New Motherboard, Want a X38 Chipset

omni · Jul 12, 2008

I currently have a P5K-E, and its an alright motherboard, if you aren't overclocking, but I have found it to be severely lacking.

Now I want to replace the board w/ a X38 chipset, I am thinking a standard P5E, and than flash it for X48 support. What do you think ?

I can pick up this board for around $230 at a local shop, here are the specs:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=016083&cid=MB.157
Asus P5E Socket 775 Intel X38 ICH9R Chipset Dual-Channel DDR2 1200/1066/800/667Mhz eSATA/ 6x SATA 3.0Gb/s 8-CH SupremeFX II Audio 2x PCI-E x16 Firewire 12x USB 2.0

Any suggestions ? Does anyone have this board, how is the vdroop ? It seems llike a good choice for OC'ing.

gigabit · Jul 12, 2008

I had a P5E and i found it to be a PITA.I switched from the P5K-E to it and i wished i had kept the P5K-E.I hope you have a better experience than i did.Also V-drop was horrible on that board even after the pencil mod.It really needed to be hard modded

omni · Jul 12, 2008

What did you dislike about it ?

gigabit · Jul 12, 2008

Well it was very quirky.One day it would boot then the next day it wouldnt and id have to clear the cmos and start over.The Asus software wasnt worth a dam.But im sure you know that.The board had terrible v-drop..But It wasnt any one thing though the board was just quirky like i said .Maybe since then a bios has came out to fix all.The last bios i updated too was pretty good and it took care of a lot of little annoyances for me.

omni · Jul 13, 2008

I am looking for a good OC'ing board, I may upgrade to the P5K Deluxe version, I hear that it has a good VDroop. Recommendations ?

chrome-187 · Jul 13, 2008

the abit x38 has very low v drop, u can look it up on review sites....probably the best stock board out....with the bios updates it keeps getting better

i built a comp 2 weeks ago for my friend with the abit x38 and had no problem getting the q6600 stable @ 3.6 ghz with 1.425v...was very EZ imo...i did not try to go above 3.6 cuz it was not my cpu...im sure it would have though...it did 3.4 @ 1.35v anything else below 3.6 that i threw at it, it was stable with voltage 1.4v or below...

Loomy · Jul 13, 2008

I use the P5E for my rig, and I personally like it. Yes the V-Droop is big, but unless you are doing a massive over clock, it won't hurt that much.

That being said, the northbridge can hold you back if you are running 4 DIMMS. other than that, I love the board.

EDIT: i just remembered one more thing, The bios for the board wont fit on a floppy. This makes updating the bios a little tricky.

gigabit · Jul 13, 2008

Loomy said:
I use the P5E for my rig, and I personally like it. Yes the V-Droop is big, but unless you are doing a massive over clock, it won't hurt that much.

That being said, the northbridge can hold you back if you are running 4 DIMMS. other than that, I love the board.

EDIT: i just remembered one more thing, The bios for the board wont fit on a floppy. This makes updating the bios a little tricky.

Maybe that was my problem i was using 4x1gb of ram

chrome-187 said:
the abit x38 has very low v drop, u can look it up on review sites....probably the best stock board out....with the bios updates it keeps getting better

Yeah thats a very good board.Ive always liked Abit boards.

Click to expand...

omni · Jul 13, 2008

Loomy said:
I use the P5E for my rig, and I personally like it. Yes the V-Droop is big, but unless you are doing a massive over clock, it won't hurt that much.QUOTE]
That's the problem, I am doing a massive overclock

I am trying to hit 3.6 GHz on a Q9300 that is Water Cooled, and the VDroop is killing me.

I will either go with:
Asus P5E Socket 775 Intel X38 ICH9R Chipset Dual-Channel DDR2 1200/1066/800/667Mhz eSATA/ 6x SATA 3.0Gb/s 8-CH SupremeFX II Audio 2x PCI-E x16 Firewire 12x USB 2.0

Asus P5Q Deluxe Socket 775 Intel P45 + ICH10R Chipset Dual-Channel DDR2 1200/1066/800/667 8-Channel High Definition Audio Dual Gigabit Lan Firewire Dual PCI-Express Graphic Slots

Abit IX38 QuadGT ATX LGA775 X38 DDR2 CrossFire 2PCI-E16 2PCI SATA2 RAID Sound GBLAN 1394 Motherboard

Let me know what you think

gigabit · Jul 14, 2008

Id go with the Abit IX38 QuadGT

freeagent · Jul 14, 2008

4 series chips takes away the fsb wall people have been experiencing with 45nm quads.. so ive read.. i dont actually have one to test with yet tho.. so if thats the case, i wouldnt even look at the 3 series, just p45 and x48

gigabit · Jul 14, 2008

freeagent said:
4 series chips takes away the fsb wall people have been experiencing with 45nm quads.. so ive read.. i dont actually have one to test with yet tho.. so if thats the case, i wouldnt even look at the 3 series, just p45 and x48

Makes sense if thats true

omni · Jul 14, 2008

Then the P5Q Deluxe it is

omni · Jul 15, 2008

I just saw that they have a P5E Deluxe version for DDR2
Asus® P5E Deluxe, Socket 775, Intel® X48 Chipset w/ PCI Express x16 (ATX)

I will try and get this, any one know where they stock it in Canada ?

Evilsizer · Jul 15, 2008

have you tried NCIX.com?

omni · Jul 15, 2008

NCIX doesn't have it yet, I usually get it from them

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