dfi LP P35 - or X38 ? or asus?

[flexy]

my head spins right now...so i read that P35 is basically already outdated and X38 is knocking...so i will probably NOT go for the dfi LP UT P35 but any X38.

But i am scared since in terms of OC i didnt read anything good about X38...and that one thread with the Asus X38 board is basically ONLY about problems with the boards....voltage drops etc...

So...good idea to get the dfi X38 ? I just cant see them releasing anything bad :)

Or just get the P35 and know its a mature board and OCs well ?

G.

[turtletrax]

my head spins right now...so i read that P35 is basically already outdated and X38 is knocking...so i will probably NOT go for the dfi LP UT P35 but any X38.

But i am scared since in terms of OC i didnt read anything good about X38...and that one thread with the Asus X38 board is basically ONLY about problems with the boards....voltage drops etc...

So...good idea to get the dfi X38 ? I just cant see them releasing anything bad :)

Or just get the P35 and know its a mature board and OCs well ?

G.

Only reason for X38 is going crossfire and going DDR3. Other than that get a good P35 board.

[Sailindawg]

lol.....yes my head is spinning from so many chipsets in so short a time. Look at it this way, the P35 is a very good chipset that does very well with the 65 nm cpu's and DDR2 RAM.

The x38 chipset brings a bit more stability, PCIE 2.0 and either DDR2 or DDR3 support.

The reviews showing the X38 boards running DDR2 show no real net improvement over DDR2 run in a P35 board.

Anandtech ran a comparison between a DDR3 X38 board and the DFI P35 LP UT board. Quite honestly, the P35 was right up there in performance with a 65 nm chip. Other than synthetic benchmarks, you would never see a performance difference between the 2 boards.

Right now, DDR3 is very expensive. And so are the X38 boards. Highend DDR2 can be had for under $200.

The only real difference between P35 chipset and the X38 will be in support of the 45 nm cpu's. The new 45 nm cpu's seem to clock real well so far, but they will be initially be very expensive. The X38 chipset with DDR3 will probably give the 45 nm cpu a performance edge over a similarly equipped P35 board with DDR2 RAM.

So where does that leave us? Somewhere's at the end of 2008/2009, Intel tells us they will have the mem controller integrated into thier cpu's. That ought to be quite the performance trick.

I say, for now, get a P35 board with a very good 65 nm cpu, some great DDR2 RAM and hold out for Nahalem (sp?), the cpu with the integrated mem controller.

Hell, that's not extreme, but you will save a lot of money in the interim and DDR3 ought to have dropped considerably by then. :D

My 2 cents for the day.

[flexy]

You have good points..most of them i already thought about. But..this would also mean there's no reason not to get dfi X38 once it comes out in a week or so..assuming that it doesnt have any major flaws

DDR3 i dont think is an issue now...dont want it...and i know PCIE2.0 is also rather "psychological" :)

Will Nahelem need a new chipset/board? <---. edit: i think this is a dumb question :) ignore .)

[turtletrax]

I have had every DDR2 chipset except 965 and I like the P35 the most so far. I had the X38-DQ6 and I sent it back and took the restock fee in the arse and was glad I got it. Needs allot of BIOS work and maturity all around.

I fully agree with the P35 till Nahalem train of thought. Unless you really need Crossfire, save yourself the trouble :)

[zsamz_]

the way i see it the only x38 that might have a chance is the dfi
i'll be getting the dfi p35 if the dfi x38 dont pan out

[Sailindawg]

But..this would also mean there's no reason not to get dfi X38 once it comes out in a week or so..assuming that it doesnt have any major flaws

Right Flexy. I would like the DFI X38 board over the P35 because of the PCIE 2.0 support and the better Vdroop control. However, the price has me flummoxed right now. I guess the LT is NOT that much more expensive, however, the P35 DK does seem to offer great performance / price with quad support.

One reason I like the PCIE 2.0, is that I like to game. And I DO see myself upgrading my gpu card before dumping out of my next board. And the next gen gpu's will all be PCIE 2.0. Will that make a difference on an older board, I don't know.

But if gaming isn't your thing, then heck, a good P35 will kick some ass for some time to come.

It seems we are all thinking the same thing here.

[cky2k6]

hmm... its like intel purposefully screwed up the p35 pci-e lanes, so that we would buy their x38 chipset... 16x/4x is just a retarded configuration, if it was 8x/8x, i would be buying a dfi lp p35 and not the maximus formula, I could care less about pci-e 2.0 if I was able to get a better performing and more mature chipset for less.

[safan80]

my maximus formula doesn't have any voltage drops... I'd say get an X38 board.

[Brother Esau]

If you are interested I will sell you my D.F.I LanParty UT P35 T2R & Q6600 that does 2m SuperPi @ 4.0ghz and with water cooling it has potencial to run @ 4GHZ and was able to boot up til 4160mhz before BSOD:D

Both are in Pristine condition and non abused even have a HR09 SU on the CPLL-4-150

Even kick you a spare Bios chip too!

Everything works 100% tip top

[flexy]

brother,
well as is it looks..i will wait for dfi X38..i mean its right around the corner and will read and wait for reviews. Also...i assume you're in the states...i used to live there...but not anymore since i am in EU...and sending stuff here is a biatch :) Just remember what deal it was to get my PC shipped here...in addition i had to pay like 70EU for customs for my old computer :)

[mad_skills]

I was thinking if i should get a X38. I though why with a good DDR2 around and a P35 not being so expensive.
So i took the UT P35. I'm not regretting, it's a killer of a motherboard.
If count in DDR3 then X38 is a big cost for being not that faster at all than a P35 mobo.

[irev210]

I agree,

Unless you wanna go crossfire, P35 is cheaper.


X38 is a great chipset as it starts to mature. The boards are still a little rough around the edges, but are coming along well.



I must say though -- crossfire on x38 is awesome. Two HD 3870 + Q6600 @ 3.5GHz+ = 18-20k depending on your OC.

It is awesome :)

[ownage]

Asus Blitz Formula SE FTW!

The Blitz is still board number one if you ask me. It can do Crossfire with both slots @ 8x pcie, but the crosslinx provides a really effective bandwidth use, so Crossfire performance is the same or even better then X38 chipset. The Blitz bios is far more mature then X38 boards at this moment.

[Wiggy McShades]

lol.....yes my head is spinning from so many chipsets in so short a time. Look at it this way, the P35 is a very good chipset that does very well with the 65 nm cpu's and DDR2 RAM.

The x38 chipset brings a bit more stability, PCIE 2.0 and either DDR2 or DDR3 support.

The reviews showing the X38 boards running DDR2 show no real net improvement over DDR2 run in a P35 board.

Anandtech ran a comparison between a DDR3 X38 board and the DFI P35 LP UT board. Quite honestly, the P35 was right up there in performance with a 65 nm chip. Other than synthetic benchmarks, you would never see a performance difference between the 2 boards.

Right now, DDR3 is very expensive. And so are the X38 boards. Highend DDR2 can be had for under $200.

The only real difference between P35 chipset and the X38 will be in support of the 45 nm cpu's. The new 45 nm cpu's seem to clock real well so far, but they will be initially be very expensive. The X38 chipset with DDR3 will probably give the 45 nm cpu a performance edge over a similarly equipped P35 board with DDR2 RAM.

So where does that leave us? Somewhere's at the end of 2008/2009, Intel tells us they will have the mem controller integrated into thier cpu's. That ought to be quite the performance trick.

I say, for now, get a P35 board with a very good 65 nm cpu, some great DDR2 RAM and hold out for Nahalem (sp?), the cpu with the integrated mem controller.

Hell, that's not extreme, but you will save a lot of money in the interim and DDR3 ought to have dropped considerably by then. :D

My 2 cents for the day.


both x38 and p35 support 45nm

[flexy]

Cf is not an option...but PCIE2.0 is since i want a 8800 GT 512MB which would be have with PCIE2.0 (knowing of course that BW would never be utilized anyway :) But its nice to have IMHO. Also..interesting that the dfi X38 would support 45nm INTEL cpus. DDR2 i will use...DDR3 might be an option in 7 months+...but then we will have nemahel (?) and new boards, mem controller etc. anyway

[mad_skills]

Asus Blitz Formula SE FTW!

The Blitz is still board number one if you ask me. It can do Crossfire with both slots @ 8x pcie, but the crosslinx provides a really effective bandwidth use, so Crossfire performance is the same or even better then X38 chipset. The Blitz bios is far more mature then X38 boards at this moment.

Blitz is a good choise for 24/7 only if your going H2O.
Otherwise for benching and 24/7 on air i believe DFI LP P35 is as good or perhaps somewhat a better choise.

[STaRGaZeR]

Just waiting for some results. I will see if I drop the P5E in favor of the DFI. My experience with DFI is bad, very bad (iCFX3200), lets hope this board will perform well :)

[turtletrax]

Just waiting for some results. I will see if I drop the P5E in favor of the DFI. My experience with DFI is bad, very bad (iCFX3200), lets hope this board will perform well :)


The P35-T2R is 10x the board the R600 is... seriously, I am impressed with my T2R

[lukas69]

for intel cpu asus is better

[mad_skills]

Based on what do you claim this?

[flexy]

guys...just to confirm what i read right now on several forums:

regarding Cell Shock DDR3 and DDR3 memory in general - it seems its absolutely not worth it ? I dont think i will spend $400+ on some DDR3 for a 3% maximum performance gain. Just want to to confirm that this is actually the case and i shouldnt go for a DDR3 board and spend premium on DDR3 ?!

[STaRGaZeR]

The P35-T2R is 10x the board the R600 is... seriously, I am impressed with my T2R

I know, that chipset is... well, lets say only fiasco. Many folks are very happy with their DFI P35. If only the X38 is as good as the LP P35, I will buy it.

[turtletrax]

I know, that chipset is... well, lets say only fiasco. Many folks are very happy with their DFI P35. If only the X38 is as good as the LP P35, I will buy it.


I don't think it will be and it has nothing to do with DFI, The chipset needs time. Only thing I can see is Oscar figuring out how to get DDR2 performance up. Perhaps 4x1G working better.

[adamsleath]

ddr2.

single card p35

cf x38

next platform new socket/s nehalem in 08/09....ddr3

if you are going crossfire you may as well get the new dfi x38....but it is expensive imo.

stick with dfi for p35

maximus formula for x38.

[Sailindawg]

@ Flexy

This (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3098&p=8) is the article from Anandtech that compared an X38 board with DDR3 to P35 boards with DDR2. If GAMING is your thing, then the <3% performance gain of the X38 + DDR3 really isn't worth the money spent, IMHO. And that was not an across the board performance increase either.

For clocks and features, I really think that the ASUS P5E3 that was used in the review was a really sweet board.