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- Joined
- 4 Nov 2005
- Posts
- 617
The approach that I have maintained for system builds over the years is for a major upgrade every 2 years (I need that discipline or else my wife would leave me). That time is fast approaching in Sept/Oct.
I am a tweaker, not a major overclocker, and have no requirement for Crossfire/SLI. I have decided on the Intel chipset (yes another turncoat).
So the question is: 900 series, P35 or wait for the X38.
After a bit of research, here are my conclusions
1. X38 is largely focused on Crossfire/SLI bandwidth. No major performance gains if not an overclocker, so don't wait.
2. P35 is slightly faster (using DDR2) and can be had for almost as cheaply as 900 series, so why go old technology.
3. DDR3 is way too expensive at the moment, and is likely to take a year or 2 to become mainstream.
Ergo - get a P35 that runs DDR2 (don't bother with the ones that have DDR3 slots).
Next upgrade (Sept 2009) target something that runs 45nm processing (or better), and fill my boots with lovely cheap DDR3...
On this basis - I was thinking on the lines of:
Abit IP35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £74.99 (£88.11)
Comments welcome.
I am a tweaker, not a major overclocker, and have no requirement for Crossfire/SLI. I have decided on the Intel chipset (yes another turncoat).
So the question is: 900 series, P35 or wait for the X38.
After a bit of research, here are my conclusions
1. X38 is largely focused on Crossfire/SLI bandwidth. No major performance gains if not an overclocker, so don't wait.
2. P35 is slightly faster (using DDR2) and can be had for almost as cheaply as 900 series, so why go old technology.
3. DDR3 is way too expensive at the moment, and is likely to take a year or 2 to become mainstream.
Ergo - get a P35 that runs DDR2 (don't bother with the ones that have DDR3 slots).
Next upgrade (Sept 2009) target something that runs 45nm processing (or better), and fill my boots with lovely cheap DDR3...
On this basis - I was thinking on the lines of:
Abit IP35 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard £74.99 (£88.11)
Comments welcome.
