P965 > P43/P45 Upgrade Worth it?

zo1d

zo1d

zo1d

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Hi,

My current setup is as follows...

GA-965P-DS3P rev 2.0
4GB OCZ PC2-8500
E6600

The cpu will clock happily to 3.0Ghz (333 x 9) at stock voltage but I'm considering buying a new motherboard, my reasoning is that...

1. It should offer a little in the way of a performance increase due to the newer chipset
2. Offer better OC'ing due to higher native FSB support
3. Offer more efficient, lower power consumption, and lower temps
4. Offer a upgrade route to a faster CPU when prices fall further

What I look for in building a system is the fastest performance I can get for the lowest power consumption, so normally I configure the cpu to run at stock speeds using the lowest voltages as possibly, and on overclocking never go beyond stock voltages.

Couple of questions:

1. Will I see any noticeable performance improvement with the newer chipsets?
2. Will I see any noticeable power saving with the newer chipsets?

Assuming the upgrade is worth it then I need to decide on which board to buy, I'd be looking for the most power efficient board that offers a full range of overclocking features, most importantly the ability to underclock and reduce voltages, not really concerned about cross fire as I'd most likely only ever use 1 graphics card, however I'd like the option to use raid 0 (and/or maybe a solid state drive in the near future), and considering I’ve just purchased 4GB of ddr2 guess I’d sticking with that for a while.

Will probably stick to a Gigabyte board as I’ve been very happy with the current one I have, however looking at the Gigabyte website my head is spinning, can anyone help decipher what all models are and which would be the best buy, ideally don't want to spend much more than £100?

Many thanks in advance.
 
You may get better overclocking but I suspect any power saving will be negligible. If you do want to change, look at the GA-P45-UD3 range. I'd say the UD3LR is probably closest to your needs.
 
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R

This probably be the best option for your needs and definately an improvement over your current Gigabyte board.

I have this board myself (Rev1.0 model) and it runs wonders with my Q6600, 8GB Corsair PC2-6400 and GTX280. Uses the latest version of Gigabyte's Dynamic Energy Saver program so you can save power on your CPU usage and if you believe the marketing for this series, overall power consumption is lower. I do find that temperatures are kept to exceptional levels though.

OcUK currently have two listings for this board at the same price, reason because of the Rev1.0 or Rev1.1 models.

The one I linked above is the Rev1.1 model. You can tell the difference by the blue heatsinks when you compare the pictures which is the only change in them and for the better, especially for the Northbridge i.e. better clearance for CPU heatsinks.
 
For dual-core CPUs, there is very little to be gained by upgrading from a P965 chipset to a P35 or P45 chipset as P965 was pretty much the best dual-core clocking chipset before P35. P45 is not a great upgrade from P35, mainly graphics bandwidth and faster IDE performance.

Overclocked PCs are, by definition, not energy efficient. If you're worried about your electricity bill, put it back to stock. You say that you are doing 3GHz at stock voltages, but I think you mean AUTO which isn't the same thing at all. AUTO means the motherboard turns the VCore up until it's stable, within limits set within the BIOS. Stock means reading the CPU VID with CPUz and setting that manually in the BIOS.

Finally, it could take YEARS to recoup the cost of the new motherboard based on energy savings.
 
WJA96 said:
You say that you are doing 3GHz at stock voltages, but I think you mean AUTO which isn't the same thing at all. AUTO means the motherboard turns the VCore up until it's stable, within limits set within the BIOS. Stock means reading the CPU VID with CPUz and setting that manually in the BIOS.

Finally, it could take YEARS to recoup the cost of the new motherboard based on energy savings.
Click to expand...

I had it running at stock speeds (i.e. 9 x 266) and manually setting the CPU voltage to 1.025v, being completely robust and very cool running. Currently just for testing I'm running 333 x 9 and yes the voltage is set to auto however CPUz confirms that the voltage is never exceeding stock which I believe is 1.35v, although I'm sure when I spend the time to test I can get it running with a lower voltage.

Also I do realise that based solely on power savings buying a new board would be a silly thing to do, however this is partly a hobby and if a new board offers a little in the way of powers savings and a more efficient overclock and then gives me an upgrade route in the future then surely it's not a crazy thing to do...
 
Hello everyone. Sorry for disturbing you in this old thread which was created and active in the year 2009. The reason why I post in here because I would like to ask whether P45/P43 chipsets are still relevant for medium/light tasks in the year 2018. I have unused following items:
1) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600
2) Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650
3) ATX case
4) ECS NVidia GeForce GTX 570
5) Galax NVidia GeForce GT 1030
6) 405W power supply unit.

Since I have all the unused items listed above, I'm thinking to purchase P45/P43 chipsets based motherboard as an additional desktop(s) for doing medium/light tasks. I only shortlisted the P45/P43 chipsets based motherboard that supports DDR3 up to 16GB (this is the reason why I only consider P45/P43 chipsets).

If you think that P45/P43 chipsets are no longer relevant in the year 2018 and just a waste of money (even though I only need to purchase motherboard and ram to complete a desktop), I will not proceed this intention.

Thank you and have a nice day.
 
Those CPUs are still very decent performers. If it’s just for Office and internet browsing then of course, if you can get a motherboard for £20 then why not?
 
WJA96 said:
Those CPUs are still very decent performers. If it’s just for Office and internet browsing then of course, if you can get a motherboard for £20 then why not?
Click to expand...

Yes, my intention is just to use the P45/P43 chipsets based desktop for productivity suites (microsoft office, libre office), internet browsing etc. I do have requirement to use MATLAB (because I'm studying engineering in university), but I will only use MATLAB lightly on this P45/P43 chipsets based desktops - I will use more powerful workstation provided by the university whenever I have requirement to use MATLAB heavily.

Unfortunately, the price for used P43 chipset based motherboards are around £50, not £20 and I'm not sure whether this price is reasonable or not :p. In addition, this price will be doubled (or even tripled) for used P45 chipset based motherboards.
 
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£50 is a lot of money for a 9 year old motherboard. I knew X58 boards went for stupid money but £50 for a board that probably cost £75 new is ridiculous.
 
Indeed, whilst I'm all for reusing old kit (where it's still appropriate), £50 would likely buy you a whole newer I3/I5 oem pc e.g. a HP Compaq 4300 Pro or the equivalent Dell.
 
Its worth switching to P45 just for the 8G RAM support. Q45 boards are worth a mention. They often go for less and are similar - they have on board gfx and tent to be mini-itx.
 
WJA96 said:
£50 is a lot of money for a 9 year old motherboard. I knew X58 boards went for stupid money but £50 for a board that probably cost £75 new is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I found a seller from China who listed the following items on ebay:
1) 10 units of used Gigabyte GA-P43T-ES3G V1.3 Motherboard, £34.83 each (excluding £7.10 shipment fee worldwide).
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-P43T-ES3G-rev-13#ov
2) 11 units of used Gigabyte GA-EP43T-S3L V1.4 motherboard, £34.83 each (excluding £7.10 shipment fee worldwide).
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-EP43T-S3L-rev-14#ov

Both items were listed since late December 2017/early January 2018 and were sold one by one for every few days. Yesterday, all the 10 units of the 1st item listed above were sold out while only 1 unit of the second item remaining - I decided to purchase this last available unit.

I'm not sure whether I made the right decision or not by buying old stuff at this price. But if it really not a good decision, I wonder why there were still other 20 people who bought the listed items above earlier than me (since late December 2017/early January 2018).

After I made the purchase, some people from other forums told me that I'm not supposed to buy used overclock-able items because of possible wear and tear due to excessive overclocking by the previous owner.

Maybe I should only decide to make the purchase after I get enough inputs/feedback from many people from various sources/forum. However, I was a little bit panic by the time I realised that only 1 more of the item listed above remaining and bought the last remaining item hastily. Anyway, the item is already bought, so I think it is better for me to proceed building a PC using that purchased motherboard.


Armageus said:
Indeed, whilst I'm all for reusing old kit (where it's still appropriate), £50 would likely buy you a whole newer I3/I5 oem pc e.g. a HP Compaq 4300 Pro or the equivalent Dell.
Click to expand...

Few months ago, my friend bought the following item at the following price:
1) A new Intel Pentium G4560 at £43.63 (almost the same price with a used Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650).
2) A new MSI B250M Bazooka motherboard at £74.35 (slightly more expensive than the price of a used Gigabyte motherboard together with shipment cost that I listed above).

I believe that G4560 + B250M might be better than the Q9650 + P43 even though the prices do not differ to much (another reason why purchasing hastily the last remaining Gigabyte GA-EP43T-S3L listed above is a mistake for me), but I wonder why the other 20 customers who bought the same items earlier than me did not consider to purchase G4560 + B250M as well. Were they also ignorant and hasty like me? :p


tamzzy said:
Q9650 + gt 1030 would make a semi decent computer
Click to expand...

I salvaged and restored my sister's unused HP Business dc5800 small form factor, as shown in the link below:
https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-bu...0-3ghz-2gb-ram-160gb-hd-vista-business/specs/

The motherboard of this PC is based on Intel Q33 Express chipset. My sister's version comes with Intel Pentium E2200 + 2 x 1GB DDR2 800Mhz + Windows XP + Intel GMA 3100 integrated graphic processor + HDD. After restoration, the PC has been upgraded with Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 + 4 x 2GB DDR2 800Mhz + Windows 10 + Galax Nvidia GeForce GT1030 + SSD. Nowadays, I used the PC for light applications. I even have the intention to upgrade the memory some more to be 4 x 4GB DDR2 800Mhz, but the price of the 4 x 4GB DDR2 800Mhz kits on ebay and amazon are expensive.


mrbazmondo said:
Its worth switching to P45 just for the 8G RAM support. Q45 boards are worth a mention. They often go for less and are similar - they have on board gfx and tent to be mini-itx.
Click to expand...

Based on my understanding of the table in the link below, Q45 can only go up until 16GB of DDR2 or 8GB of DDR3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets#Core_2_chipsets

If possible, I would like to go for 16GB of memory for future proofing. Plus I would like to stick with DDR3 because it is faster but cheaper than the used DDR2.
 
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mrbazmondo said:
Looks like you're out of luck with P45 or Q45 - both only do 8GB DDR3 or 16GB DDR2
Click to expand...

P45 and P43 chipsets do have the version that supports DDR3 up until 16GB. The examples of the models that support DDR3 up until 16GB are listed below. You can open all the links given and check the maximum supported DDR3 size in the specification section.

Gigabyte P45 Chipset
1) Gigabyte GA-EP45T-EXTREME (rev. 1.0) - Intel® P45 + ICH10R Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP45T-EXTREME-rev-10#ov

2) Gigabyte GA-EP45T-DS3 (rev. 1.0) - Intel® P45 + ICH10 Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP45T-DS3-rev-10#ov

3) Gigabyte GA-P45T-ES3G (rev. 1.3) - Intel® P45 + ICH10R Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-P45T-ES3G-rev-13#ov

4) Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR (rev. 1.3) - Intel® P45 + ICH10R Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP45T-UD3LR-rev-13#ov

5) Gigabyte GA-EP45T-USB3P (rev. 1.0) - Intel® P45 + ICH10R Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP45T-USB3P-rev-10#ov

6) Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3P (rev. 1.1) - Intel® P45 + ICH10R Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP45T-UD3P-rev-11#ov

7) Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3R (rev. 1.0) - Intel® P45 + ICH10R Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP45T-UD3R-rev-10#ov

ASRock P45 Chipset
8) ASRock P45X3 Deluxe - Intel® - P45 + ICH10 Chipset
https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/P45X3 Deluxe/index.asp#Specification

9) ASRock P45DE3 - Intel® - P45 + ICH10 Chipset
https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/P45DE3/index.asp

ASUS P45 Chipset
10) ASUS P5Q3 - Intel® - P45 + ICH10R with Intel® Fast Memory Access (FMA) support
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5Q3/overview/

11) ASUS P5Q3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP @n - Intel® - P45 + ICH10R with Intel® Fast Memory Access (FMA) support.
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5Q3_DeluxeWiFiAP_n/specifications/


Gigabyte P43 Chipset
1) Gigabyte GA-EP43T-S3L (rev. 1.4) - Intel® P43 Express Chipset + ICH10 Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP43T-S3L-rev-14#ov

2) Gigabyte GA-P43T-ES3G (rev. 1.3) - Intel® P43 Express Chipset + ICH10 Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-P43T-ES3G-rev-13#ov

3) Gigabyte GA-EP43T-USB3 (rev. 2.0) - Intel® P43 Express Chipset + ICH10 Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP43T-USB3-rev-20#sp

4) Gigabyte GA-EP43T-UD3L (rev. 1.4) - Intel® P43 Express Chipset + ICH10 Chipset
http://www.gigabyte.my/Motherboard/GA-EP43T-UD3L-rev-14#ov

ASRock P43 Chipset
5) ASRock P43 Pro/USB3 - Intel® P43 + ICH10 Chipset
https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/P43 ProUSB3/index.asp

6) ASRock P43DE3 - Intel® P43 + ICH10 Chipset
https://www.asrock.com/MB/Intel/P43DE3/index.asp

ASUS P43 Chipset
7) ASUS P5P43TD PRO - Intel® P43 + ICH10R Chipset
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5P43TD_PRO/overview/

8) ASUS P5P43TD - Intel® P43 + ICH10 Chipset
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5P43TD/overview/

9) ASUS P5P43T - Intel® P43 + ICH10 Chipset
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P5P43T/overview/
 
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