Advice on these motherboards...

JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
The mobo is pretty much the only decision I have left (aside from the monitor). Here are my options:

X38:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080

P35:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128083
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128082

That last one catches my eye because it supports both DDR2 and DDR3 memory, so it seems good for future upgrades.

My big question is, how much of a difference does it make to have the FSB at 1600/1333MHz as opposed to 1333/1066MHz? Because that seems to be the main difference between the two chipsets. Everything else seems to be just a matter of how many ports are available, and if it supports dual GPUs, which isn't a priority for me since I plan to use nVidia anyway.

Thanks.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I plan to get the new Wolfdale CPU, so if some of these don't support it, my decision just got a little easier. :)
 
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Ramodkk

Ramodkk

VIP Member
Hey! well about the memory, don't worry about it too much since DDR3 is just starting to appear and I don't think it will be worth it until later. So in other words, don't overlook DDR2 mobos. And about the FSB, the X38's will support CPU's with either 1600MHz or 1333MHz, while the P35' only support up to 1333MHz. And yes, another difference between them is that on the X38 you can Crossfire dual cards at full 16x speed so that's a plues unless you don't want to run dual cards.

And I don't know if you can drop one of the new Wolfdales into this mobo, but it seems like the best bang for the buck if you don't want to go dual gpus'
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059&Tpk=p35-ds3l

Hope that helped! ;)
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
ramodkk said:
Hey! well about the memory, don't worry about it too much since DDR3 is just starting to appear and I don't think it will be worth it until later. So in other words, don't overlook DDR2 mobos. And about the FSB, the X38's will support CPU's with either 1600MHz or 1333MHz, while the P35' only support up to 1333MHz. And yes, another difference between them is that on the X38 you can Crossfire dual cards at full 16x speed so that's a plues unless you don't want to run dual cards.

And I don't know if you can drop one of the new Wolfdales into this mobo, but it seems like the best bang for the buck if you don't want to go dual gpus'
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059&Tpk=p35-ds3l

Hope that helped! ;)
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That one definitely has an excellent price, but the south bridge isn't quite as new as some others, and it has no firewire. Probably neither of these things matter to me, but I can't help but notice them. :)

As far as FSB, what exactly does it affect? Does it mean that the CPUs will run even faster if it's 1600 instead of 1333?
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
JohnJSal said:
That one definitely has an excellent price, but the south bridge isn't quite as new as some others, and it has no firewire. Probably neither of these things matter to me, but I can't help but notice them. :)

As far as FSB, what exactly does it affect? Does it mean that the CPUs will run even faster if it's 1600 instead of 1333?
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Nevermind. I just realized that the CPU I want (E8400) has an FSB of 1333 anyway, so the 1600 doesn't even matter! :) That makes things easier!
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
mep916 said:
^ I like that one. :)



Exactly. ;)
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Another thing I just realized is that the P35 boards don't have PCIe 2.0, and the graphics card I want (8800GTS(G92)) is compatible with 2.0. I'm sure it's backward compatible with the older PCIe slots as well, but will it run better on an X38 board?
 
mep916

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
JohnJSal said:
Another thing I just realized is that the P35 boards don't have PCIe 2.0, and the graphics card I want (8800GTS(G92)) is compatible with 2.0. I'm sure it's backward compatible with the older PCIe slots as well, but will it run better on an X38 board?
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Technically it would be better for you to run that card on a PCI-E 2.0 compatible board. But, yes, it is backward compatible.
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
Well, I'm pretty much down to these five. They're pretty much identical in all specs, so I don't know how to choose from this point. The prices are also close enough that I'll probably just go with the X38, to be all cutting-edge about it. :) Maybe the Gigabyte that you suggested above.

P35:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131225
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128083
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128064

X38:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128080
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131219
 
Ramodkk

Ramodkk

VIP Member
GIGABYTE makes awesome cards so I would narrow it down to GIGABYTE's. Also I'm not sure but if the E8400 works with the P35-DS3L why not get it? is cheaper so you can save and pur the extra money on another component. Also yeah right now, it doesn't matter all that much about which version of PCI-e slot you have so I'd say you're good with 1.0.
 
mep916

mep916

Administrator
Staff member
JohnJSal said:
The prices are also close enough that I'll probably just go with the X38, to be all cutting-edge about it. :) Maybe the Gigabyte that you suggested above.
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I'd narrow it down to the two X38 boards. :) The P35 boards you're looking at are overpriced for that chipset. The P35 board Ramodkk suggested would be a good P35 board.
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
mep916 said:
I'd narrow it down to the two X38 boards. :) The P35 boards you're looking at are overpriced for that chipset. The P35 board Ramodkk suggested would be a good P35 board.
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Good thinking. And yeah, I can't get over the price of that board! I'm tempted to just buy it anyway and hang it on my wall. ;)
 
Ramodkk

Ramodkk

VIP Member
Why do you need onboard video? Are you not gonna game? :p sorry people nowadays (including me of course!) build comps for gaming! :rolleyes:

BTW, I know right? It's like the perfect one for people who don't want to go with the best of the best. That's the board I want to get whenever I upgrade. :)
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
ramodkk said:
Why do you need onboard video? Are you not gonna game? :p sorry people nowadays (including me of course!) build comps for gaming! :rolleyes:

BTW, I know right? It's like the perfect one for people who don't want to go with the best of the best. That's the board I want to get whenever I upgrade. :)
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Oh, I definitely plan to spend way too much money on a video card. :) But I was thinking for my parents, if I ever get around to building a PC for them, they don't need a dedicated card, so this mobo would be excellent for them if it had video. But yeah, since most people get a card anyway, it's a really great deal.
 
Ramodkk

Ramodkk

VIP Member
Yep! and what video card are you planning on getting? I can tell you that the HD3870 is an amazing choice for the price!
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
ramodkk said:
Yep! and what video card are you planning on getting? I can tell you that the HD3870 is an amazing choice for the price!
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Originally I had decided on the 8800GT, but now that the 8800GTS (G92) is out, I have no choice but to get it instead, as long as the price stays down. :) It's actually not all that expensive right now, considering how powerful it is. Something around $280 after rebates, which is what I had originally planned to spend on the 8800GT (although that one has really dropped lately, somewhere around $240 now).

On a separate note, I finally made a decision on my mobo: GA-X38-DS4. Now if I can just choose a stupid case!!! :(
 
Ramodkk

Ramodkk

VIP Member
Oh oh! I got you on the case! easy choice. Get the NZXT Apollo case! ;) I have it. It's a really good case, plenty of space, 3x120mm fan slots (2 included), tool-less installation and not to mention it looks sick!

If you're interested on the NZXT Apollo, look at the pics in my sig so you can have an idea on how it looks. :)
 
JohnJSal

JohnJSal

Active Member
ramodkk said:
Oh oh! I got you on the case! easy choice. Get the NZXT Apollo case! ;) I have it. It's a really good case, plenty of space, 3x120mm fan slots (2 included), tool-less installation and not to mention it looks sick!

If you're interested on the NZXT Apollo, look at the pics in my sig so you can have an idea on how it looks. :)
Click to expand...

I gotta be honest, I'm just not a fan of this case. It looks like it's made of plastic, and I don't really like the front design or the fact that it has a front door.
 
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