It was a great move for AMD to integrate the memory controller into the Athlon64 processor as this guaranteed that even the value-end of Athlon64 systems would maintain a high level of performance.

With that in mind, realistically the only thing that differentiates a high and low end motherboard these day are features. If consumers want to use dual videocards, two Gigabit NICs, and half a dozen Serial ATA ports, be prepared to spend the money. On the other hand, if you want a no frills Athlon 64 system, that's also a possibility.

Never let the fact that Foxconn is not a well known motherboard brand (yet) hold you back from taking in what we've learned here. The Foxconn Winfast NF4K8AC-8EKRS handled the benchmarks well, and is pretty much able to keep up with the best of the reference boards, except that its price is just $115 CDN ($95 USD)! If you're looking to build a budget or entry level system, this is certainly a motherboard to keep it in mind.

Given the tight pricing here, it's not surprising that the Foxconn NF4K8AC-8EKRS does not come with a lot of goodies... but the basics like 7.1 audio, Gigabit LAN and IEEE 1394a are at least covered. If there is a feature that's missing, there are four PCI slots and two PCI Express x1 slots for future expansion.