Conroe Buying Guide - Motherboard performance reviewed

[split]

why not wots wrong with it stelly?

He read this?

Just looks like it isn't the best overclocker.
Prolly vary a lot tho.

 

[Pookie Bear]

Thanks to the OP. Seeing some of the comments in that (together with some others around here) helped me decide on my new board.

 

[lbratch]

That's a brilliant link, tells it all how it is nice and plain, should stop a lot of sweeping speculation.
Something im still curious about though, is it likely the 380FSB restricion on the DFI infinity will be sorted out with any BIOS updates? if not, I might change my order...

I really hope so, or I might change my order too. But then I'd be afraid I get bumped back in the pre-order queue for the Conroes and might not get one as early as I would...?

 

[Sir Random]

whats these nforce 5 boards i keep hearing about what can they do and what extra stuff do they offer?

The nForce5 chipset has LinkBoost, and supports SLI-Ready Memory (EPP).

LinkBoost technology automatically increases bandwidth by up to 25% when select NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards are detected (7900GTX).
http://www.nvidia.com/content/nforce5/TB-02423-001_v01_LinkBoost.pdf

Enhanced Performance Profiles (EPP) provide higher levels of system performance on motherboards equipped with properly-designed BIOSes. It also needs compatible memory modules with the ?NVIDIA SLI-Ready? logo, such as Corsair's TWIN2X2048-6400C4 low-latency DIMMs and TWIN2X2048-8500C5 high-frequency DIMMs.

 

[kingnothing]

Ok, here's a wake up call for all you guys. All these current Intel, Asus and DFI boards are rubbish. It's the Gigabyte DS3 your after. Point blank, period. And apparently word is going round fast since OcUK has sold them out already.

 

[killer_uk]

Ok, here's a wake up call for all you guys. All these current Intel, Asus and DFI boards are rubbish. It's the Gigabyte DS3 your after. Point blank, period. And apparently word is going round fast since OcUK has sold them out already.

Care to tell us why they are rubbish?

 

[Imy]

Any chance we'll see an ATi chipset?

Yep

 

[kingnothing]

Care to tell us why they are rubbish?

They dont reach the high fsb like this board does. And it's a high fsb that you want with any conroe, any time

 

[killer_uk]

They dont reach the high fsb like this board does. And it's a high fsb that you want with any conroe, any time

Based on.......what reviews?

I'm sorry, but until we start seeing more reviews I won't call any board rubbish. Besides, not everyone wants to overclock and they just want a solid stable board. Just my opinion.

EDIT: I do agree with you though that at the moment it seems like a good board for the price...we shall see

 

[Devious]

I really hope so, or I might change my order too. But then I'd be afraid I get bumped back in the pre-order queue for the Conroes and might not get one as early as I would...?

I think the general opinion is it needs more than a bios update.

 

[Jimbo]

Ok, here's a wake up call for all you guys. All these current Intel, Asus and DFI boards are rubbish. It's the Gigabyte DS3 your after. Point blank, period. And apparently word is going round fast since OcUK has sold them out already.

Ooooh attrative price too, so this board is as good? and fast as the Asus p5w dh deluxe?

I could be tempted here.

And heres a nice thread about this board...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106685

Does 483fsb!!

 

[Thing]

Yep

Nice. Ta mate.

 

[kyhoola]

"All-in-all the ASUS P5W-DH Deluxe is one of the best Conroe boards we have tested."

Ive had the asus and now have the bad axe...and the intel board is by far superior to the asus. Which may I add was RMA'd twice, the same as the asus m2n32 sli dlx am2 board I got when it first came out...as most asus things are when they first come out.

Also the asus is very picky on ram and overheats regularly. The bad axe is here to stay...ive tested five boards so far, a dfi, gigabyte, abit, asus and intel and the intel is the best, no questions.

 

[p4radox]

Ooooh attrative price too, so this board is as good? and fast as the Asus p5w dh deluxe?

I could be tempted here.

And heres a nice thread about this board...

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106685

Does 483fsb!!

Blimey it does indeed look promising. I'm keeping my eye on this one.

 

[kingnothing]

Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 has been ordered

 

[Gibbo]

Hi there

We got absolutely loads of Gigabyte DS3 and DS4 boards in stock!!

Anybody know what the actual difference is as to me the DS4 looks superior and maybe offers even better overclocks.

 

[Hidden Hippo]

Well, I'm likely to be going with either the Gigabyte DS3 or the Abit AB9. Both seem to be pretty decent boards, able to overclock well. They don't support crossfire/SLi but the chances of me creating a rig like that is slim. To be honest though, I'm not massively worried about how well they overclock, I'm only going to be trying that when the PC starts to struggle with the new games, which with the rig I hope I'll be getting is going to be slim.

Edit: I think the only difference is that the DS4 has 2 gigabit LAN ports whereas the DS3 only has 1. Not entirely sure though, but that was the only thing I picked up on when I had a look.

 

[TVR_Fan]

What UK companies are offering PC's with these CPU's?

But does anyone know when Alienware will start selling there PC's with a Conroe?

 

[Imy]

Not really allowed to answer that TVR_Fan as its competitor talk.

OcUK sell their own fully built systems - none are Core 2 Duo based yet unfortunately.

 

[Arsenal]

Hi there

We got absolutely loads of Gigabyte DS3 and DS4 boards in stock!!

Anybody know what the actual difference is as to me the DS4 looks superior and maybe offers even better overclocks.

It seems to me the DS4 has two PCI-E slots (though what for i don't know... no SLI/Crossfire support that i'm aware of), a better heatsink setup, a couple more SATA ports and i think some digital sound outputs over the DS3.