New X38 mobo purchasing decision

[Puffnstuff]

Well I have mutiple pc's running in my home. One is using an abit ix38 quadgt which works great and I also have two 780i machines which also run great out of the box with no issues. If you want to run an nvidia gpu with the possibility of going sli in the future the 780i is your best ddr2 solution. If you only want to run one gpu or do crossfire then the x38 is the way to go. I will say that all 3 machines perform very well so it really comes down to what features you want on the mb. We went with the x38 for my oldest son because we wanted to see what the intel chipset would do with an intel cpu and it does well. Likewise my nvidia 780i mb's run fast and stable plus offer me sli which I do use on my machine. As far as brands go I've had good service from asus, dfi, abit and msi. The worst brand I ever used was aopen.

 

[SnOop005]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
Well I have mutiple pc's running in my home. One is using an abit ix38 quadgt which works great and I also have two 780i machines which also run great out of the box with no issues. If you want to run an nvidia gpu with the possibility of going sli in the future the 780i is your best ddr2 solution. If you only want to run one gpu or do crossfire then the x38 is the way to go. I will say that all 3 machines perform very well so it really comes down to what features you want on the mb. We went with the x38 for my oldest son because we wanted to see what the intel chipset would do with an intel cpu and it does well. Likewise my nvidia 780i mb's run fast and stable plus offer me sli which I do use on my machine. As far as brands go I've had good service from asus, dfi, abit and msi. The worst brand I ever used was aopen.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Regarding the question about DFI boards. Based on what i've heard it seems like the DFI is a dream come true for hardcore overclockers, since I don't think i will dedicate the time to gain a few extra mhz I just don't think i will take advantage of the board's full potiental.
I'm happy with my current oc (2.4@3.6) using common overclocker board and I'm not trying to break any record so thats why i think the mainstream boards are good enough for me.

I acutally tried the Abit IN9-MAX before buying the AW9D and it gave me nothing but issues, it fried my ram and the oc ability wasn't as good as the AW9D. To be honest, i really want a SLI setup but the Nvidia chipset is turning me off.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: SnOop005
I acutally tried the Abit IN9-MAX before buying the AW9D and it gave me nothing but issues, it fried my ram and the oc ability wasn't as good as the AW9D. To be honest, i really want a SLI setup but the Nvidia chipset is turning me off.

how much of that you can blame on abit & how much on nVidia I don't know but 680is frying RAM is definitely not unheard of.
afaik the IN9 32X (certainly with the latest BIOS) should overclock duals better than the AW9D & quads about the same.

Having said that 1 of the guys on the abit forums is running an AW9D with an E8400 & finding that it beats his IP35 Pro in SuperPi.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Originally posted by: SnOop005

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
Well I have mutiple pc's running in my home. One is using an abit ix38 quadgt which works great and I also have two 780i machines which also run great out of the box with no issues. If you want to run an nvidia gpu with the possibility of going sli in the future the 780i is your best ddr2 solution. If you only want to run one gpu or do crossfire then the x38 is the way to go. I will say that all 3 machines perform very well so it really comes down to what features you want on the mb. We went with the x38 for my oldest son because we wanted to see what the intel chipset would do with an intel cpu and it does well. Likewise my nvidia 780i mb's run fast and stable plus offer me sli which I do use on my machine. As far as brands go I've had good service from asus, dfi, abit and msi. The worst brand I ever used was aopen.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Regarding the question about DFI boards. Based on what i've heard it seems like the DFI is a dream come true for hardcore overclockers, since I don't think i will dedicate the time to gain a few extra mhz I just don't think i will take advantage of the board's full potiental.
I'm happy with my current oc (2.4@3.6) using common overclocker board and I'm not trying to break any record so thats why i think the mainstream boards are good enough for me.

I acutally tried the Abit IN9-MAX before buying the AW9D and it gave me nothing but issues, it fried my ram and the oc ability wasn't as good as the AW9D. To be honest, i really want a SLI setup but the Nvidia chipset is turning me off.

Right, but the DFI board can get you the same thing just as easily. If you want another board because it has some other extra perk that the DFI board does not, then that's great, go for that board. But don't rule it out because you think you might not fully exploit its abilities.

Seriously, the way you said it sounds something like this:

"All things being equal feature wise, price, and basic overclocking, I'm going to rule out the DFI because it has extra options I probably won't use"

I'm sorry, but that's just crazy. Reasons not to get it would be the price is too high for the features you want, or that it simply lacks features another brand can give you. Heck, even a reason such as "I think it looks ugly" would suffice if all other things were equal as I spelled out.

 

[KotBigemot]

I just built me a new system and used ASUS Maximus Formula. It is a Monster. A true beast. It took E8400 with no problems right from the get go, I did not even have to update BIOS, board had latest BIOS loaded already, and everything installed no problems. You really should see the box and all the extras it comes with - very impressive.
Plus, the price is good - $249 shipped. I think it is a good price for a board like that.
On the other hand, I do agree with OLpal, you can get a less expensive board and I am sure it will work as well. I personally not a big fan of OCing but, when I tried it on Maximus, I was shocked by the fact that it was so easy. Just changed FSb and it OCed to 3.6 with no problems.
So, I highly recommend ASUS Maximus Formula if you have no problems spending a little extra money. You will not be disappointed with that board.

 

[OLpal]

Hey KotBigemot
Since you have found [what i believe] the 3.6ghz SweetSpot on the E8400 do you plan on reactivating SpeedStep @ this 3.6ghz setting !
Only ask cause i'm considering it after reading what electricity costs can be saved by doing this !! [my part of being green i guess, ha ha !! ] Which would mean it would still run @ 2.4ghz then kick-in-passing gear @ 3.6ghz when needed !! Does that sound right !!
By the way did you have to raise your Vcore @ the 3.6ghz setting.. mines still on auto !!

Ol'Pal Gary

Originally posted by: KotBigemot
I just built me a new system and used ASUS Maximus Formula. It is a Monster. A true beast. It took E8400 with no problems right from the get go, I did not even have to update BIOS, board had latest BIOS loaded already, and everything installed no problems. You really should see the box and all the extras it comes with - very impressive.
Plus, the price is good - $249 shipped. I think it is a good price for a board like that.
On the other hand, I do agree with OLpal, you can get a less expensive board and I am sure it will work as well. I personally not a big fan of OCing but, when I tried it on Maximus, I was shocked by the fact that it was so easy. Just changed FSb and it OCed to 3.6 with no problems.
So, I highly recommend ASUS Maximus Formula if you have no problems spending a little extra money. You will not be disappointed with that board.

 

[KotBigemot]

Originally posted by: OLpal
Hey KotBigemot
Since you have found [what i believe] the 3.6ghz SweetSpot on the E8400 do you plan on reactivating SpeedStep @ this 3.6ghz setting !
Only ask cause i'm considering it after reading what electricity costs can be saved by doing this !! [my part of being green i guess, ha ha !! ] Which would mean it would still run @ 2.4ghz then kick-in-passing gear @ 3.6ghz when needed !! Does that sound right !!
By the way did you have to raise your Vcore @ the 3.6ghz setting.. mines still on auto !!

Ol'Pal Gary

Originally posted by: KotBigemot
I just built me a new system and used ASUS Maximus Formula. It is a Monster. A true beast. It took E8400 with no problems right from the get go, I did not even have to update BIOS, board had latest BIOS loaded already, and everything installed no problems. You really should see the box and all the extras it comes with - very impressive.
Plus, the price is good - $249 shipped. I think it is a good price for a board like that.
On the other hand, I do agree with OLpal, you can get a less expensive board and I am sure it will work as well. I personally not a big fan of OCing but, when I tried it on Maximus, I was shocked by the fact that it was so easy. Just changed FSb and it OCed to 3.6 with no problems.
So, I highly recommend ASUS Maximus Formula if you have no problems spending a little extra money. You will not be disappointed with that board.

Hello OLpal.
Yes, it works really well @ 3.6 GHz but, I had it running only for 48 hours. I guess just to see how it reacts, see temperatures and make sure I CAN do it
No I do not plan to reactivate speedstep @3.6GHz. I went back to 3.00 GHz and put all to auto setting, meaning speedstep is active by default and if needed it will automatically go to 3.00 GHz.
No, I thought I would have to raise Vcore but, I did not. I just changed my FSB to 1600(!!!) and that was pretty much it I think. That's why I said earlier I was shocked of how easy it was.
Anyways, I am not a big fan of OCing. I am not a gamer so I do not care about that extra pixel ;-)
Another fact that is very impressive to me - my CPU temp. is not going over 30C. When I OCed it, temp. went to 34C and no higher. Amazing huh?
So, overall, my system is running much cooler than the old one and I am loving it.

 

[Robertkn]

Did you see that the X48 Motherboards are coming out next week ?
DFI has a X48 coming out next week with DDR2 Nice I was told that the X48 was only DDR3 but MotherboardPro.com is showing the X48 DDR2
DFI LP LT X48-T2R

 

[amenx]

The only reason I would go for an X38 board over a P35 is if I needed Crossfire or DDR3 support. X38 has nothing over P35 other than these two features (which also makes it more expensive).

 

[bobov]

P35 do support DDR3 memory.

 

[amenx]

Very few do.

To clarify, the P35 chipset supports both DDR2/DDR3, but mobo manufacturers find it cumbersome to add additional dimm slots to accomdate both types. DDR2 is the hot seller, so they opt for that. The only mobo I know of that does both is the DS3-R which has 6 dimm slots.

 

[idiotekniQues]

i am pretty impressed with my latest board in my sig, the giga ex38-ds4

thing is rock solid stable, benched at 3.6 and i have more headway but i like my 3.4 24/7 oc with minimal voltage increase and great temps.

lots of features. i am quite happy with a full complement of 8 usb ports on the rear I/O panel. the only downfall is having 6 instead of 8 sata ports inside.

the primary reason i went with x38 is because my budget was maxed out at 200 but i wanted to switch back to ati within a year and be able to run crossfire. so it just made sense to have two full pci express x16 slots.

 

[SnOop005]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles

Originally posted by: SnOop005

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
Well I have mutiple pc's running in my home. One is using an abit ix38 quadgt which works great and I also have two 780i machines which also run great out of the box with no issues. If you want to run an nvidia gpu with the possibility of going sli in the future the 780i is your best ddr2 solution. If you only want to run one gpu or do crossfire then the x38 is the way to go. I will say that all 3 machines perform very well so it really comes down to what features you want on the mb. We went with the x38 for my oldest son because we wanted to see what the intel chipset would do with an intel cpu and it does well. Likewise my nvidia 780i mb's run fast and stable plus offer me sli which I do use on my machine. As far as brands go I've had good service from asus, dfi, abit and msi. The worst brand I ever used was aopen.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Regarding the question about DFI boards. Based on what i've heard it seems like the DFI is a dream come true for hardcore overclockers, since I don't think i will dedicate the time to gain a few extra mhz I just don't think i will take advantage of the board's full potiental.
I'm happy with my current oc (2.4@3.6) using common overclocker board and I'm not trying to break any record so thats why i think the mainstream boards are good enough for me.

I acutally tried the Abit IN9-MAX before buying the AW9D and it gave me nothing but issues, it fried my ram and the oc ability wasn't as good as the AW9D. To be honest, i really want a SLI setup but the Nvidia chipset is turning me off.

Right, but the DFI board can get you the same thing just as easily. If you want another board because it has some other extra perk that the DFI board does not, then that's great, go for that board. But don't rule it out because you think you might not fully exploit its abilities.

Seriously, the way you said it sounds something like this:

"All things being equal feature wise, price, and basic overclocking, I'm going to rule out the DFI because it has extra options I probably won't use"

I'm sorry, but that's just crazy. Reasons not to get it would be the price is too high for the features you want, or that it simply lacks features another brand can give you. Heck, even a reason such as "I think it looks ugly" would suffice if all other things were equal as I spelled out.

Sorry for not clarifying myself. What you said makes perfect sense and i agree 100% but i'm just afraid that the board will have too many complicated settings that I'm not used thus makes it harder to configure. I just want a quick transition, swap the board, adjust votlage,fsb,mem timing, bam back to 3.6ghz on a X38 and game on. I believe the maximus and the gigabyte also has better built-in onboard features.



Thanks for all the input.

 

[OLpal]

Well sounds like you had your mind set on X38 board, & just wanted info on what's best available this is smart, as the people on here do a great job in Sharing knowledge !! & i see the DFI [that these guys are pushing] @ $199 being an attractive option..
Still i'm not sure your navigating the right waters here, unless you plan on parting with your nvidia card to get 2 Crossfire cards like the 3870... I've never been a fan of nvidia SLI & have never built one for myself,, but others seem less thrilled after they've had them for awile & seen how little performance per $$$ they got !!
So if the X38 toots your horn then go for it & i think you've made some some good model choices..... Now if ya wanna see power OC'n with intel chip & crossfire go to this site...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=178636

Hope you enjoy your build [ think about E8400 or E8500}
Ol'Pal Gary

Originally posted by: SnOop005


Sorry for not clarifying myself. What you said makes perfect sense and i agree 100% but i'm just afraid that the board will have too many complicated settings that I'm not used thus makes it harder to configure. I just want a quick transition, swap the board, adjust votlage,fsb,mem timing, bam back to 3.6ghz on a X38 and game on. I believe the maximus and the gigabyte also has better built-in onboard features.



Thanks for all the input.

 

[SnOop005]

Originally posted by: OLpal

Well sounds like you had your mind set on X38 board, & just wanted info on what's best available this is smart, as the people on here do a great job in Sharing knowledge !! & i see the DFI [that these guys are pushing] @ $199 being an attractive option..
Still i'm not sure your navigating the right waters here, unless you plan on parting with your nvidia card to get 2 Crossfire cards like the 3870... I've never been a fan of nvidia SLI & have never built one for myself,, but others seem less thrilled after they've had them for awile & seen how little performance per $$$ they got !!
So if the X38 toots your horn then go for it & i think you've made some some good model choices..... Now if ya wanna see power OC'n with intel chip & crossfire go to this site...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=178636

Hope you enjoy your build [ think about E8400 or E8500}
Ol'Pal Gary

Originally posted by: SnOop005


Sorry for not clarifying myself. What you said makes perfect sense and i agree 100% but i'm just afraid that the board will have too many complicated settings that I'm not used thus makes it harder to configure. I just want a quick transition, swap the board, adjust votlage,fsb,mem timing, bam back to 3.6ghz on a X38 and game on. I believe the maximus and the gigabyte also has better built-in onboard features.



Thanks for all the input.

Actually I haven't made my mind on the chipset yet. P35 does make more sense if i don't plan on going the crossfire route...which I don't think i will to be honest. I just saw the benchmark for Radeon 3870x2 (2) even a quad gpu setup is still slower then a SLI nvdia GT series, but thats another topic that I won't get into

Would it be safe to go with the same brands, Asus or Gigabyte for their P35 series? E8400 and E8500 is in my upgrade route and those chip i heard can easily do 4ghz on air which shouldnt be a problem with a P35 boards from either manufacture right?

 

[lopri]

I don't agree with P35 at your budget. If you're looking for something below $150, then yes P35 is the way to go. (well.. actually it'd be the only way to go) It does have a merit since you'll have savings which you can use towards something else. However, if you're looking for a high-end $200 board, you should look for an X38. PCIe 2.0 may not be a big deal for now, but I suspect that it will be a factor by the time AMD/NV's next gens show up, which will be before the end of year. Even a HD 3850 requires a full x16 PCIe 1.0 lane to perform at its best. Run it at x8, you will see reduced performance up to 10~15%. PCIe 2.0 effectively doubles the bandwidth and improves on latency as well, so by this time next year high-end GPUs will likely be bottlenecked (Gawd I hate this cliche!) by a first generation PCIe x16 lane (which equals to a PCIe 2.0 x8 lane). Add to that the PCIe 2.0 natively supplies double the juice per lane, it's more future-proofing in that sense, too.

 

[OLpal]

Yes you have selected some good brands, gigabyte has been in the process of changing all their boards over to "E" for energy saving... Iv'e been very pleased with my Gigabyte DS3R..
Glad you were able to understand my point on a X38 not being your best choice, as i have trouble explaining over internet... I like the X38 - X48 boards just no use for them unless i wanted to get 2 3870 video cards to run Crossfire..... As i understand it though you could still run your nvidia card [single] & be happy with a X38..

lIKE I SAID KEEP US POSTED WITH YOUR BUILD & ENJOY !! OL'PAL GARY

Originally posted by: SnOop005

Actually I haven't made my mind on the chipset yet. P35 does make more sense if i don't plan on going the crossfire route...which I don't think i will to be honest. I just saw the benchmark for Radeon 3870x2 (2) even a quad gpu setup is still slower then a SLI nvdia GT series, but thats another topic that I won't get into

Would it be safe to go with the same brands, Asus or Gigabyte for their P35 series? E8400 and E8500 is in my upgrade route and those chip i heard can easily do 4ghz on air which shouldnt be a problem with a P35 boards from either manufacture right?

HIS POST IS VALID FOR UPGRADING YOUR VIDEO CARD TO CROSSFIRE, BUT YOU HAVE A PRETTY COOL NVIDIA CARD & A GOOD e6600 CPU ALREADY !! tHEY'VE ALLREADY RELEASED CROSSFIRE x2 oL'pAL
Another poster Quote was;;
I don't agree with P35 at your budget. If you're looking for something below $150, then yes P35 is the way to go. (well.. actually it'd be the only way to go) It does have a merit since you'll have savings which you can use towards something else. However, if you're looking for a high-end $200 board, you should look for an X38. PCIe 2.0 may not be a big deal for now, but I suspect that it will be a factor by the time AMD/NV's next gens show up, which will be before the end of year. Even a HD 3850 requires a full x16 PCIe 1.0 lane to perform at its best. Run it at x8, you will see reduced performance up to 10~15%. PCIe 2.0 effectively doubles the bandwidth and improves on latency as well, so by this time next year high-end GPUs will likely be bottlenecked (Gawd I hate this cliche!) by a first generation PCIe x16 lane (which equals to a PCIe 2.0 x8 lane). Add to that the PCIe 2.0 natively supplies double the juice per lane, it's more future-proofing in that sense, too.

[/quote]

 

[BigMoosey74]

The main difference between the X38-DQ6 and DS4 is the cooling. DQ6 has the all copper crazy cool design where the south and north bridge are connected with the heat pipe. It has 2 more SATA ports and QuadBios as well. The backside of the DQ6 has a HS for the CPU and south bridge where the DS4 doesn't. So basically you are paying for the extra copper, in return it has a better cooling setup which could potentially give rise to better OC stability.

I actually just purchased the DQ6 over the DS4 just for potential longevity but if you don't OC you could save $60 or dump it into a GPU upgrade where it would count.

 

[koshling]

I am also considering a new build (Yorkfield, with a relatively mild O/C goal - maybe 20%). Initially I was planning on the ASUS Rampage MB linked at the top of this thread, but I am a bit disturbed that I may wind up with a BIOS version that will require flashing (for Yorkfield compatibility). Since I don't have another 775 CPU to drop in to flash with, this would be an issue. Subsequently I considered the Gigabit DQ6 MB, but I want to use (indeed have already purchased!) a Thermalright SE120 extreme, so the back-side heatsink is a big negative.

So, my questions are:
1) Is the Rampage still shipping (without extremely bad luck, and let's assume Newegg) with the older (not 45nm compatible) BIOS, or can I resonably assume this is no longer a problem?

2) Should I just hang on for an X48? I have NO intention of going Crossfire or DDR3 (maybe if I was building in 6 months, but not now), but I do value stability (at mild O/Cs) highly. What would be the benefits?