I have been digging and digging looking for which chipset for a motherboard is the best. I know it all comes down to price and what you really want to do with it. Can someone out there give me an Idea of what sets the different chipsets apart. X38 P35 650i 680i 760i It all just seems to confuse me. Just looking for a little clarification. thanks
X38: Intel's current high-end chipset. It has support for all Intel processors that are currently on the market. It supports PCI-Express 2.0 and two full x16 lanes for crossfire. P35: Intel's midrange chipset. It has support for all Intel processors currently on the market and is PCI-Express 1.1. It supports crossfire via one x16 and one x4 PCI-E slots(not all motherboards have crossfire support) 650i Ultra: nVidia's single graphics solution, if I remember correctly it will support all processors except 45nm quad-cores. 650i SLI: budget SLI with two x8 PCI-E 1.1 slot or a single x16 slot activated. Same support as 650i Ultra for CPUs. 680i: high-end SLI chipset, support for 3 PCI-E 1.1 slots at x16/x16/x8 speeds for up to tri-SLI. Same CPU support as 650i. 750i SLI: Replacing 650i, and supports PCI-E 2.0 and SLI using one x16 slot and one x8 slot. Full support for 45nm processors including quad-cores. 780i: Replacing 680i, uses a bridge chip to support PCI-E 2.0. Has support for tri-SLI at all full x16 PCI-E 2.0 speeds. Same CPU support as 750i.
hello, im pretty sure that some of the 650i motherboards do support the 45nm cpus they just need to be flashed to the newest bios version. at least that is what it states on asus site for my p5n-e sli.
x38 - intel's latest and greatest, can do crossfire. expensive and lots of heat, but really fast. p35 - generally a solid performer, can be picked up for fairly cheap. normally can't do crossfire/sli, but some manufacturers have found a way around this 650/680 - nvidia's last generation. there are many variants of these, most can do sli. also cheap and decent overclocking. 1333fsb processors may or may not be supported, depends on the bios. no ddr3 support. 760/780 - nvidia's new stuff. some can do triple-sli. i don't know much about these. i'm sure somebody will correct me on some of that, it's just a rough overview. edit: listen to gravemind, he knows more than me
Thank you much. Is there any suggestions you guys would give. I am looking for a fairly future proofed system. Probably won't ever spend the money for SLi but plan on spending a decent budget on a system now. Going for a Quad core and might move into the brave world of overclocking. Prefer to go for an Nvidia Graphics solution. Plan to run at least 4Gb of ram. and a 64 bit OS. What would be your suggestion on what chipset to go for?
if i were buying a new mobo atm, id say go with one of the newer intel chips if you know that its not going to be very likely that youll buy a 2nd video card for sli. if you think you may get another card for sli id go with the newer nvidia chipsets that support ddr3 and 45nm quad for sure. really its a personal opinion. I have a p5n-e sli that is great for ocing but i thought at the time i was going to do sli but i changed my mind after i bought it and now i dont plan on using sli.
I have a house mate who uses that board and has been very happy with it. I am thinking I will go ahead with the X38 seems to be a pretty good fit. I like the features and plan on going with a PCi-x 2.0 8800 GT should be a pretty good showing.
If you get a intel X38 motherboard do you have to run DDR3 or does it aalso support DDR2 On their site it states DDR2 is supported on the X38 chipset overview but when you read the motherboard overview it does not mention DDR2 support Just interested to know Cheers Nigel
P35 and X38 have motherboards that support either DDR2 or DDR3 or a combination of both. You want a DDR2 board, as DDR2 is much cheaper and DDR3 offers very little performance boost.
Yea I can get 4 gb of ddr2 for about $150 but I can't touch that amount of ddr3 for less than $400 is that just gouging or is the technology really that expensive. I am surprised anybody will go for 3 over 2 right now. Seems pointless.
There's also P31 which is a cut-down P35 aimed at the budget box market. Seems to behave nicely. Some P35 boards (eg Gigabyte P35-DS3C) have DDR2 and DDR3 slots, but you can't mix so effectively you only have two slots on that board.
DDR3 boards sucked badly. DDR3 RAM is 2 xpensiv and mostly not max speed at 1600. DDR3 board is halfway to no where. in 6 mth, it's rubbish. Worst.. bastar d boards with DDR2 & DDR3.
Seems I will be going with DDR2 Doesn't seem to favor me or my pocket book that much to go with DDR3. Does anybody know about the new PCI express 2.0 and what you need to use that. I think the x38 chipset supports it. I had hopes to use the new 8800GTS for pci x 2.0 Ok so I think I have some to some conclusions on the system I am trying to build. Abit IX38 Quad GT Mobo 4gb of patriot viper DDR2 800 (2x 2gb dual channel pair) Intel Q6600 Zalman CNPS 9700 NT heat sink Thermaltake toughpower 700W PSU BFG 8800GTS 512 (G92) Not I am still not the most for sure on the motherboard. I want to go X38 chipset but I am not sure what is the best board for the buck. Any suggestions on any of may selections would be most welcome.
if you want sli with pci 2.0 then its got to be the 780 or 750 board because the the x38 will only do crossfire
I know I am still working things out the X38 doesn't seem to have the features of the P35 and the P35 seems more stable. I I don't think I am going to use SLi. I have never been that much of a gamer to go out and spend that much money on a system. It might be a nice feature. The P35's are looking good as well.
Doesn't really seem worth it yet. There isn't that much benefit for what you pay. Which board are you leaning towards. I am finding the Gigabyte board the one to go with but I am not liking the color of the PCB. Not a killer but looks kinda goofy in a green and black theme and a blue PCB
got my eye on this one http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?ASU-P5KPW nice board and looks the mutts nuts with a glass sided case
holy balls that is the board I chose and just ordered. That is really scary. Thanks to all those who helped out.
