While a lot of the focus on computer motherboards has legitimately been on the X58 chipset and the Core i7 CPUs due to the increased performance and new features of the combination, there is still a market for P45 based motherboards and Core 2 CPUs. After all, the platform cost for a X58+Core i7+ DDR3 memory is far less than buying a P45 based motherboard+ Core 2 CPU+ DDR2 memory. With the economy the way it is value is becoming more and more important.
ASUS manufactures video cards motherboards, and other computer related equipment for years now. They are the number one motherboard company in terms of sales and have a special place in both mine and Doc's hearts as every personal system we build has an ASUS motherboard as its base. They sold over 24 million motherboards in 2008. Today's review is on the ASUS Maximus II Gene motherboard which is based upon the P45 chipset. This board is a micro-ATX motherboard and can handle all the new Core 2 CPUs from Intel. This board is small enough to fit into most HTPC cases and seems to be a great board on paper for hat purpose.
