Help on deciding a 775 Mobo!

[Tomcat81970]

title says it, i want mainly an amazing overclockig board that will last me the next 3 years or so, so here are the ones that ive been looking at so far...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136032&Tpk=dfi

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136039

open to other ideas, please help... i love DFI, but still open to other ideas... thanks!

 

[Darknova]

If you want Crossfire, go for the X38. If not the P35, compatible with the upcoming 45nm chips so it'll last a few years at least.

 

[sneekypeet]

Im very interested in how this thread ends up as I am in the same boat. I am also a DFI fan , but would like to get the best bang for my buck.

Only thing is , just to round it out a bit maybe you should add the Gigabyte also?

this is the one...Dont really like the looks of all the colors , but if it performs there may be hope yet.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128066

 

[suraswami]

What are the things that u plan to do with this new build? R u planning to add PCI add-on cards? If so then the crossfire DFI would hinder putting them if adding 2 slot VCs. Don't know if the board can support crossfire using Slot 1 PCI-E and Last down slot PCI-E so u can use other PCI slots for upgrades. The board has all the things u would ever want. Digital out, firewire and lots of USB. You will be missing PCI-E x1 slot tho.

 

[Jess Stingray]

If you have a decent budget, get an ASUS Maximus... one of the best 775 boards out for overclocking. If not, get an ASUS P5K like the one that I'll be getting tomorrow.

 

[Hawk1]

edit: NVM

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

Get the DFI P35 T2R if you already own DDR2, or are on a budget.
Get the DFI x38 T2R if you already own DDR2 but can spend 300+ on a mobo.
Get the DFI x38 T3R if you have tons of money to blow on DDR3.

I have the DFI P35, and its awesome. I highly recommend it! Especially if you want to Overclock.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3129

Also this motherboard has hit 660Mhz FSB. No other P35 can be pushed this far...as of yet.

 

[Tomcat81970]

do have 4gb of ddr2pc8000 (just got that a week ago or so) and i am on a budget (450ish for cpu and mobo) , so my best bet is the P35 DFI, it can also have Penryn so thats also looking up. Does it come with the transpiper? Or is that an extra feature one must purchase. I know some of the DFI boards do come with it.
I like that it still has the concept of crossfire, but im surprised that its 16x4. My old CFX3200 did 16x16 and that was 2ish years ago. They could have atleast had 8x8... but o well. not like im going to be running it for a while.


q6600 = $280
P35 DFI = $205
Total = $485, which isnt bad

you know whats funny Zen, but im aiming at roughly the same system your at now... hows that watercooling setup working?

 

[sneekypeet]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3129

Also this motherboard has hit 660Mhz FSB. No other P35 can be pushed this far...as of yet.

Sweet to hear it is in fact a good mobo...Havent heard from many DFI owners in the 775 market.

@ Tom ...yes sir the mobo has the piped cooler that mounts two ways!http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136037

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I just received mine 3 days ago from Newegg and it did come with the transpiper, that is a very nice heatpipe solution.

That is exactly what I upgraded from the DFi cfx3200.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I have been with DFI since AMD socket 3 days. This is the first Intel DFI though and its rock solid. Reminds me of the NF4 Ultra-d. Perfect board layout. Especially for adding extreme cooling solutions.

 

[Ketxxx]

Kinda a no-brainer, the Asus.

 

[sneekypeet]

Kinda a no-brainer, the Asus.

LMAO...this comming from an avid DFI hater.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

I would also debate asus. Especially the Striker Extreme. That has to be one of the worst layouts for Mobo with all that copper garbage that you will end up taking off to put real cooling on. Also the QX9650 is not compatible with it...Heard a lot of bad things regarding bios updates being unstable as well.

I would give the Maximus Extreme a better rating, but it uses DDR3, and has a base cost of 340.00. Mega bucks for this layout.

 

[Tomcat81970]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3129&p=20

"One looming subject has been the poor overclocking of Micron D9GKX based memory. It is now believed the P35 chipset itself is the weak link, rather than motherboard or even memory module PCB layout issues. Our own tests have revealed that these top-binned modules do seem to require additional voltage at just about any speed to remain stable - this goes for all P35 based motherboards."

But then it goes and says....
"With X38 based motherboards entering the market now, it would seem the long-term potential for enthusiast level P35 boards is diminished. However, we feel there is still plenty of life left in DFI's new toy, especially since overclocking on the latest X38 motherboards does not match the clocking ability of this motherboard at present."

Is that the general rule of thumb? I realize this is probably an old articel, but still Like i said, overclocking is my number one issue (which is why i love DFI) and i dont want to spend any more than 240$ on a mobo. Is the transpiper worth it? or is it better if i save like 40$ and get the one without it. Im going watercooling at christmas, so i doubt i would use it for the cpu connection, maby because of a huge radiator off the back of the pc.

 

[Darknova]

"One looming subject has been the poor overclocking of Micron D9GKX based memory. It is now believed the P35 chipset itself is the weak link, rather than motherboard or even memory module PCB layout issues. Our own tests have revealed that these top-binned modules do seem to require additional voltage at just about any speed to remain stable - this goes for all P35 based motherboards."

But then it goes and says....
"With X38 based motherboards entering the market now, it would seem the long-term potential for enthusiast level P35 boards is diminished. However, we feel there is still plenty of life left in DFI's new toy, especially since overclocking on the latest X38 motherboards does not match the clocking ability of this motherboard at present."

Is that the general rule of thumb? I realize this is probably an old articel, but still Like i said, overclocking is my number one issue (which is why i love DFI) and i dont want to spend any more than 240$ on a mobo. Is the transpiper worth it? or is it better if i save like 40$ and get the one without it.

The problem with the X38 is the memory overclocking, because it's built for DDR3 if you use DDR2 then it has to add an extra controller on which means it's has two on the same chip, hence more heat, and it has to negotiate between the two.

The P35 has only one controller regardless of version (DDR2 or DDR3) which is why it tends to overclock better.

Well that's what I read anyway.

 

[Ketxxx]

LMAO...this comming from an avid DFI hater.

Nope I dont hate DFI, I just hate the fact no hardware in existence seems to work 100% right on their stuff ( owned 4 DFI boards, and roughly 10 different systems trying to get a DFI mobo to be happy). Besides, look at how things are going, Asus are without question the current champs. Build quality and BIOS on their boards are solid. I'm sure that torch will pass again, but right now Asus got it.