Looking around at X38 boards, and...

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

I really have no clue which ones are the elite

Right now I'm sitting on a IP35-E thats about to be RMAed, then I plan on selling its RMA replacement as soon as it gets back. In the meantime, I figured now would be a good time to hop on X38 unless the prices are gonna majorly drop in the next month. The Asus P5E looks tasty, as does the Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4. Anyone know the difference between the GA-X38-DS4 and the GA-X38-DQ6? I'm looking at about $200 tops for a board so all those Asus ones named after characters from the movie 300 (aka the Maximum Formula and the Maximum Extreme) are out of the picture.

Albuquerque · Jan 25, 2008

The Gigabyte DS6 has dual DDR2/DDR3 implementation, the DS4 is straight DDR2. I have the DS4 and I really like it.

Shell · Jan 25, 2008

All of the X38 mainboards are pretty much the same... you're only paying more for the features and the name.

I got My P5E because it was the cheapest X38, I have no complaints about it, keeps my DDR2-1200 happy.

300 x 9 = 2700 Core
300 x 2 = 600 Memory
300 x 4 = 1200 FSB
2.25v memory, +0.1v CPU, +0.1v NB.

I'd tweak it more but I'm too lazy.

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

Albuquerque said:
The Gigabyte DS6 has dual DDR2/DDR3 implementation, the DS4 is straight DDR2. I have the DS4 and I really like it.

I see you have an E8400 on there as well. What kind of cooling are you using that allows for 4.33GHz with only 1.41 volts? The DS4 is looking really appealing, because by the time I go to DDR3, there will be a lot better board, and a whole new socket.

Albuquerque · Jan 25, 2008

Apogee GT, dual rad, Via Aqua pump. Voltage is actual, not the BIOS setting

You should see it now that I lapped the processor and waterblock, and replaced the UBER-CRAPTASTIC mounting hardware on the Apogee with something far better. The rig is at home Orthos'ing at 489x9 (4401Mhz) at 1.45 actual :beer:

This chipset is good past 575FSB on all-stock MCH and FSB voltages if your CPU can take it. My former E6850 could, but my E8400 can't. And while I don't expect PCI-E 2.0 to be doing much in real game benchmarks, 3DMark06 does respond by several hundred points to the extra bandwidth in Crossfire.

I also love the audio; for an onboard solution, it's surprisingly good. No noise even at max volume, lots of ports, almost zilch for CPU usage (considering the processor, it's not like it even could use much).

My only complaint has been vDroop, but it was far worse on the E6850 than it is on the E8400. Not sure what the difference was... Oh, and if you watercool, you'll want to snag a fan to throw on the northbridge to keep it cool. It's heatpiped to the MOSFETs, and as such gets pretty hot if you don't have any airflow around there due to lack of CPU fan.

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

Ok cool. I do have a Apogee GT waterblock coming, as well as a pair of 2900s. So it can take the FSB of the E8400 up to 575 (assuming you drop the multi to 6x) without adjusting the CPU VTT or NB voltages at all???

Albuquerque · Jan 25, 2008

ghost_recon88 said:
Ok cool. I do have a Apogee GT waterblock coming, as well as a pair of 2900s. So it can take the FSB of the E8400 up to 575 (assuming you drop the multi to 6x) without adjusting the CPU VTT or NB voltages at all???

Is that what I said?

Me said:
This chipset is good past 575FSB on all-stock MCH and FSB voltages if your CPU can take it. My former E6850 could, but my E8400 can't.

FSB wall is entirely CPU dependant, not chipset dependant. And just like ANY overclocking endeavor, your results may vary from board to board. My board works fine at 575FSB without any adjustment to vTT or MCH voltages. Of course, I did need a fan since there was zero airflow otherwise...

That's not to say that everyone with a Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 will automatically be able to POST on the first attempt at 575 -- remember the limits of your ram, your CPU, and hell even your power supply and airflow in the case.

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

Albuquerque said:
Is that what I said?

FSB wall is entirely CPU dependant, not chipset dependant. And just like ANY overclocking endeavor, your results may vary from board to board. My board works fine at 575FSB without any adjustment to vTT or MCH voltages. Of course, I did need a fan since there was zero airflow otherwise...

That's not to say that everyone with a Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4 will automatically be able to POST on the first attempt at 575 -- remember the limits of your ram, your CPU, and hell even your power supply and airflow in the case.

Well I don't expect my E8400 to go up to 575MHz FSB, but I just like the fact that theres a possibilty I wouldn't have to adjust any of the CPU VTT or NB voltages in order to max it out.

Albuquerque · Jan 25, 2008

Well again, CPU VTT isn't linked to the northbridge -- it's the CPU.

My E6850 needed no adjustments at all. I ran into a memory limit at 575, so I can only vouch for that speed.

My E8400 needs 0.10v more at 475+, needs 0.15v more at 500+, needs 0.25v more at 525+, and needs 0.35v (max) to post at 550. It's still not stable at 550 though...

th3 · Jan 25, 2008

My E8400 isnt that good, in the DS5 it cant even post at 533 with +.35v FSB (max). Boots at 530, not stable, with the Xeon3060 it booted at 580 and i dont think i had max vFSB that time, and stable at 550 with stock vFSB.

sk1llz · Jan 25, 2008

th3 said:
My E8400 isnt that good, in the DS5 it cant even post at 533 with +.35v FSB (max). Boots at 530, not stable, with the Xeon3060 it booted at 580 and i dont think i had max vFSB that time, and stable at 550 with stock vFSB.

Have you tried upping the PCI-E overvoltage? Yeah, you read that right, sounds strange and i agree. But that can actually help you get your system posting at higher FSB.

I was sitting the other day for hours to see why my e2140 wouldn't boot at 420 fsb and above. And i just tryed upping it for fun, just that one and nothing else, and i got suprised that i booted without any problems.
Helped me climbing up from 420Mhz fsb to 427 when it wouldn't boot again. So i was upping the pci-e overvoltage again to get it posting successfully all the way up to 435Mhz FSB when i couldn't go any further no mather how i was balancing all the voltages in every combination there is.

~500FSB is still nice, should be good for 4.5Ghz atleast? I wouldn't expect more than that anyways.

th3 · Jan 25, 2008

Sounds like fun if it works, sure will try that =)

The E8400 stable at FSB520 and probably also at 525 but its annoying that the year and a half old Xeon with its low stock FSB can do so much higher FSB so easily on the same board.

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

th3 said:
Sounds like fun if it works, sure will try that =)

The E8400 stable at FSB520 and probably also at 525 but its annoying that the year and a half old Xeon with its low stock FSB can do so much higher FSB so easily on the same board.

You've got your E8400 stable @ 9x520? Thats 4.68GHz :drool:

th3 · Jan 25, 2008

Hehe, sorry for omitting important info, just testing FSB there, only 8x520.

Sentential · Jan 25, 2008

Asus P5E is solid as well. :beer:

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

Sentential said:
Asus P5E is solid as well.

I've been looking at that one too. I'm headed over to CompUSA since they have 30% off their remaining motherboards, last time I went they had an Asus Maximus Formula for only $260. 30% off that would be cheaper than newegg :beer:

cabose1227 · Jan 25, 2008

Whats rong with the ip35-e?

Shiggity · Jan 25, 2008

Wait for X48 goodness

Asus ROG Rampage Formula review - http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3208

"Based on our results from the ASUS Rampage Formula, we will go on record now and reject our previous position. We will be running X48 boards in our personal systems; what about you?"

Sentential · Jan 25, 2008

Shiggity said:
Wait for X48 goodness

Asus ROG Rampage Formula review - http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3208

"Based on our results from the ASUS Rampage Formula, we will go on record now and reject our previous position. We will be running X48 boards in our personal systems; what about you?"

I disagree, on paper the X48 is nothing more than a speed binned X38 and frankly there isnt a gaurntee of that either. The X38s will be cheaper and overall their BIOS are more mature.

Show me a X48 that will do 550FSB and Ill change my opinion, otherwise the X38 is going to give you exactally the same features and overclock.

ghost_recon88 · Jan 25, 2008

Well my Abit doesn't have Crossfire or RAID, which is why I want a new board. Plus its going in for an RMA (hopefully) and I plan on selling the replacement as soon as I get it. The X48 is overrated beyond belief, and its gonna cost a lot more than the current X38 boards. The only reason someone would want a X48 board over a X38 is if they had money to burn, and wanted to use DDR3 in which case they could get a X38 that uses DDR3 for cheaper. Heck even the X48 board linked to above uses DDR2 cause Asus was smart and knows that a lot of people are not gonna be migrating to DDR3 anytime soon. If the X48 could hit 600 FSB who would care? All the new 45nm chips are incapable of hitting that anyways.

Looking around at X38 boards, and...

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