Intel Pentium D and Intel Extreme Edition dual-core processors are not as high-performing as AMD Athlon 64 X2 chips in mainstream applications, but have another significant advantage over the competition: lower price. That said, a lot of enthusiasts may be interested in acquiring Intel's latest products, but may have troubles with decision about the platforms: should they get Intel 945 or 955X chipset-based mainboard, or pick up a mainboard running NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition.

The Tech Report web-site has decided to clear the things up once and for all and has prepared a roundup of seven mainboards powered by the aforementioned chipsets. After checking out the products?feature-set, performance and overclockability, the authors came to valuable conclusions.

“While it was easy to single out the [ABIT] AL8 [Intel 945P] as our favorite platform for a budget system, picking the best high-end board is more difficult. In my view, it comes down to a battle between the Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe [NVIDIA nForce4 SLI Intel Edition] and P5WD2 Premium WiFiTV Edition [Intel 955X]. Both were performance leaders, and each has something a little different to offer. For the P5WD2, it's the WiFiTV bundle, and for the P5ND2-SLI it's support for SLI,?The Tech Report's article said.

“In the end, I think the P5ND2-SLI Deluxe has the edge. The P5WD2's WiFiTV bundle is certainly fancy, but it only appeals to those with a hankering for Wi-Fi and a TV tuner. You can build a better Wi-Fi/TV tuner bundle on your own with the P5WD2's $100 price premium, and it'll probably take more than a C-note to convince NVIDIA to support SLI on the Intel 955X chipset,?the article concluded.

• The Tech Report: Dual-Core-Capable Pentium Platforms Compared.