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Quote:
Originally Posted by PcCI2iminal
Well the Gigabyte board does higher fsb and it seems to be a result from looser chipset latencies, but when comparing speeds at 400MHz the looser timings seem to take it's toll.Quote:
Originally Posted by sierra_bound
Since this thread seems popular, I'd like to clear some confusion surrounding P5W-DH and P965-DS3. Neither board are inferior to each other in general, but there are conditions where one comes ahead the other - but it's not because one's at fault, but because it's by design.
Remember Tony's thread regarding chipset latency and frequency? These two boards are at the opposite end on that approach. ASUS believed in tight chipset latency (as they have done with 865/875 chipset, or PAT) and forcing 1066 straps with very tight timings. But the downside is it hits the first FSB wall at around 370 (266 base FSB + 100). In order to go higher one will have to give up any memory speed faster than FSB. 1:1 can take you up to next strap (1333) which will hit the 2nd wall around 430 (333 base FSB + 100), and if you want to go higher than that again this time you need to give up 1:1 and run your memory slower than FSB. This is why many people who have memory capable of 1000+MHz can't have those expensive sticks run at rated speed once they go past 370~380MHz. Again, this is not because of the board is faulty but by design.
On the other hand, the DS3 was built ground up for high FSB. Of course now you can guess they achieve this at the cost of chipset latency. (Just think the opposite of ASUS)
So all in all 8 x 450 on Gigabyte and 9 x 400 on ASUS will roughly be equal. But of course at same FSB (both 9 x 400) ASUS comes out on top. But the downside is ASUS can't reach such high FSB like 8 x450. (without a mod, at least)
In the end, it sort of makes sense that the DS3 is more suited for Allendale and P5W is better suited for Conroe, since on P5W, E6300/E6400 won't see its true potential due to the FSB walls. However when your CPU is likely to hit the limit before FSB due to higher multies, ASUS could be a better choice.
As you can see this is not about one being superior to the other, but about the two companies different design philosophy. :D The final winner wouldn't be decided by the hardware, but by the BIOS. It's literally a BIOS war. Of course we don't know who the winner is going to be yet. So one should decide on the board based on the whole rig s/he's going to build. You cannot just buy a certain board because someone got a good result on it. The choice of CPU, the choice of RAM, and the choice of motherboard are very closely related one another this time.
P.S. I learned above from Gary Key, an editor at AnandTech. (A truly great reviewer whose opinion I totally trust) I'd suggest you all take a read of his reviews if you haven't already.
^ Wow, what an awesome post! :clap:
:toast:
..will be very interesting to see who will put the most effort into improving their bios, perhaps dfi?
well my no moded p5wdh can boot up to 434 no problem too..
http://www.iamxtreme.net/mobo/p5wdh/IMG_0114.JPG
http://www.iamxtreme.net/mobo/p5wdh/IMG_0123.JPG
but need to use 1:1 not 4:5 to boot
why??!!
becasue the turth is... trd too tight... the Asus trd is original 6 for all 667 divider with CL4 boot up
over 400 with DDR2 1000+ you need TRD = 7
Nice thread, I played with DS3 for a while with E6600ES and had no real luck with clocking, guess I need more time to experiment. I tried F3 BIOS and could not get to boot at 333 with stock voltage - bad axe does 416 with stock!
I got a DS3, AB9 and 965P-NEO here. None of these budget boards are true overclockers board IMO. Solid caps on the gigabyte everywhere is nice, msi has no solid, abit solid just for CPU.
I'm sticking with my bad axe (bad axe 2 soon), for CPU overclocking. For gaming I am waiting on the P5N32-SLI Premium NF590 board to go with my 7950GX2s.
I wish someone would make an ICH8R+975x board though!
guys do u think this is a good bad axe OC?
http://img464.imageshack.us/img464/5282/primext3.jpg
:)
do u think its worth change it with a DS3?
you're right but I'm interested in a board which support sli and AFAIK 965 doesn't manage as well as 975's ,isn't it?Quote:
Originally Posted by mykeos
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=115706Quote:
Originally Posted by Mykou
thanks PcCI2iminal but do you think DQ6 better than P5w DH ?Quote:
Originally Posted by PcCI2iminal
I also run modded drivers for sli ;)
It's Okay to see a clock for clock comparison of these two mobos, but ofQuote:
Originally Posted by PcCI2iminal
much greater interest is the relative AC characteristics as OC ability is what we care about. Optimizing each board
for max OC, while keeping Vcore the same on both boards,
what is the fsb wall for the two boards?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mykou
go P5WDH for Conroe ,SLI/Xfire or Ram @ 5:4 and DQ-6 for Allendale
what i can do isQuote:
what is the fsb wall for the two boards?
for screen
DS3 = 510 FSB
P5WDH = 477FSB
for benching
DS3 = 495FSB
P5WDH = 453FSB