THE MARKET FOR CORE 2 motherboards is starting to fill out, and enthusiasts now have plenty of options to choose from at a variety of price points. Intel's new P965 chipset has proven to be a surprisingly popular option for budget offerings and high-end boards alike, so it was really only a matter of time before we pitted boards from opposite ends of the spectrum against each other for a little market segment warfare.

In the budget corner, we have Foxconn's P9657AA-8KS2H, a board whose $100 price tag makes it one of the cheapest P965 offerings on the market. The P9657AA-8KS2H has everything you'll need, including Gigabit Ethernet, High Definition Audio, and a decent array of overclocking and fan speed control options, making it a potential bargain.

For twice the cost of the Foxconn board, you could also have Gigabyte's GA-965P-DQ6. In addition to everything you'll need, the GA-965P-DQ6 has a few things you might want, like a second PCI Express x16 slot, Core 2 multiplier control, fancy heatpipe cooling, and a handful of extra goodies.

The obvious question, of course, is whether all those extras are worth the $100 premium. Can a budget board really keep up with a high-end offering? Read on for the surprising answer.