[Maverick0984]

I'm having difficulties with the onboard X-Fi on my 680i board and getting full 5.1 surround. Other than that, it all works perfectly. This is more than likely a Creative issue and not a MSI/680i issue, since the X-Fi's have so many issues, but regardless it's unacceptable. Seeing as how the built in X-Fi was a large part of my decision for the board I'm torn. I'm still in my RMA return period for Newegg, have about a week left. I can look at other 680i boards but I would like some input on P35. I know this is asked a ton of times, but my case is a little more specific. With my current set up, the Lian Li case has an inverted mobo install. This puts the socket closer to the compartment barrier. Because of this the 120Ex can't be mounted the way it is intended and has to be mounted turned 90 degrees, this creates fan issues, which I've pretty much figured out, it's just annoying to have to mount it like this.

I do have a detailed thread about it here, including a sketch of what I'm talking about.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=521231

So it would be nice if the socket is "further" away from that edge, and the passive cooling heatsinks didn't interfere with the cooler.

I'm basically looking for the best P35 board out there, money is no object. It will have a G0 Q6600 and DDR2 memory. I'd like to know if people had a Lian Li case and had the 120Ex installed correctly on it, but this is a secondary wish. Technically the case could be RMA'd too, but Lian Li cases are just so damn beautiful, I couldn't part with it, heh. Thanks for any help.

[shirker]

that crazy looking green DFI board, Asus P5K Premium/Deluxe, Gigabyte P35-DQ6, Abit IP35 Pro, in that order/

[Maverick0984]

The Gigabyte P35-DQ6 looks nice but has a huge NB heatsink, can that fit an UltraEx?

Not really interested in anything DFI.

The Asus P5K Premium looks to have a fairly large set of heatsinks and some heafty extra stuff laying around there. Also only has 6 SATA ports, I'd prefer the 8 the Gigabyte has.

[shirker]

oh, well you didn't specify what you meant by "best" P35 board; the recommendations I made were solely made on overclocking performance with the latest core 2 duos and quad-core processors.

Do you want 8 SATA ports just for internal hardware? because the P5K (and Abit) both have 2 eSATA ports, whereas the Gigabyte boards have 2 SATA to eSATA cables that end in an expansion slot mounting bracket.

The NB/SB cooling of all three boards are significantly large, more so for the Gigabyte and Asus boards. I'm pretty sure both can fit a TR u-120 extreme, although someone else will have to confirm that for you

[Maverick0984]

Well, the SATA ports are just secondary, "best" in your terms coincide with "best" in my terms. I just need to know if the cooler fits .

[i686]

hi'
so far the gigabyte has been tested with some of the biggest HS on the today's market.
no problem for a scythe infinity

a gigabyte P35 DQ6 seems to me the best of the moment

i686

[SuperDave1685]

I vote for the new DFI P35 based board.. have a look at it here at XS Linky. I know you said you weren't interested in DFI, but I think if you have a read a little bit about this new board, you'll be throughly impressed... It uses the P35 chipset and the nVidia SB chip.

-Dave

[sofarfrome]

Abit IP35Pro

[Heidfirst]

Originally Posted by SuperDave1685

It uses the P35 chipset and the nVidia SB chip.

No, it uses an Intel ICH9R sb.

[SuperDave1685]

lol Heidfirst. I was just getting ready to edit that.. I misread some info.. sorry about that... Anyways.. I found a new link for the DFI mobo- Linky 672.5Mhz FSB!

[Gautam]

As I said Dave, talk about the board when it actually exists for us regular joes.

Just because a preproduction sample did that in a DFI lab doesn't mean squat for what it'll do in the real world, if it even manages to come out this month (which I highly doubt).

I'm not 100% clear on your requirements for board layout but the Asus Blitz Formula has a cleaner socket area than normal...however it isn't out right now either.

The best clocking P35 board is the P5K Premium.

If Intel showed us what they had behind closed doors we'd wet ourselves, but that's not important.

[Heidfirst]

Originally Posted by Gautam

As I said Dave, talk about the board when it actually exists for us regular joes.

Just because a preproduction sample did that in a DFI lab doesn't mean squat for what it'll do in the real world, if it even manages to come out this month (which I highly doubt).

supposed to be in the US in a week or 2 but it'll be $300 ...

& yes, that was done on a handpicked mobo (the others ran 610-630fsb), with a handpicked CPU & all cooled by a cascade.

[Maverick0984]

Ya, I really don't want to wait for a board. So it looks like I should decide between the Gigabyte and the ASUS.

I want to OC alot, but I probably won't come close to maxing out any of the FSB's on these babies. I'm only on air and have no intention of going water.

Actually, I'm thinking since anyone of these boards will thoroughly max out my OC'ing ability, mostly because of temp restrictions. I'm basically looking for the board that fits the heatsink, looks like the Gigabyte can fit em pretty big. In addition the most stable/well thought out and easy to use board.

So the fact that the Asus might be able to clock better is a wash for my personal use since I would never reach those FSB speeds anyway.

[Heidfirst]

Originally Posted by Maverick0984

Ya, I really don't want to wait for a board. So it looks like I should decide between the Gigabyte and the ASUS.

I wouldn't rule out the abit either - it'll take pretty much any HSF too.
if you do go for the P5K then the Premium seems to be an improved (or fixed) P5K Dl.

[Maverick0984]

Alright, I'm leaning towards the Gigabyte now. On my board I currently have (which will RMA'ing for refund), the off colored SATA ports are for hardware raid. What are the 2 purple ports on the Gigabyte purple for, ie. they are marked different because they probably are different.

Same things goes for the ASUS board. It has 4 Red ports and 2 Black. I ask this because I need at bare minimum 6 standard SATA ports. I have 1 burner, 2x150GB Raptors in Raid1, and plan to put 3x750GB in Raid 5. So out of the gates I need 6. The Gigabyte looks to have 6 of the "same colored" ports so that is a sure thing it sounds like. But if the ports on the ASUS are off colored because they need some odd configuration to be utilized that would be a deal breaker for me.

Thing is, I like the # of USB ports on the ASUS. I have alot of periph's.

Also, I have a Q6600 G0, which of these require a BIOS update to use it?

Also, I've seen lots of people recommend the DS3R and not the DQ6. Is that just because it is cheaper? Or is it any better?

[jason4207]

I'm pretty sure the 6 same colored ports on the Gigabyte board are running on the ICH9R which means you can Matrix RAID them if you like. The 2 other ports are running on the Jmicron (or equivalent) chip. I'd use these for your optical drives, so that they don't give you problems when setting up your RAID.

As for the Asus I'm not as sure, but I'm guessing the 4 red ports, and the 2 eSata ports on the I/O panel are part of the ICH9R, and the black ports are Jmicron (or equivalent).

Both boards support 12 USB ports, but you may have to get more extensions for one board vs. the other.

[GTengineer]

Originally Posted by Maverick0984

Also, I have a Q6600 G0, which of these require a BIOS update to use it?

Also, I've seen lots of people recommend the DS3R and not the DQ6. Is that just because it is cheaper? Or is it any better?

The DS3R is recommend it a lot because it is a great value for what you get. Mine came with F3 BIOS but the G0 stepping is supported starting in BIOS F4 and now we have F5e as well. I bet any new board comes with F4 already. Gigabyte has great support and keeps updating BIOS about every month. I had an Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus and we didn't see a new BIOS release in almost 6 months despite having known issues in the BIOS. This is not the case for all their boards but I will always be wary of any future Asus board I own.

I love my DS3R, it is VERY stable and COOL. I have a 80mm fan blowing on my NB and it is literally COOL to the touch. If you were to touch it you would think the computer was off. I also like the integrated sound so I dont care how many decibles the thing puts out as long as I get some sound and dont need to deal with more cards.

The only thing I do not like is that in the BIOS you do not specify the actual voltages but a change in voltage (+0.1V, -0.1V, etc) and also the maximum vcore is 1.6V then it jumps to a useless 1.8V. I wish there more smaller increments beyond 1.6V.

[Maverick0984]

Well, I'm looking to make a purchase within the next hour or so so I can still get next-day shipping, heh. Weighing +'s and -'s. Really though, my main concern was the orientation of the cpu socket and where it is on the board, I need it to be far from its closest edge, and I really have no way of knowing where that is.

[jason4207]

Just look at the pics on Newegg.

[Maverick0984]

Originally Posted by jason4207

Just look at the pics on Newegg.

Ya, I did, it's just alot of guesswork. I went ahead and bought the P5K premium, hopefully everything works out.