Foxconn G43MX LGA775 motherboard review

Foxconn’s G43MX microATX motherboard can accept up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM in its two memory slots. Although this should be enough for most tasks, especially if you’re using the board to build a media center PC, other microATX motherboards we’ve seen can take as much as 8GB or 16GB. The spacing between the RAM slots and the PCI Express x16 slot is quite cramped, so fitting memory is a little trickier with a large graphics card installed than it is with other boards.

The integrated Intel graphics chip can play HD video, but there isn’t a HDMI output. This makes it more inconvenient to connect a TV, since you need to run two cables, one for video (via VGA or DVI) and another for audio.

The BIOS lets you overclock the frontside bus and there are controls for adjusting the voltage of the processor, RAM and chipset. There’s only one fan header for connecting a processor fan. This is inconvenient, but you can always add fans that connect to the power supply directly.

There are six SATA ports for connecting storage devices, which is generous for a microATX motherboard. There’s no IDE port though, so you can’t re-use an existing IDE DVD writer. As expected for a motherboard this compact, there are only two PCI slots and a single PCI Express x1 slot for accommodating peripherals such as TV tuners and WiFi adaptors. This should be enough for most uses. If not, you can always buy USB adaptors instead. In addition to the four ports, each of the three headers supports two ports each – so you could connect a total of 10 USB devices.

Foxconn’s G43MX is capable microATX motherboard, but it’s a little overpriced compared to the competition. MSI’s G41TM-E43 is a better buy overall.