P35?X48? Which chipset? Which MOBO Manufacturer?

Hey Guys,

What in your opinion is the best m/b overall taking price/performance into the eqaution and leaving sli/crossfire(not of interest to me) out?

The Abit P35 looks good. To me stability, bios options and having a cool and quiet system are main factors.

 

am I right in my thinking that if get a x48 with 1600Mhz FSB and a CPU that supports 1600Mhz I'll need to get DDR2/3 1600?

 

The bus runs at 1/4 that speed (400MHz) and DDR2 at twice bus speed (800MHz) so DDR2-800 is the minimum, faster will leave room for overclocking. Pricewise PC2-8500 (DDR2-1600) doesn't look OTT.

 

ok ok, so fsb is quad pumped hence actually fsb is 400Mhz quad pumped on the 1600mhz FSB. Memory is bi pumped hence DDR800 will actually run at 400Mhz same as the FSB. lol

so for instance if I was to push the FSB to 2000Mhz (unlikely) then I'd want DDR1000 memory? with lowest mem timings possible

 

The abit IP35-E/IP35/IP35 Pro are a good series with exact choice depending upon which features that you need/budget.
there have been some good deals on the IP35 Pro as there is a new Pro XE version out with "official" 1600fsb CPU support (tbh it's just marketing as the existing mobo already does well past that when overclocked).

 

read a review on trustedreviews bout the abit IP35 pro, said had loads of options and awesome boared etc etc but they hit stable 3.8ghz overclock on another board but could only manage 3.3Ghz on the Abit. So what in your view guys is the best chipset price/perfomance wise. For instance why get a X48 over the P35?

 

it really comes down to what CPU you want to use.

personally i would hold out for the P45 chipset, the P35 is probably the most talked about chipset within the overclocking world, its stable and loves high speed, i haven't heard of a P35 to be a bad overclocker. P45 will almost certainly be amazing with low power and 'im all green, free the whales' options with in the bios.

 

they either had a poor mobo, a bad BIOS or didn't spend the time dialling it in.
In vfm terms the £60 IP35 is better than the £90-100 IP35 Pro though.

 

so abit p35 non pro seems way to go, i read the P45 will need a degree in electronics and loads more time to overclock with all the voltage options and diff bus stuff

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05/12/will-you-overclock-intel-s-p45/1

Would it be worthwhile waiting for Nahalem specifically the ondie mem controller? If so when do you think a affordable Nahalem based cpu will come along?

 

15-18 months?

 

lol then I aint waiting. Will go with the tried and tested P35 and hope I can get a wolfdale to hit nice stable 4Ghz with one of em giant Zalman copper coolers. Think I'll go with Abit with 1600Mhz FSB support for longevity reasons.

Is it better to get a CPU with a high multipler and lower FSB then a CPU with a low multipler but high FSB? Hence getting more of an overclock with increases in FSB.

I'm thinking 3Ghz 45nm Core 2 Duo Wolfdale.

 

I originally went to store to buy a Asus P5K, but came out as an Abit IP35-owner. The salesman made me change my mind and so far I've had no issues with my IP35. Or actually I've had one! It doesn't show voltages correctly (checked with multi meter).

 

it can be hard to say as often you are comparing CPUs across different series with different amounts of cache, different process technology etc. (& of course price).
Personally, I tend to prefer CPUs with multis 9x & up as they tend to give you a bit more flexibility in how to achieve a certain result.

which ones?
abits are usually pretty good about their reported voltages.

 

If you can justify the money, the Asus Maximus formula is a damn nice board.

 

core 2 duo wolfdale, i want one of em with 10x multipler that can handle FSB 400 so nice stable 4Ghz rig

 

What makes the Asus Maximus formula better over the Abit IP35 Pro ?

 

All of them? Atleast 5 and 12 V voltages are totally off, I haven't bothered actually measuring +3,3 V and core voltage..

 

hum. let's see: worse fan controller, worse layed out BOIS, more expensive.

to be honest, i don't see why people even bother to buy x38 if they don't plan to go crossfire.

 

lets see ........£200 for asus maximus, or £65 for abit p35 .... i know without a doubt I will go with the abit

 

Don't for get that X38/48 also support PCIE 2.0. If your card doesn't support that, then I would suggest a P35 like the ASUS P5K Pro reviewed at Bit-Tech a while ago. It is by far the best bang for the buck board I've seen. I didn't like the Abit IP35 Pro because it used a PCI GigE nic which is a big no-no for me. Abit is coming out with a new version soon which might be better.