Asrock AM2V890-VSTA & MSI K9A Platinum Motherboards

The Conclusion

Well, where do we begin to wrap this thing up? I think we need to begin with this: both boards are great boards, and are very fast at default settings. If you are running everything default, you will be hard pressed to find any differences in performance at all between these two. If you are needing (wanting) to go with a Crossfire setup, you are out of luck if you want the Asrock, but the MSI will do the trick. If you are looking for a low cost budget board to set up a folding box or a nice little box for your kids, than the Asrock is perfect.

The Asrock would be a great board for an HTPC, as it is small, and has just what you need, and nothing extra. The MSI will get you some future proofing as it will allow you to run a dual video card setup, and take your gaming to the next level, whenever that comes into play. The bundles that each board comes with are just enough to get you running with the options that are available on each board.

The Legit Bottom Line

At this point, there is no site of the MSI board on any of the major pricing search engines. The Asrock board can be found for as little as $70 shipped, which is a very attractive price for a board that performs great. Obviously, each board is unique in who it will be marketed to. These boards were not necessarily pitted against each other as being in the same competing pricing scheme, but they were used to show you that you can get great performance no matter what price point you choose. The best advice for those looking for a new AM2 motherboard: decide what you need, and how much you are going to spend, and make your purchase based on that, not on the shiney sticker or multi-colored cables that come in the box.