Intel P35 / X38 Motherboards Roundup
Author:
Date: 21.02.2008 |
|
Final Words
Now it's time we settle with the most well-off users who buy only the best and fastest hardware despite the prices. A typical PC configuration for such a user includes two AMD video cards in the Crossfire mode, a 4-core CPU, and DDR3 memory. For these money-bags, motherboards based on P35 are not of interest - they really need the latest models based on the Intel X38 chipset.
In this price category, ASUS Maximus Extreme that costs $300-350 takes a sure lead. The superiority of this product is so convincing that we can safely reward it with any award - from "Overclocker's Choice" to "Best Buy" (the board is really worth every dollar spent), except the "Editor's Choice" (the latter can be granted to only a motherboard with support for DDR2).
Of about the same rank is ASUS P5E3 Deluxe, but at most specifications it is a bit weaker. If it were $100 cheaper, we would not think twice to recommend it. Otherwise, we don't: Maximus Extreme is definitely better. Nor we recommend ASUS P5E3 whose price is quite acceptable and the specifications are at a high level (albeit are inferior to P5E3 Deluxe). From the technical viewpoint, we had nothing to complain about P5E3, but support for DDR3 cancels out its today's attraction.
Another X38-based motherboard with support for DDR3 is made by MSI and is called X38 Platinum. That is a really interesting solution for those [professional] users who need support for four PCI-E x16 video cards. X38 Platinum does use as many as four slots, and for that we reward it with the "Innovation Design" medal.
Unless the common sense is suppressed by the thickness of the wallet, the best buying option is an X38-based motherboard with support for DDR2. Therefore, in the ~$300 pricing category the most attractive product is ASUS Maximus Formula.
We are willing to give all the awards to this board, including the "Editor's Choice", but in the same pricing category there is also Gigabyte X38-DQ6 which offers almost the same specifications and equally high overclocking capability.
The differences between the boards are in only fine points. The ASUS' board uses a massive system of radiators with an integrated water-block, whereas the Gigabyte's board doesn't. We note the superiority of X38-DQ6 at expansion options - it supports two SerialATA II links more. At the package bundle, it is evidently weaker. All in all, so as not to rack your brains too much, we give the whole pack of awards to each of the two boards. Tip: when choosing between these two motherboards, be guided by your personal preferences and the retail price. My personal preference and thus the "Editor's Choice" medal has been granted to ASUS Maximus Formula. The thing is that we have tested only the engineering sample of Gigabyte X38-DQ6, and the release-version board has not yet arrived. We give the "Editor's Choice" only if we are absolutely confident that this board when sold in the retail will be indeed perfect.
In the next pricing category, within $250 to $300, there are no prize winners. Quite probably, that will be the price for Foxconn X38A, but we still have not yet found out its retail price. Nevertheless, we can give it the "Innovation Design" medal for its support for both DDR2 and DDR3.
However, we have not yet finished with X38-based boards. There is a model of the price below $250 - abit IX38 QuadGT. In fact, this board is a direct competitor to many top-end motherboards based on P35, which costs cheaper! Only for that we can give it the "Best Buy" award, namely, for the possibility to use the Crossfire technology in the most demanding mode and at a really attractive price.
However, the low price is not the only advantage of abit IX38 QuadGT. The board offers not bad (albeit somehow unbalanced) expansion options, rich BIOS settings, and a powerful cooling system. The was only one shortcoming found in this board - in the raw state of the proprietary utilities by abit (I am sure the more recent versions of software will be better). Besides, the board is not a reference at overclocking - it has come most closely to the 500MHz bar and was unable to overcome it in the end. It reached 496 MHz, and it's just these 4 MHz that were not enough to win the "Editor's Choice". Therefore, only "Best Buy" and "Recommended".
As regards P35-based motherboards, we re-tested only some of them, checked the current retail prices (some have gone down slightly). But all the new information proved to be insufficient to change our views regarding at least a single board.
Here go the findings from the previous part.
If Crossfire is not needed, then you are our client, so a motherboard based on the P35 chipset is the best choice. Originally, we wanted to exclude all motherboards with support for DDR3 out of the review, because such memory costs incredibly high. However, the price may go down sharply and in that case the buyer needs to know which motherboards should be drawn attention at. In fact, only ASUS presented a wide assortment of motherboards like these and they all fall within the high-end category. Moreover, they don't overlap at their capabilities, i.e. they are not competitors. In particular, ASUS Blitz Extreme is aimed solely at PC enthusiasts and before the release of X38-based products it used to be the best board for such users. At the same time, it is a record-breaker at overclocking and provides a stable operation at FSB = 566 MHz (which is equivalent to 2264 MHz QPB)! Therefore, we reward this motherboard with the "Overclocker's Choice" medal.
Another model - ASUS P5K3 Premium - is entirely different from all the other boards in that two 1 GB DDR3 memory modules soldered into. The manufacturing quality is so high that we reward this board with the "Innovation Design" medal.
As regards ASUS P5K3 Deluxe, it is based on the PCB design of the Premium version, but instead of soldered-in modules it has four DDR3 slots. At the same time, it costs much cheaper than ASUS Blitz Extreme. Therefore, we reward this product with the "Recommended" medal.
But we repeat it again that we recommend motherboards aimed DDR3 modules only if the user can afford to buy DDR3 memory.
We note it separately that all the three boards are able overclocking processors effectively and overcome the 560 MHz bar. Of all the remaining motherboards with support for DDR2, only ASUS Blitz Formula was able to provide a stable operation at such frequency. Therefore, it is also granted with the "Overclocker's Choice" medal.
However, if we analyze the motherboards in terms of the "price/functionality" ratio, we get somehow different findings. We break up the "regular" boards (i.e. with support for DDR2) into the three price categories: $200-250, $150-200, and $100-150, and choose the best of them. We note it specifically that ASUS Blitz Formula offers a number of unique features (for motherboards based on P35) and costs about ~$300. But as we already stated, this product has lost its attraction after the release of new ASUS models based on the X38 with the same (and even better) specifications costing ~$320 (we mean the model ASUS Maximus Formula).
In the top-end price category, the situation is not simple at all. It includes the following products: ASUS P5K Premium, ASUS P5K Deluxe, and Gigabyte P35-DQ6. You don't have to buy these boards: ASUS P5K-E/WiFi offers the same feature-set, supports all ASUS' modern technologies and costs ~$160! Moreover, ASUS offers a version without the Wi-Fi, but we still don't know how much it will cost and also if the overclocking tools will be cut down (the expansion options, according to ASUS' web site, have remained at the level of the version offering the Wi-Fi functionality).
But this motherboard is a competitor to abit IP35 Pro and MSI P35 Platinum. We should also add Foxconn MARS into this group, although its retail price is still unknown.
Foe the past two months, it's been only once that we saw a Foxconn MARS priced at $200 in the retail. This product is very good, but this price is definitely overstated. Most likely, it is the major reason this board is missing on sale: Foxconn is unwilling to push the price down, and the buyers don't want to pay more than $200.
What to choose? At the expansion options, all the four motherboards are approximately on par. The minor differences are in that abit IP35 Pro offers two Gigabit LAN controllers and eight SATA II links, while ASUS P5K-E/WiFi - one network controller and eight SATA II links. At the same time, the ASUS board has two USB2.0 ports as little, and instead of them there is an onboard Wi-Fi module. The Foxconn and MSI boards have one network controller each and seven SATA II links.
Therefore, if you need the best expansion options, you should stop at abit IP35 Pro
and ASUS P5K-E/WiFi boards (if needed, you can also look at ASUS P5K-E without support for Wi-Fi).
Both the boards have been rewarded with the "Best Buy medal.
Now regarding which model to choose for overclocking. About five years ago, the choice used to be between ASUS and abit (formerly, Abit) boards. While ASUS has gained an indisputable leadership on the market of motherboards so far, abit has lost its grounds. However, it has retained its brand and status of the "tier two leading manufacturer". And, judging by the review, the only representative of the tier two.
So, we recommend to buy the following two boards for overclocking: ASUS P5K-E/WiFi and Foxconn MARS. While it is all clear with the ASUS model,
we were really impressed by Foxconn who has released a simply fantastic motherboard.
The only shortcoming of Foxconn is not a good enough reputation among overclockers. Normally, motherboards by this manufacturer overclock poorly, and the MARS model is just the exception which confirms the rule.
Both the boards have been rewarded with the "Overclocker's Choice" medal!
Now look at the lowest price category, i.e motherboards priced between $100 and $150. It includes ECS P35T-A (~$95-100), Foxconn P35A (~$105-120), MSI P35 Neo Combo (~$115), and MSI P35 Neo (~$100-115). What we'd like to note is that if you are into saving every dime, don't buy the cheapest board. At this amount you can buy a motherboard that is higher in its class but built on the chipset of the previous generation (i.e., Intel P965). If you do need the capabilities of P35, then it makes sense to look at the two motherboards: ECS P35T-A and Foxconn P35A. They offer really good expansion options which include two PCI Express x16 slots. At the same time, the ECS board offers support for seven SerialATA II links, whereas all the other cheap boards - only five links. In view of the lowest price, the ECS P35T-A is rewarded with the "Best Buy" medal:
However, overclockers will be disappointed by this board since it is unable to operate at even FSB = 400 MHz. But the Foxconn works not only at 400 but at 500 MHz! Therefore, the "Overclocker's Choice" medal has been granted to this product.
the PCB design in many ways has been inherited from the MARS board
As regards the cheap motherboards by MSI, we don't recommend to buy MSI P35 Neo Combo. There isn't much to complain about the board, but what's the point in paying for the support of DDR3 if you anyway are not going to use. And if you are, then why do you need a value motherboard?
But we do recommend MSI P35 Neo. Although it has merely one PCI Express x16 slot, there is an integrated Firewire controller in it, which is missing on ECS and Foxconn boards. In the mid-end and high-end price categories, we would ignore that point, saying "extra $10 for a Firewire card don't matter..". But all is different in the value category: users of such systems are unlikely to use both the PCI-E x16 slots, and the Firewire port may be really of use.
Therefore, MSI P35 Neo has been rewarded with the "Recommended" medal.
Here are the overall conclusions for all the motherboards: among all the reviewed motherboards, we have not found any evidently poor product. Even those motherboards which we don't recommend to buy are quite suitable for use from the technical viewpoint. But the problem is that they cost much higher than their direct competitors - i.e. the problem is not in terms of stability or functionality but in the mispricing. At the same time, manufacturers don't reduce prices concurrently but proceeding from their own plans. So, it is quite possible that in a couple of months other models will claim for "Best Buy" awards.
With the release of new BIOS versions, the alignment of forces among overclocker-friendly motherboards may change. However, the life span of P35 (like any other Intel's main-stream chipset) is about one year, and half of the time has already passed. Therefore, motherboard manufacturers are now concentrated at new products based on new chipsets, of course to the detriment of debugging and polishing of the existing motherboards.
- Discuss the material in the conference
 |
Content: |
 |
|
|
Top Stories: |
|
 |
|
MoBo:
|
|
|
|
VGA Card:
|
|
|
|
CPU & Memory:
|
|
|
