X48 Mobo

[grumpy_dog666]

Sitting on a P35-DS3 and wanting to upgrade.

In the near future, upgrades will also include

E8400 (Around time Nehalem is released)
ATI 4850 (SOON), doubt i will ever run CrossFire though
and get rid of the two IDE drives in my system.

The P35 has only 6 SATA Points, and the new board will need more, 8 preferable.

these are the boards i'm looking at.

DFI LPLT-X48-T2R
Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6

i know there are some ASUS that do 8 SATA Ports. I've had a few bad ASUS boards

there are a few other boards (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%201070509908%201296819456&bop=And&Order=PRICE) but i am limited in what i can get sometimes in Australia

similar in price range, which would you recommend?

[Rissien]

Hey grumpy :P

I've heard lots of good things about that DFI board- - loads of ocing options, tweaks and stuff. I'm also in the market for a new x48 board and i rulled the gigabyte x48-dq6 one out cause it has a backplate on the back that's hard to remove without scratching the board...and i need to remove the backplate in order to use the tr 120u extreme cooler.

I see you have the same cooler as me so i suggest you take a look at some pictures of that gigabyte board before your final decision.

Gigabyte GA-X48-DS4 and DS5 boards dont have that backplate on the back.

My choice here is the DFI board :)

ps - i think that asus p5e deluxe could be in the same price range as those 2 boards - i know you had a few bad asus boards but its only a suggestion :P

let us know what you decided m8.

[grumpy_dog666]

thanks for the tip on the back plate on the DQ6 - wouldn't have noticed that.....

the ASUS boards are tempting, especially cause of the prices. they have 8xSATA on their P45 boards, most others don't, which would put the price at under $200AUS compared to $300 for the X48 boards.

my only concern with the DFI, is their apparent POOR customer service, and their multitude of settings, which could be a minefield for a semi-n00b.

the Gigabyte DS5 is a possibility

[Nebulous]

Actually grumpy, DFI is on the ball with customer support, it's just that I did'nt have a sales reciept/invoice and that's required for RMA. I was forced to pay out of pocket. If you have this, your RMA will go smoothly.

The only thing I might see you have trouble with is the bios, but with a little patience you'll get it down pat just like me :cool: I'm used to the DFI boards now and when I have a different brand board and look in the bios, I'm kinda expecting a plethora of settings to mess around with. Call me :screwy: lol


With the Gigabyte DQ6 , I'm sure with a hair dryer you can remove that backplate ;) Again you just have to have some patience removing it. Nothing is impossible.

Asus, is indeed, a very good board and might serve you very well.

[grumpy_dog666]

yeah - i would get the asus if i didn't have any prior issues with their compatability, ie RAM and Video Cards.
are the issues a thing of the past or do people still see problems when using certain memory and VC?

as for the DQ6, i would prefer NOT to hack the backing plate off, and have been reading a few questions about problems with the DS5.

The final question is, timing.
buy now, and utilize the extra SATA. i'm getting rid of the two old IDE's cause they are old, and the parallel cable JUST reaches by like millimeters.
or wait until the E0 revision E8400s come out and get then?

[Nebulous]

Hmm, I would buy now or wait another week to see what prices will keep dropping ;)

I've been wanting an X48 board, but being in the middle of moving, my budget as become extremely tight. I'm considering the DFI and I'll use the BloodIron for the back-up rig. I'm sure it'll ramp up the E6400 speed very nicely :D

[grumpy_dog666]

it's a pain.

most retailers don't hold stock of the DFI boards in Australia.

Prices are probably not going to move much.

[Nebulous]

Dang :-/ Well if that's the case, I would buy now and go for the Asus or the Gigabyte. Are you satisfied with the ocing of your current board?

[grumpy_dog666]

do you think i could get the P45, doubt i will do CF.
i could get the DFI P45 board as it has the features i want

its basically the
ASUS P5Q-Pro (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131299)

DFI LP DK-P45-T2RS Plus (http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=138_711_678&products_id=7791)

in the P45 range. with the DFI being cheaper

Australia, and their lack of imports sucks!.

either DFI P45 or Gigabyte DS5 i think are the options!

[grumpy_dog666]

Got the Gigabyte X48-DS5. a coin toss decided it...

will post later as i'm about to install it

[Albyno]

actualy 3 coin toss' did

[grumpy_dog666]

true - 3 it was

[Albyno]

all installed?

[Rissien]

I bought the same mobo as you did grumpy...yesterday and installed everythinga and whenever i tried to install the onboard 2x glan drivers i would get the bsod all the time whatever i tried. I RMA'ed the board, got a new one and i had the same problems with it....so i RMA'ed the board AGAIN and told them to give me the x48 ds4 version and it works like a charm, only need to update the bios to F2 version.

I'm really happy with the board atm, nice ocing options, performs way faster than my p35 ds4 one did.

I hope you're gonna get a good batch of the ds5 board cause i've had loads of problems with it.

Keep us posted m8.

[grumpy_dog666]

so far no problems with the board. all installed on a fresh XP Pro

[Ashura]

Just an FYI for anyone interested in the board you mentioned earlier, the CPU backplate is very easy to remove. I had the x38 equivalent, the GA-EX38-DQ6, and all it takes is a bit of unscrewing, pops right off. No hair dryer or anything required. ;)

[Alastayr]

Just an FYI for anyone interested in the board you mentioned earlier, the CPU backplate is very easy to remove. I had the x38 equivalent, the GA-EX38-DQ6, and all it takes is a bit of unscrewing, pops right off. No hair dryer or anything required. ;)

I was gonna say the same. I helped some ...guy prepare his X48-DQ6 for phase change cooling and removed the backplate myself (I was originally only there to Dremel his Lian-Li case) because the cokehead feared his shaky hands would damage something on the PCB. Well, after some unscrewing, it came of without a problem, didn't stick at all.
Too bad we never made it to the phase change setup, he couldn't get his RAID setup running and decided to sell the board - 4h after unpacking it. :clap: