Biostar TP45HP vs. TPower I45

These boards cost $100 and $170 respectively on Newegg. The only difference as far as specifications go is that the I45 is rated to run at DDR2 1200 natively, while the TP45HP is rated at DDR2 1200 if you overclock it. When you compare the boards side by size visually, the only difference is a slightly better (maybe) heatsink for the north-bride, south-bride, and voltage regulators on the I45. They also changed from electrolytic to solid state capacitors on the I45 (which is a good thing I suppose).

Those are the only differences I spot. With all that said, how can you justify a $70 price difference? Is the I45 really worth the extra cost?

I don't know much about the I45; I really don't see much difference either. I have the TP45HP; honestly, I doubt the I45 is worth the extra $ because the TP45 is an awesome value @ $100.

I do know however, that people are running 700+ FSB w/ Wolfdales and the I45....

If your looking to run RAID you have to get the Tpower I45 because of the south bridge.

and the PCI-Es on the Tpower may run at x16 ver x8 on the TP45HP.

does this help?

The TP45 HP used to cost $130 and the TPower I45 was $150. The TPower uses a completely different circuit board. You can probably go further with the I45 but the TP45 HP does offer a good performance to value ratio. When they dropped the price I picked one up last week for my old e8400.

I bought the TPower I45 for $150 at Newegg, not regreting it so far!

hank123 said:

If your looking to run RAID you have to get the Tpower I45 because of the south bridge.

and the PCI-Es on the Tpower may run at x16 ver x8 on the TP45HP.

does this help?

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You're saying that if you're running SLI then they will both run at 16X as opposed to 8x?

SeanBest said:

I bought the TPower I45 for $150 at Newegg, not regreting it so far!

Click to expand...

Except for the RAM issues though right? I wonder if it really is a compatibility problem because I've had the same issue on my TP45D2-A7.

well you cant run sli on a intel chipset. but when you run xfire its still 8x and 8x on the i45. but if you run one gpu it 16x, where i think it only runs at 8x on the hp. i ahve the the i45 and i love it! hti 4ghz on air with a q9400 no problems.

Automiketic said:

well you cant run sli on a intel chipset. but when you run xfire its still 8x and 8x on the i45. but if you run one gpu it 16x, where i think it only runs at 8x on the hp. i ahve the the i45 and i love it! hti 4ghz on air with a q9400 no problems.

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That's not according to the manufacturer's specifications for that board. I have the TP45D2-A7 which is supposed to be a lesser model and it runs 16x PCI-E 2.0.

of course i could be wrong. thats why i said i think. apparently i shouldnt do that too often.