DFI 965-S is here! For sale @ ewiz

[The Nemesis]

At this point DDR3 will be just like DDR2 when it first came out. At this point I could care less about DDR3. Waiting for second generation DDR3 chipsets

I'm gonna try out the first generation but with DDR2. I've got way too much DDR2 to invest in DDR3 without some serious improvement in performance over DDR2. I generally upgrade to the latest architecture every summer as there's an event here I like to compete in.

[vengance_01]

I'm gonna try out the first generation but with DDR2. I've got way too much DDR2 to invest in DDR3 without some serious improvement in performance over DDR2. I generally upgrade to the latest architecture every summer as there's an event here I like to compete in.

But for the price and preformace its sure does pack a nice punch. Also for me I am moving back to C2D after having a laptop for a while.

[The Nemesis]

But for the price and preformace its sure does pack a nice punch. Also for me I am moving back to C2D after having a laptop for a while.

Yes it does, If I had an 8800GTX I would probably get this board. That single card scores what my SLI setup does. But again, I want to invest in whatever the top 3D platform is this summer so I won't be buying a 8800GTX just this yet.

[vengance_01]

Yes it does, If I had an 8800GTX I would probably get this board. That single card scores what my SLI setup does. But again, I want to invest in whatever the top 3D platform is this summer so I won't be buying a 8800GTX just this yet.

hehe. I am still usure about my video card. Thinking of getting something cheap as a place holder till the big boys launch in the next two months

[EMan]

Yes it does, If I had an 8800GTX I would probably get this board. That single card scores what my SLI setup does. But again, I want to invest in whatever the top 3D platform is this summer so I won't be buying a 8800GTX just this yet.

I needed a new gaming system now. I've been running and old Abit IC7 and Radeon 9800 for several years now. The P965-S paired with an E6420 running at or near 500fsb with my new 8800GTX should run my games at 1920x1200 just fine.

It seemed like the right board right now for me. But I agree the chipset/platform has it's limitations and is by no mean the newest thing.

[aamsel]

Would you agree that it (the 965) is not the best chipset/platform for an E6600?

Andrew

...I agree the chipset/platform has it's limitations and is by no mean the newest thing.

[grimREEFER]

i bought it.....i hope its better than the p5n-e.
its gonna replace my dead p5ld2, im gonnna pair it with a smithfield.
hopefully it'll handle 250 fsb lol. what are the mem dividers available on this board?

[StealthyFish]

i bought it.....i hope its better than the p5n-e.
its gonna replace my dead p5ld2, im gonnna pair it with a smithfield.
hopefully it'll handle 250 fsb lol. what are the mem dividers available on this board?

How does it feel over the p5crapD2 ? I had to stop lookin at motherboards for a bit since I just got pummeled by AP chem and calc tests , but now I've got time to look at em again :-D .

[EMan]

Would you agree that it (the 965) is not the best chipset/platform for an E6600?

Andrew

There are others here who have far more experience than me, but...

The main advantage (for overclocking) of 965 boards is high maximum fsb, especially compared to 975 boards (680i is another story and harder to compare).

So, using the E6600's 9x multiplier, you might get ~ 9x400 = 3.6ghz stable with a good chip on air (maybe a bit higher on water)

However, the Bad Axe 2 (975), for example, can do 400fsb easy and is faster clock-for-clock than 965 boards. So you be the judge.

However, there are two potential caveats:

1) most 965 boards use the 1333 strap (worse latencies) at higher fsb clocks, which is (partially) why they are slower than 975 clock-for-clock. But, the Abit QuadGT and the DFI Infinity P965-S clock higher on the 1066 strap. (The Abit board may be buggier than the DFI, though.)

2) I suppose there is the possibility that (probabilistically) you're more likely to get a better overclocking chip with a E6600 or E6700 (and certainly, X6800) than a cheaper processor. If there is a "binning" process for Intel chips, then the choice of mobo and cpu are somewhat less dependent. That is, I'd rather have a good E6600 and oveclock it using a lower multi on the DFI 965, than use a crappy E6400 or E6300 at its normal multiplier.

[dekruyter]

Nice post and good brief summary EMAN; I concur.