New Intel mobo, suggestions?

[JamesM]

First of all, system..

Intel Core 2 E4300
2GB GeIL PC6400 Ultra Low Latency stuff
8800GTS

I had these previously running in a Gigabyte DS3 and managed to hit 3.1GHz on air which served me well. Then decided I wanted to shrink the system a tad and went mATX however games are struggling at 1.8GHz and i'm looking at overclocking again as I cant decide which CPU is actually worth the purchase.

I loved the DS3 board however want something a bit newer but with the same overclocking potential. Not really looking for SLI but it would be a bonus if I can get it at a decent price.

My first choice would be the
MSI P31 Neo2-FR Intel P31
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-095-MS
but I havent seen too many reviews on it, is it any good?

Second choice would be
Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L Intel P31
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-101-GI&tool=3

and third if the Intel 35 chip is worth the extra
Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-100-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=913

Is the 35 chip worth the extra? I will mostly be playing games (CSS, SupCom, COD4, etc) so would like to hit 3.1GHz again without too much hassle.

 

[steve258]

Yes IMO it is worth the extra for the P35-DS3L. The P31 version also overclocks very well but you won't be able to use 4 sticks of dual-sided RAM.

 

[JamesM]

Is it worth the extra simply for that reason? Or is there a definate performance gain that I will get from the 35 chip? I've only got 2x1GB sticks at the moment and if I ever did plan on increasing memory i'd probably just sell the 2GB and buy 2x2GB stuff instead.

Thoughts?

Also is the Abit IP35-E better than the GA-P31-DS3L?

 

[steve258]

There is no performance difference even though the P31 uses an aging ICH7. In that case the P31-DS3L is your best bet if you just want it as cheap as possible.

 

[BUFF]

P35 supposedly has support for faster memory than P31 - whether that actually proves true in the real world I don't know.