Bit-tech recommends the GA-EP31-DS3L. Read a post here saying to stay away from P30 series as will loose 10-15% graphics performance due to low bandwidth compared to P40 series. So question is, to go with the GA-EP31-DS3L or add another 20quid and get the GA-EP43-DS3L? Will be coupling the m/b with a e5200 and 4830 or 4850 and OC'ing to max and as at the low end a drop of 10-15% graphics performance will be the difference between playable and not.
I've wondered why bit-tech doesn't recommend the P43 over the P31. Maybe it costs more and the P31 is adequate for a budget board; maybe it's because they haven't reviewed it, that's something I'd like to see. Is there much difference in the features of the boards other than the chipsets? Maybe someone else knowns more about the P43 over the P31. How does the extra £20 affect your budget? Would it allow a 4850 instead of a 4830?
Although im not 100%... does the p43 / p45 series have: PCI-e 2.0 instead of 1.0 / 1.1 ? memory support of up to 16gbs (on certain boards) as opposed to p31 supporting 4gb. this link hopefully might help you. link compares P31 to P43 on the intel website. http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart.aspx?mmID=36521,32898&familyID=10&culture=en-US
found this, looks to be worth 20quid extra http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart.aspx?mmID=36521,32898&familyID=10&culture=en-US What do you fink Bit-tech staff? Seems the p31 is budget king as why go p43 when can add 10quid and get p45.......
Denis I have a GP31-D3L and have my 5200 oc'd to 3.125 @ 1.1325V using an akasa 965 running in passive mode. I've got a replacement fan waiting at home and i'll be back there on the 1st hopefully, so if you can hold off until then i'll let you know how i get on with getting the e5200 up a bit more. The only thing I'm missing on the board is firewire to connect my dv cam up to, but i have another comp with firewire on anyway so that's not really a problem.
Thanks, thats the same rig i was going to build until read about 10-15% drop in graphics on P31.....I'm hoping to hit 4Ghz (400FSBx10) with DDR2-800.
How about the GA-EP45-DS3R? I have it, and it's a pretty solid MoBo. £85 from ebuyer a while ago, but now it's hovering around £95, because of hardware prices rising. Still, if you can stretch for it, I'd certainly recommend it
Also is the 10-15% graphics performance a theoretical lose? i.e of the maximum possible performance, i.e PCI-E 2.0 has 10-15% more bandwidth available. If that's the case then there should be no real difference in real world performance. EDIT: Just got the new fan installed, 3.5GHz @ 1.25V (after vdroop), seems to be pretty good, superpie 1M of 15.916s, max temps of 64degreesC
