ASUS P5W DH Deluxe vs. Gigabyte GA P965 DS3 - final verdict

Originally posted at www.maxitmag.com

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2.../maxitlogo.png

A big thanks to Dan at maXit, who sent the board out to me. Without his help, this would not have been possible.

There's been a debate over which board is faster clock/clock. Most say the ASUS is faster, wheras others firmly believe nothing seperates the 2.

I've taken the liberty to run a series of tests on both boards and publish the results for the benefit of the general public.

These are the tests I decided to run:

3D Mark 06 (Default settings)

3D Mark 2001 SE (Default settings)

Aquamark 3 (Default settings)

Super Pi 32M (Realtime priority)

F.E.A.R. Multiplayer Demo version 1.02 (Computer - High ; Graphics - custom : 1152 x 864, Everything on maximum, no soft shadows, 4 x AA, 16 x AF)

All tests were run at 2 settings on both boards:

a) stock - 266 x 7 (1866 MHz), DDR2 667, 3-3-3-10

b) overclocked - 400 x 7 (2800 MHz), DDR2 800, 4-4-4-10

Hardware used was:

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe and Gigabyte GA-P965-DS3 motherboards

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 ES (Allendale 2 MB L2 Cache)
2 x 1 GB Team Xtreem PC2 5300 RAM 3-4-4-8
256MB Connect 3D X1800XT
Maxtor DiamondMax10 80 GB HDD
NEC ND 3500 AG DVD-RW drive
Antec Truepower 2.0 550W EPS 12v PSU

Stock Cooling was used throughout.

OS: Clean Install of XP Pro SP2 was used with each board
Graphics Drivers: ATi Catalyst 6.6 official

The X1800XT was run at stock speeds for each test.

Results:

Stock Speeds

3DM2001 SE

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...kasus3dm01.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...kgiga3dm01.jpg

3DM06

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...kasus3dm06.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...kgiga3dm06.jpg

Aquamark 3

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ockasusam3.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ockgigaam3.jpg

Super Pi 32M

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...tockasuspi.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...tockgigapi.jpg

F.E.A.R.

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...usfearhigh.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...ckgigahigh.jpg

Overclocked


3DM2001 SE

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...casus3dm01.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...cgiga3dm01.jpg

3DM06

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...casus3dm06.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...cgiga3dm06.jpg

Aquamark 3

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2.../ocasusam3.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2.../ocgigaam3.jpg

Super Pi 32M

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C/ocasuspi.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C/ocgigapi.jpg

F.E.A.R.

ASUS
http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...usfearhigh.jpg

Gigabyte
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...gafearhigh.jpg




This took me quite some time to do, and I hope it is of use to you.

Cheers,
Ash :)

PS:

Pic of my testbed ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/h2...9/P7270090.jpg

very good stuff, the asus gets spanked :p: the 32m oc'ed result is a bit weird though..

anyway, thnx for giving me another reason not to buy asus :D

Very nice, thanks a lot! :D

Seems the Gigabyte will be the best choice for a gamer, until the RD500/600's and NF590's can be considered.

Interesting results, nice work! :)

Nice test. So at stock speed the Gigabyte was faster in SuperPI, OC'd the Asus was faster?

i'm puzzled by that 32M OC result

Anus clearly gets spanked in majority of benchmarks except for that particular one..........can you rerun it pls and also can you play with voltages.......it would also be interesting to see other OC settings and results in 32M......really strange result

i'm really glad i got the Gigacrap as one first allendale/conroe board now :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kman540

Nice test. So at stock speed the Gigabyte was faster in SuperPI, OC'd the Asus was faster?

---

yep...i found that very strange but i tested twice on each board and got the same results.... :shrug:

Ah well...

EDIT: @dinos...

reran Pi 3 times, with the same result (1-2 sec difference)

:shrug:

When overclocked boot the same bootsrtap and fsb ??

Awesome. DS3 FTW.

don't know about the bootstrap.

the only thing i changed was the FSB.

Great tests, thanks.

very nice job you did there.

I found the SuperPi overclocked result strange, but beside that it look to be constant. Gigabyte is faster. (or maybe more the 965P is faster)

Did you run Super PI 1m on both setups or just the 32m test?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

don't know about the bootstrap.

the only thing i changed was the FSB.

---

see that's where the key maybe at <400fsb the gigabyte might have tighter internal latencies especially at 266fsb look at AM3 cpu score differences

also seems 3dmark06 the key diff is much higher cpu score component on Gigabyte board

shame gigabyte board doesn't work properly with memset to see all the timings

I haven't tried either of these boards so all just guessing heh

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

yep...i found that very strange but i tested twice on each board and got the same results.... :shrug:

Ah well...

EDIT: @dinos...

reran Pi 3 times, with the same result (1-2 sec difference)

:shrug:

---

interesting.......well i'm an SPI freak so i won't rest easy until i figure that part out......i'll do must bit on Tuesday next week :)

Really good test!:slobber:

Tks!

[me too]

Really strange 32pi!

[/me too]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eva2000

same gigabyte board doesn't work properly with memset to see all the timings

---

how would you explain the SPI times while OCd if gigabyte had the advantage but lost pretty badly there

KITT what cooler was on Conroe ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dinos22

how would you explain the SPI times while OCd if gigabyte had the advantage but lost pretty badly there

---

look in screenies task bar area - alot of background apps open , any apps could attribute to slower times...

probably have to run each test 3 times within same session of windows and average them for better indictation

He says: Stock Cooling was used throughout.

Thanks for you time and effort K.I.T.T. :clap:

You have really done eeryone @ XS a great service, thankyou :toast:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cooper

KITT what cooler was on Conroe ?

---

I believe he said "Stock Cooling was used throughout"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cooper

KITT what cooler was on Conroe ?

---

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KITT

Stock Cooling was used throughout.

---

i think it was stock, unless he was talking about the graf card.

Good job kitt :toast:

nice test :toast:

I'm glad I went with the Gigabyte

Just add a test with FSB max results :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eva2000

look in screenies task bar area - alot of background apps open , any apps could attribute to slower times...

probably have to run each test 3 times within same session of windows and average them for better indictation

---

+ task priority high on SPI

Quote:

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Originally Posted by misteroadster

Just add a test with FSB max results :D

---

oh :banana::banana::banana::banana: we know who wins that one :woot:

Cheers guys :toast:

stock cooling throughout ie. CPU and GPU ;)

BTW, AVG and sygate personal firewall was in the background, however, that was the same with both setups ;)

Nice thread..

But please get an step5 >e6600. Those results are more benefit for the hard clocking guys.
Not that this aint fun ;)

Dont' have a E6600... i'm a poor man :p:

Seriously..i've tried, but haven't been able to get one :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

Dont' have a E6600... i'm a poor man :p:

Seriously..i've tried, but haven't been able to get one :(

---

Awesome job man. Thanks for taking the time to do these tests.

I was just wondering, how is the vdroop in the Gigabyte in comparison to Asus?

I have had Gigabyte mobos before and they had horrible vdroop.

Not sure about vDroop...I don't have any software hw monitoring tool :(

Easy Tune just crashes my PC :stick:

Also guys, i can't prime at 420 x 6 :stick:

it crashes in 15 seconds of dual prime. vMCH is default. did you guys raise it?

Thanks for the tests, they are a help to the community. It is well done and thought out. (when it comes to reviewing and doing it well it always takes along time).

:clap: :clap:

Thanks for taking the time to do the tests :) It helps me out as I plot which mobo to go for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ArcTan

nice test :toast:

I'm glad I went with the Gigabyte

---

same here :toast:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

don't know about the bootstrap.

the only thing i changed was the FSB.

---

OK - whan overclocked - both mobo boot @ 400fsb ??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yotomeczek

OK - whan overclocked - both mobo boot @ 400fsb ??

---

yep :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

yep :)

---

I'm cureless - what the results would be with 450+ fsb (If Asus did it)
Gigabyte is better for cheap Allendale I think (must do high fsb ...)

So stock Intel cooler was used ?
Did you monitored Thermal Throttling ?

K.I.T.T. - You are the man! I'd hand a nice frothy cold one if I could. Thanks for your time and effort. And thanks for making me feel that much better about my DS3!!!

Wooohooo!!

The E6300 has better restults on the DS3, would be interesting if we could see a step 6 E6600.

Also asus dont even have a decent bios revision out yet. so maybe things will change when they do....

No 8 phase power on the DS3 worries me to.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pandamonia

No 8 phase power on the DS3 worries me to.

---

For absolutly no reason ;)

Nice job K.I.T.T.
Can you tell me what was the bios you used in the Gigabyte mobo??
Tks

Thanks for your excellent contribution K.I.I.T.:toast: :clap: :clap:

Dee-Ess-Three is the one for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TyroPyro

Thanks for taking the time to do the tests :) It helps me out as I plot which mobo to go for.

---

Yup, I'm totally with you TyroPyro.

Thanks very much KITT.

nice comparo!!

:clap:

Thanks for taking the time & effort to run the tests. You helped me finally decide on a DS4 :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cooper

For absolutly no reason ;)

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Wasnt it intel that told board makers to implement stable power for conroe? if im running at 4ghz the last thing im gona want is my voltage to make me unstable.

the DS3 is only 30GBP cheaper than the Asus i have ordered, so which is about 33%

965 is meant to be a gimped chipset and if i get kentsfield which is supposed to be a XE i wont get the xtreme overclocking features... am i right on that?

also next week i find out if i can get cheap X6800's which would also be useless on a DS3.

Yes, the gigabyte is a good board but it doesnt support cf :slapass:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vice

Yes, the gigabyte is a good board but it doesnt support cf :slapass:

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Non of 965 based boards are implemented to support CF. But I believe somebody here already prooved it to be wrong

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cooper

Non of 965 based boards are implemented to support CF. But I believe somebody here already prooved it to be wrong

---

ds4 without double checking :)

Definitely didn't throttle, trust me. Was undervolted by 0.1v ;)

I have no way of checking temps from withing windows though :(

F3 BIOS

:toast:

that was a interesting comparison, but now I wonder...

is this a case of gigabyte being faster then Asus, or 965 boards being faster then 975 boards??

gigabyte has always traditionally done extremely well, at being near the top when it comes to being compared to other boards, when tested with the same hardware and same speeds.
always when I read gigabyte board reviews, they are always near the top, neck and neck with asus and MSI.
so gigabyte can certainly make a good solid bios... thats been proven long ago, and many times since.

but I wonder now, how would the DS3 compare to the P5B??

2 965 boards shooting it out...
that could be interesting.

however... glad I got the DS3 ;)

het the h*ll out here!! ur saying that a cheaper board actually beats P5W DH which cost $100 more??!!?

wow i am shocked!! this is just wow

maybe its Gigabyte > Asus :eek: :lol: :bounces:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theteamaqua

het the h*ll out here!! ur saying that a cheaper board actually beats P5W DH which cost $100 more??!!?

---

Uh huh. That's what I'm saying bro!! :toast:

These things rock!!

Priming at 460 x 7 as i type :D

im tellin ya these DS3 boards are THE board to have right now. if you dont need CF or SLI.

but let be realistic here gentlemen...

100 points in 3dmark across the board is nothing.
you know this as well as i do.

the biggest point is that a $140 motherboard with a "lesser" chipset is beating a $250+ motherboard with a higher end chipset, supposedly higherend.

that Pi thing,,,,, thats odd..... 2 minutes difference.

did you happen to run it a few times to double check ?

Ran Pi 3 times...no difference :shrug:

How fast would a E6400 be able to overclock (and stay safe 24/7) with just the stock heatsink and fan? And how much would it cost me for a decent cooler to get it higher than with stock heatsink and fan?

I'm considering going DS3 + E6400 since it's about $100 cheaper than the E6600. I'm also not sure if the extra 2MB L2 cache is that big of an advantage right now.

Please somebody help :P

K.I.T.T.- What is the vdroop of the Asus board? Does the gigabyte suffer from vdroop as well? Also, do either boards undervolt or overvolt? That would be very nice to know.:)

ASUS boards droops about 0.025-0.035v according to AiBooster. :)

I don't have a HW monitoring program for this board, but according to CPU-z, it droops about 0.5v

:)

you do have a hardware monitoring program...

CPUZ.

just open it up, start super pi, and watch the voltages drop by about .05 volts.

set 1.4 volts at idle, it drops to 1.35 volts under load.
this board has Vdroop issues just as bad as any other intel based board does.

also, EasyTune is what you use to monitor Temps.

Yes Kunaak. posted droop accoring to CPU-z above. :)

EasyTune doesn't work on my rig due to some reason. It crashes the whole rig and it reboots :shrug:

I was thinking before I buy this DS3 + e6300,

is this 400 Mhz actually stable if you leave it 24/7?
btw my hsf is Ninja+

just wondering tho...

I´ve got a question, is it possible to mod the Bios of an P5WDG2-WS Pro to work with an P5W DH Deluxe?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dinos22

how would you explain the SPI times while OCd if gigabyte had the advantage but lost pretty badly there

---

Chipset latencies.

People tend to think that latency only applies to memory timings. The chipset has its own internal latencies. In order to reach high FSB, the chipset usually has to use looser latencies. Each board maker has implemented the 975 and 965 chipsets differently. The Asus board seems to maintain better latencies at higher FSB. Results by guess2098 with the DQ6 show the same thing.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=107454

SuperPi is a very latency-dependent benchmark, much more so than 3DMark.

Great thread, thanks for the comparisons.

AM3 results are very strange since cpu score under gigabyte is lower than under asus , both overclocked .
:confused:

@ K.I.T.T.
whats' max fsb for the giga ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by qballe

@ K.I.T.T.
whats' max fsb for the giga ?

---

I'll post as soon as i find out :toast:

i'm trying to find the maximum FSB i can prime at right now :)

great findings, thanks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

I'll post as soon as i find out :toast:

i'm trying to find the maximum FSB i can prime at right now :)

---

That's what we want to see. A max FSB that we can actually use 24/7. Not one for a cpuz shot.

Also, can you also post max bootable fsb for both boards? That may differ than a prime stable fsb that needs a software program to reach.

Very Informative KITT.. thanks! Things are looking good for GB this time around.

Go gigabyte! Kick some overpriced asus :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:.
:cool:

Excellent review K.I.T.T.

Gigabyte looks to be a excellent motherboard.

Oh yeh K.I.T.T - Can you please add me to msn please. Need some help please. Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cupholder2.0

Go gigabyte! Kick some overpriced asus :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:.
:cool:

---

Asus is expensive cz she needs to be

DS3 is really good but.....

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=124

i need to do more tests to confirm

lol, yeah I know the ASUS board is probably better at higher FSBs and is overall a better OCer. Im just saying for the price, the DS3 really owns the P5W.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cupholder2.0

lol, yeah I know the ASUS board is probably better at higher FSBs and is overall a better OCer. Im just saying for the price, the DS3 really owns the P5W.

---

NO its not a better oc'r not even close. not even close

you ahve to mod the sh|t out of that board to get anywhere..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lestat

NO its not a better oc'r not even close. not even close

you ahve to mod the sh|t out of that board to get anywhere..

---

Only at lower multiplier does the DS3 really shine...maybe new bios will fix that for the DS3?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PcCI2iminal

Asus is expensive cz she needs to be

DS3 is really good but.....

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=124

i need to do more tests to confirm

---

That seems to contradict KITT's results. Time will tell.

You think it is only at very high FSB that the P5W shines?

Either way, its pretty sad that a 240 dollar ASUS 975 board is having difficulty competing with a 140 dollar Gigabyte lower end 965 board...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Absolute_0

That seems to contradict KITT's results. Time will tell.

---

i will run a few more benchs and F.E.A.R.

Quote:

---

You think it is only at very high FSB that the P5W shines?

---

Dolby Master Studio
8 Phase Power
CF/SLI
very friendly with OC
and Asus knows how to build an Intel board.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by K.I.T.T.

Uh huh. That's what I'm saying bro!! :toast:

These things rock!!

Priming at 460 x 7 as i type :D

---

you need to max it out :woot:
mine's already prime stable at 461x7 and that's where I've stopped so far

Where are you all getting these boards from? A certain vendor?
Have you tried ..say... a 805D on one?

well, i got the P5W... mostly based on the trusted brand, higher AVERAGE OC (and no rumors/examples of problems with 4mb CPUs), and fancy/useless features like the remote and 8phase power.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndrewZorn

well, i got the P5W... mostly based on the trusted brand, higher AVERAGE OC (and no rumors/examples of problems with 4mb CPUs), and fancy/useless features like the remote and 8phase power.

---

What phase power is the DS3? The DQ6 is 12 phase although i doubt that it makes much difference with overclocking. I would say once a few BIOS updates roll out the Asus P5B and P5W will prove to be a little better overclockers. There is a new 0403 BIOS for the P5B that allows it to go to 500MHz.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by burningrave101

What phase power is the DS3? The DQ6 is 12 phase although i doubt that it makes much difference with overclocking. I would say once a few BIOS updates roll out the Asus P5B and P5W will prove to be a little better overclockers. There is a new 0403 BIOS for the P5B that allows it to go to 500MHz.

---

The new BIOS simply creates the option to select up to 500FSB in the BIOS, but don't expect to boot at that speed.:nono:

This board is $140 at mwave. How many revisions of this board exist? Just C1?

I don't suppose any other boards will be released 7/23 or 7/24, since XIPs here always have the ES samples first and there hasn't been anything new yet. That said, this looks like a good stable placeholder for something 2 months down the road in September, when mature and OC superior boards will be released, such as DFI. Also, this doesn't seem to randomly die after 2 weeks like the P5W and BadAxe.

I am sorry, I meant where are people getting the DS3's from?
A certain vendor or variety of places?
And has anyone who owns a DS3 tried a 805D in it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tallman

I am sorry, I meant where are people getting the DS3's from?
A certain vendor or variety of places?
And has anyone who owns a DS3 tried a 805D in it?

---

DS3 are available in every store, no secret.

while the DS3 is a great buy i really dont like switching motherboards (especially if the P5W will reach 440ish, thats all i really need it to) and i didnt want to regret my decision, thats why i got P5W...

kind of a shame that its hard to decide on the better one when the asus costs like what 70% more?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndrewZorn

while the DS3 is a great buy i really dont like switching motherboards (especially if the P5W will reach 440ish, thats all i really need it to) and i didnt want to regret my decision, thats why i got P5W...

kind of a shame that its hard to decide on the better one when the asus costs like what 70% more?

---

Quite the contrary. It makes it easier to decide. Both mobos hit 440fsb no mods. Then consider this http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...lts&pollid=731, and you have a winner. The only reason I see to go for the P5W is for the rich goodies, or if you plan on keeping it, instead of just using it while waiting for better boards to come out in August and September.

i plan on keeping it

BUT

ive seen FAR more problems with >400fsb on E66+ than i have seen >400fsb on E66+.

also the death statistics... consider the nature of statistics
if you do a poll where which dies more, civics or ferrari, youre going to see more civics. does that mean civic is less reliable? no. in this case, the test is thrown because more people have civics.
just like almost everyone with a conroe here has a P5W, with only a few gigabyte owners. also the gigabyte hasnt been out near as long. ALSO people like to mod the hell out of their P5Ws.

EDIT and the DS3 isnt even on that list anyway

EDIT and theres also the way in which you are only going to report failure if your board fails; everyone with a working and reliable board isnt going to resort to forums to tell everyone how awesome it is. hell i do the same thing... youll hear more out of me about what DOESNT work than what does work

EDIT it also appears there are a few people marking the P5W because it was DOA and/or didnt support the conroe with default bios

not meaning to argue or anything
just noting that the P5W isnt necessarily unreliable because there are a lot of reported deaths

Wow great thread KITT! You are my new xtremesystems hero. :cool:

Now I need to decide if I want this mobo or wait out the Intel 590 board. I don't need SLi and this board reaches 440fsb so I can't really even find a reason not to get it over the ASUS. The price is very reasonable and they are in stock.

To me this is a no brainer. DS3 :banana:

The DS4 looks the better bet for just £10 more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thunderstruck!

DS3 are available in every store, no secret.

---

OK, I guess I need to clarify myself.
I know they are available in many places. I was just wondering if these high clocking boards are a fluke that all came from the same place or something. Nothing more. Simple.

Also, again, anyone try an 805D in one?

Thanks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Asgard

The DS4 looks the better bet for just £10 more.

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If you don't need SLi and reapply some AS5 to the SB and NB heatsinks I think it should be fine?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ScottFern

If you don't need SLi and reapply some AS5 to the SB and NB heatsinks I think it should be fine?

---

The cooling goes without saying but I'm hoping for some better power regulation for higher clocks. I have a couple arriving tommorrow. I also have a 6300 & 6600 on pre order and I have no idea when they will arrive.