MOBO Decisions-p35?/x38?/others

[i_dog_69]

Hey guys, im selling my evga 680i mobo and getting a new one that HAS to work with the new 45nm chips coming out. ive been looking mostly at the p35 chipset becuase it it cheaper, but i might go x38 if i can find a good deal on it(open box or something). what i really need is advice on which boards from either of these chipsets OC's the best, because right now all i have is a lowly e4500 thats juiced up, but plan on getting a new penryn. MULTI GPU CAPABILITIES ARE A MUST! $220 is abosolute MAX i can spend.

ALSO i wanted to know if ALL x38 mobos support ddr2/ddr3 memory or if only a few manufacturers make that an option. another thing i want to know about is CROSSFIRE X, and if it will be supported on any of the intel chipsets(at least ones with 3/4 pci-e slots) and without starting a speculation war if SLI will ever be supported on any of the new intel chipsets.

sorry for being so long winded i just want to make a good choice and a have a solid upgrade path for a while. you guys are the best! have at it!

 

[trog100]

it never is that easy.. future proof is six months at the most if u want to stay near the top..

crossfire X is in the future and might not pass muster.. i have just tried the amd 790x board with two 3870 cards.. my conclusion.. a waste of space..

i have just bought for the "present".. one abit pro p35 mother board and one e6750 dual core chip.. and one grafix card.. i assume it will run 3.6 gig 24/7 with 4 gig plus or so for benching.. and one grafix card is enough..

as for the future.. who knows.. ????

trog

 

[Darknova]

Crossfire X at the moment is pointless, but then it's the same with all new technology.

If you are dead set on multi-GPU and have no preferences about GPU manufacturer then get an X38 board. It's better than the 680i.

About your DDR2/3 question, it's entirely up to the manufacturer. you'll find that there are some X38 boards with DDR2, and others with DDR3, even from the same manufacturer. Whatever you do, do not get a combo board which has support for both. Benchmarks show a noticeable performance decrease when using a combo board with DDR2 over a board that only has DDR2.

 

[i_dog_69]

it never is that easy.. future proof is six months at the most if u want to stay near the top..

crossfire X is in the future and might not pass muster.. i have just tried the amd 790x board with two 3870 cards.. my conclusion.. a waste of space..

i have just bought for the "present".. one abit pro p35 mother board and one e6750 dual core chip.. and one grafix card.. i assume it will run 3.6 gig 24/7 with 4 gig plus or so for benching.. and one grafix card is enough..

as for the future.. who knows.. ????

trog

im not trying to "future proof" anything here, all i was saying is that i want a solid upgrade path for a while. also are there any x38 boards that support SLI? and what boards have you heard are good OC'ers.

 

[trog100]

he he he.. as far as i know sli is purely an nvidia chipset thing..

i recon this one would be a good bet.. but they are all "enthusiast" boards so there are a few to pick from..

Foxconn X38A Intel X38 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 & DDR3 Motherboard

trog

ps.. foxcon are huge and make lots of things for lots of people.. they are trying to get their name up in the ranks.. so i recon they will be offering a good product.. they have to..

 

[erocker]

780i is going to be out very soon!

 

[Tatty_Two]

If you end up going for the cheaper P35 boards then there are a couple of Gigabyte boards that overclock really well and support BOTH DDR2 and DDR3 and x38's come in all flavours.

Here is a decent one for $149.99!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128048

 

[craigwhiteside]

im getting this mobo , combo ddr2 and ddr3 and has none of the drawbacks of previous combo boards

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-086-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

heres an xbit review on it , fairs well against the others

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/ga-p35c-ds3r.html

 

[Deleted member 24505]

its an ok board but,why o why did they waste the big space on the side for the logos? they could have put the connections closer to the edge of the board.

 

[i_dog_69]

One mnore question, are all p35 boards compatable with the new penryn or just the some the x38/48 boards?

 

[Darknova]

im getting this mobo , combo ddr2 and ddr3 and has none of the drawbacks of previous combo boards

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-086-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

heres an xbit review on it , fairs well against the others

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/ga-p35c-ds3r.html

Even maximum possible memory voltage didn’t help. So, it turns out that this mainboard can only work with high-speed DDR3 SDRAM

That's EXACTLY what I was talking about.

Combo boards have BOTH memory controllers hooked up in sequence, so if you use DDR2, it has to negotiate with the DDR3 memory controller AS WELL, thus decreasing performance and overclocks.

One mnore question, are all p35 boards compatable with the new penryn or just the some the x38/48 boards?

Some P35s will require the BIOS to be updated, but all x38/x48 support them.

 

[i_dog_69]

so which do you guys think will be better for OC'ing, the 780i or the x38? ih heard the 780i was mostly a re-packaged 680i with 45nm support and few new options. whats the deal?

 

[Darknova]

so which do you guys think will be better for OC'ing, the 780i or the x38? ih heard the 780i was mostly a re-packaged 680i with 45nm support and few new options. whats the deal?

X38 no question. The intel chips at the moment are the best overclockers.

The 780i IIRC, is a 680i southbridge, the northbridge is only tweaked to add 45nm support and to increase compatibility with Quads. I think that's about it.

 

[tzitzibp]

CHECK THIS OUT...

hope it helps....

Ronnie.

\\.ps prices are in Euros

 

[FatForester]

All the Intel P31, 33, 35, and 38 will support Penryn, so if you go with an Intel chip, you shouldn't worry about that. The P35 is a great overclocker, and the X38 should be even better. There were some problems with the 780i bios recognizing CPU's, so if you don't care about SLI, definitely go with an Intel chipset. The only reason I would consider an nvidia chipset is for SLI.

 

[i_dog_69]

is there any word on crossfire x on the x38 chipset now that ATI has reached an agreement with intel for future chipsets?

 

[Natrid]

I can vouch for the P35 chipset, especially the DFI Blood Iron motherboard. Best OCer I ever had. X38 is a good choice only if your going to use Crossfire.

 

[trog100]

I can vouch for the P35 chipset, especially the DFI Blood Iron motherboard. Best OCer I ever had. X38 is a good choice only if your going to use Crossfire.

yes.. its commonly said the p35 chipset overclocks the best..

trog

 

[i_dog_69]

Now that nvidia 700 series is out, does anyone know if they are goin to release boards with support for the 1600 FSB?? i see a few of the x38's have them but i havent heard anything about the nvidai chips supporting it, at least as of yet...

 

[trog100]

from what i read officially they dont support 1600..

trog

 

[i_dog_69]

Did anyone else read that article about the p35 chipset?? i heard it was the chipset of the year because of the OC potential, but doesnt the x38 OC way better?? hmm....

 

[Darknova]

Did anyone else read that article about the p35 chipset?? i heard it was the chipset of the year because of the OC potential, but doesnt the x38 OC way better?? hmm....

The X38 doesn't OC better in most cases. If you take a look at review sites you will still find that a lot of the "best overclocking motherboard" charts etc. are still dominated by P35 boards, and tbh, unless you are desperate for Crossfire I see no point in getting an X38. P35 is cheaper. OC's just as well, and most of the time better. Supports both DDR2 and DDR3 (manufacturers choice)....it's a no-brainer IMO.

 

[i_dog_69]

so even if crossfire x is "irrelevent" or whatever, does anyone have info on what mobo's will support it. i heard that it would support "2 or more graphics cards" so could a p35 board with 3 pci-e slots support a 3 card setup?? just wondering... thanks

 

[Darknova]

so even if crossfire x is "irrelevent" or whatever, does anyone have info on what mobo's will support it. i heard that it would support "2 or more graphics cards" so could a p35 board with 3 pci-e slots support a 3 card setup?? just wondering... thanks

I really doubt it. I don't even know of any P35 boards with 3 PCI-E slots. The P35 can only handle 1 16x and 1 4x slot IIRC...

 

[i_dog_69]

well i have just found these, and i was considering them because i have had a good experiance with DFI boards and OC'ing, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136037 and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136039 .... any ideas??