[Epilon]

So I was moments away from clicking the "order now" button on new egg to ship my new gaming rig, when I stumbled across an article about the x38 release date, which stated it should be sometime early september. I was thinking about waiting, when i also read a forum that talked about how the initial x38 boards wont be on par with those released later, or newer revisions. Would it be a good idea to hold off on getting an p35 and wait for the x38, or will the revision of the initial release of the x38 not be worth buying anyway?
As always, input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[treatmentx]

I heard the best revisions will be in december. So I just got a EVGA 680i

[jivetrky]

I'd say if you can wait a month or two then wait...if not then just get a board now and be happy with it. Then, when the x38's come, you can sell it and upgrade.

[Maverick0984]

I got a P5K Premium to replace my 680i board since they are all too buggy. Was able to get a full refund . I initially wanted the SLI, but was convinced it wasn't worth it for the hassle of the rest of the crap that comes with 680i. I had thought about waiting on the 680i and getting the X38 when it came out, but you are correct, later revisions are always better than the initial ones. I've never bought an early revision because of this.

December is an okay estimate, but there will still be revisions after that even. Personally, if I wanted to build a new PC now (which I did a month ago) I don't want to wait another 5 months to get the newest and best thing. In 5 months, there will be the next thing on the horizon. It's impossible to buy something brand spanking new w/o rumors of the next thing that beats it.

The Penryn isn't even fully out yet, and there are rumors of it's successor already .

I'll probably end up upgrading to X38 when a quality revision comes out, but I want a quality board right now which I got .

[treatmentx]

I had problems with the 680i as well, but I did some research and found out it's due to most 680i's having inadequate GTL Ref Voltage problems, which were corrected on DFI and EVGA 680i boards. I'm happy on a 3.8ghz g0 Q6600 stable 24/7 use now after the revision.

I advise all people with the EVGA boards to look into their model number and ensure they have a A1, and that they are skipping over the FSB holes which is 350FSB-385FSB (1400-1540FSB QDR). This was discussed at another forum, XtremeSystems, and alot of internal testing showed this was due to strapping. If you start clocking at 1550FSB, it's smooth as butter.

Here's just a sample, to show a quick and dirty 3.9ghz clock on EVGA 680i


here's an improved 3dmark06 score
3DMark06 14824 Q6600 on EVGA 680i A1/T1, Single 8800GTX

And i'm still tinkering with the settings ATM.

I suggest the EVGA 680i, as you can opt for an SLI later on, and it has better memory bandwidth (my source being benchmarks in the Maximum PC article and forums), but intel chips have better hard disk performance. If you do gaming, I'd go 680i. If you do productive work or encoding etc, I'd go P35.

On the p5K front, I think it doesn't have vdroop or there's a BIOS option that prevents vdroop. the EVGA 680i has a 2 second pencil mod (which I did) that prevents vdroop. Both options are warned against on the Intel forums, but I think taking out vdroop is a good thing with pro's , esp of the likes of a place like OCForums.

[Super Nade]

As it stands, the P965 is still a darn good platform when compared the P35. I was facing the same dilemma as well but decided that there is no point in waiting. I ordered a P5K this week and I won't be upgrading to an X38 unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

[batboy]

I was going to wait for the Abit IX38 (X38 chipset mobo), but it'll probably be October at the earliest before it's released, a couple more weeks before it is available, then another month or two before a BIOS update arrives to fix the bugs and allow a decent O/C. I'm leaning towards getting an Asus P5K or Abit IP35 (P35 chipset) now to hold me over until they sort out the X38 thing.

[treatmentx]

There was a discussion on XS forums, the x38's will first ship in Mid-september. And there's going to be multiple revisions, as in differet models (like the P5K has a P5K, P5K-E, P5K-WS, etc), with the top end scheduled to debut in December. Then waiting for the BIOS for THAT mobo to sort out will be a long ways. So some people, including I, jumped ship and went with the EVGA 680i, others are holding out.

No one can tell you the right/wrong answer really. Something "right" for you could be "wrong" for others.

[Super Nade]

The thing with waiting is, unless it is less than a couple of weeks, there is no point in doing so. Something new and possibly better is always around the horizon. I upgrade only if there is a significant performance boost. Most top end CPU's can be maxxed out on air without the FSB limitation. Other than better electrical features i.e lack of droop, fine grained voltage control etc, I'm not sure what more the X38 based boards can offer compared to the P35.

[GTengineer]

Not that I am really interested because I will probably not be upgrading again until I rebuild my system for Nehalen but can someone give me any actual reasons why X38 is supposed to be better than P35? I have heard it *may* support SLI which is just a rumor right now. I have also heard it may overclock better but why is this? I am not doubting I would just to see some concrete specs.

[treatmentx]

There's FSB strapping that's suppose to be "remedied" and it's being marketed as "Overspeed Protection", it was initially shown on a powerpoint presentation, and a website (too lazy to google for it) which I can't remember right now but I'm sure you can find after 5 minutes of googling.
EDIT : I decided to not be lazy and find the link. It was initially discredited due to the mispelling, but is currently accepted as a new feature on the x38. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...spx?i=2993&p=5

PCI-E 2.0, useless at this point in time.

BIOS tuning within windows (Not useful enough to warrant an upgrade, similar to nTUNE but seemlessly integrated into BIOS/OS)

Memory SPD-XMP profile extension support (useless, since we manually overclock and are used to it, and it's only appearing in DDR3).

Dual 4-way PWM (instead of 8-way) (finally a positive. Stablizes voltages. This will be standard, though it has already made an appearance in the likes of the ABIT P35 series)

IMHO, nothing is really worth upgrading to. The strap can be resolved by skipping the holes, as I did on my EVGA 680i. You'll need a new MOBO for Nehalem anyways. I opted out and made the EVGA 680i purchase.

[GTengineer]

Originally Posted by treatmentx

You'll need a new MOBO for Nehalem anyways. I opted out and made the EVGA 680i purchase.

Thanks, yeah thats why I am redoing my whole system for Nehalen.

[Super Nade]

I thought with modded drivers you could run SLI on the 975X (I may have those drivers somewhere BTW, but never tested them). Is it still going to be ICH9R or something else?

[JamesXP]

The modded drivers was just for the 7 series AFAIK.




Intel X38 chipset :
• available Q4 2007
• PCIe 2.0
• Supports both DDR2 & DRD3; 1333MHz FSB and PC2-6400 (DDR2 800) and PC3-1333 (DDR3 1333) memory support.
• ICH9 southbridge:
(what does ICH9 have?)


Eaglelake chipset :
• available mid 2008
• PCIe 2.0
• DRD3 only (I'm guessing) 1333Mhz FSB with DDR3-1333 memory
• ICH10 southbridge:
integrated Wi-Fi controller alongside a 10GB network controller,
reduced CPU overhead and power consumption,
built in hardware firewall.

ICH10 removes support for PS2 and LPT ports.


Straight from OCF.

[||Console||]

I think the thing most ppl want to see is if SLI works or not

[JamesXP]

SLi Could work on P35 if they released the drivers.

[||Console||]

yea and thast what Im hoping for , I hope NV release them for the x38 and some one figures out them for the p35 ( but then again it would only be 16/4 )

[Scott9027]

By the time you've waited for X38, you'll have heard about something else that's worth waiting for, etc. It's a vicious cycle, you're better off just buying now.

[inkfx]

Originally Posted by JamesXP

• ICH9 southbridge:
(what does ICH9 have?)

It just doesn't have Intel Matrix raid.

[krag]

Which pickleskin mod deleted my original post in this here thread...? Cause I gots teh e=mailjuss naw and want da X38 fermahself. ??