I LOVE TO see manufacturers pack in all sorts of extra goodies with their mainboards as much as—or maybe even more than—the next guy, but not everyone needs rounded IDE cables, case straps, multiple Serial ATA and IDE RAID options, MOSFET cooling, or on-the-fly hard drive encryption capabilities. All those bundled goodies and extra peripherals are great, but they raise the price of the board and are really a waste if unused.

As the Athlon 64 3000+ hits a price/performance sweet spot for budget-conscious enthusiasts, the outlook is good for Athlon 64 boards that trade bundled bells and whistles for lower price tags. One of these more affordable Athlon 64 boards is Albatron's K8X800 Pro II, which has all the essentials without the frilly extras. Is the K8X800 Pro II worthy of an Athlon 64 3000+? Read on to find out.