // ZipZoomFy $79