DS3 or DS4 - better for OC'ing

Brian The Snail · 22 Nov 2006 at 15:06

My DS3 has been RMA'd to another company and I shouldn't expect it back before at least Wednesday next week because they don't have any more in stock. However, they do have some DS4's and I may be able to get one of these before the weekend should I move quickly.

I know the spec. differences between the DS3 and the DS4 but which would be better for OC'ing my E6300 and 2GB G.Skill HZ.

Do I just wait it out or go for the DS4?

Many, many thanks.
Andy.

Brian The Snail · 22 Nov 2006 at 15:56

Brian The Snail said:
Do I just wait it out or go for the DS4?

I did search the forum honest but it's so busy I didn't go back far enough. I went back 5 pages and was just getting into October. Should have gone back further.

Sorry peeps.

Can I vote for an 'embarrased' icon? I need one.

Big.Wayne · 22 Nov 2006 at 17:27

Hi Brian,

I just found out about the DS3 and DS4, can u tell me what the main differences are please?

Snapshot · 22 Nov 2006 at 18:55

The DS4 uses a full-size board,
has a big heatpipe linking the chipset and CPU power regulators which are supposed to be better than the DS3's,
has the ICH8R chip instead of the ICH8 so has 6 SATA II ports with RAID instead of 4 without.

There may be more I've missed but you get the idea. I've had a DS4 for a few weeks and I'm very pleased with it but I'm not overclocking it.

Jonathan

harris1986 · 22 Nov 2006 at 19:24

overclocking wise i think it's pretty much as random as the chips, most are good for around 450fsb but some have been known to hit 500fsb!

Gangster · 22 Nov 2006 at 21:02

They are good boards, I picked the DS4 due to the cooling and just because its only a little bit ££ extra I thought I'd just get it. My fsb wall is 490 - so as harris1986 said most of them do between 450-500fsb.

Brian The Snail · 23 Nov 2006 at 09:07

Big.Wayne said:
... what the main differences are please?

Hi Big Wayne.

Have a look here for a side by side comparrison of the two. (<< link to Gigabyte website comparrison page)

I'm still a noobie but to me the reports of the DS3 and DS4 both have them down as excellent boards, with the DS4 edging out in front - but only just and that may not be enough to justify the extra cost.

Hope which ever one you choose serves you well.

Cob · 23 Nov 2006 at 09:08

If you need Firewire and two pci-e graphics slots then get the DS4.

Otherwise the DS3 will more than do the job.

ReeceKB · 23 Nov 2006 at 14:07

Brian The Snail said:
Hi Big Wayne.

Have a look here for a side by side comparrison of the two. (<< link to Gigabyte website comparrison page)

I'm still a noobie but to me the reports of the DS3 and DS4 both have them down as excellent boards, with the DS4 edging out in front - but only just and that may not be enough to justify the extra cost.

Hope which ever one you choose serves you well.

Thanks for the link that helped me out to.

SpudMaster · 23 Nov 2006 at 17:18

ive had my ds4 now for a about a month, first one i got a some funny booting issues so i got a replacement. The one ive currently got is running along happily at 486mhz though wont do 500mhz. Have to say though 486fsb from a board that cost me £109 is fantastic

LoadsaMoney · 23 Nov 2006 at 20:44

Snapshot said:
The DS4 uses a full-size board,
has a big heatpipe linking the chipset and CPU power regulators which are supposed to be better than the DS3's,
has the ICH8R chip instead of the ICH8 so has 6 SATA II ports with RAID instead of 4 without.

There may be more I've missed but you get the idea. I've had a DS4 for a few weeks and I'm very pleased with it but I'm not overclocking it.

Jonathan

Same here, great board.

Jonny L · 23 Nov 2006 at 20:57

If it were me, I would go for the DS3, people have had great success overclocking the e6300 and e6400 on that board. However, if you want dual graphics, I would recommend something like the p5b dx from the asus range rather than the ds4.

Jonny